Brookfield Stars Hockey Headed to State Tournament

Update: The Brookfield Stars won 2-1 and are headed to state. If you have any photos from the game or the pre- or post-game celebration, please share them here via upload button.
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The Brookfield Stars hockey team — a co-op between East and Central — plays against Fond du Lac at 7 p.m today at Wilson Park in Milwaukee. The winner advances to the state tournament. It would be the first trip to state since 1997 for Brookfield

Along the way, the team has been buoyed by a growing number of supporters thanks to enthusiastic work from the players' parents. Donna Rogers, whose son Brandt is a senior on the team, provided some details.

"This past Tuesday when we played Homestead in the first round of the sectional, we managed to fill 3 school buses with Brookfield East/Central students and gave them FREE admission, pizza, (and) T-shirts," she wrote in an e-mail. "The hockey PARENTS foot the bill. The kids saw a great game as we dominated the No. 1 seed defeating them 7-2.  With the success of that evening, the parents continued to rally support and signed up over 200 fans from the schools, and have also triggered support from around the area to get 5 buses donated for tonight's game.  They load up at Brookfield East and head out at 5:45 p.m. today!"

Brookfield has won 13 of its last 14 games and is 18-8 overall. There are 11 seniors on the team, Rogers said, and many have played together since they were six.

"Credit for the bus donations goes to Rob Perry/Ponds of Brookfield, Will Enterprises, O'Donahughes (and) Brookfield Hockey Alumni, to name a few," Rogers wrote. "Pat O'Brien (one of our hockey Dads) has really taken the ball and ran with it to rally the support of our entire community.  He is the backbone of this great effort."

Rick Turcott, who coached the 1997 team, is also donating one of the buses.