The girls from Appleton United showed no evidence of "bus legs" after their 100 mile ride from the Fox Valley, scoring three times in the first 27 minutes and then holding off host Marshfield for a 4-2 victory in this week's edition of the Wisconsin Prep Hockey Game of the Week Saturday afternoon at the Marshfield Youth Ice Center.
The contest was physical from the opening puck drop, but the officials preferred to let the ladies play, calling a combined four penalties in the game (two by each team).
Juuli Spelman got United on the board at 5:38 of the first period. Her shot from the low slot area nicked off Marshfield goalie Alexis Straughan's blocker and into the net for an early 1-0 lead. Natalie West and Anna Westmark got assists on the play.
The period ended with no further scoring and AU with a 13-4 shot edge in the first 17 minutes of play.
Marshfield took a penalty just over four minutes into the second, and Katie Trucco almost added to AU's lead when her shot from the right circle rang off the right post and behind the net just 15 seconds into the man advantage.
United would get their second goal just over two minutes later.
Westmark grabbed a loose puck at the top of the right circle, skated into the high slot and fired a laser that whizzed past Straughan's right ear at the 7:02 mark for the unassisted goal.
Freshman Molly McKeever made it 3-0 at 10:18 when she got loose on a breakaway, made a deke, and slid a backhander between the goalie's right skate and the post. Laura Larabell earned the assist on the scoring chance.
The Tigers cut the lead to 3-1 just 19 seconds later.
Defenseman Paige Johnson led a rush down the right side and cut across the slot while snapping a shot at AU goalie Libbey Breaker. The sophomore stuck out her right pad to make the initial save, but Johnson followed her shot and buried the rebound from the low left side at the 10:37 mark of the period.
The teams skated off to their respective locker rooms with AU holding an 11-8 shot edge in the stanza.
United was the recipient of a lucky bounce just one minute into the third that would give them a three goal lead.
Trucco had the puck behind the net and as she was making a move to the slot, the puck slipped off her stick and bounced off a couple skates and bounced into the net past a surprised Straughan to make it 4-1. The power play goal was credited to Jenny Miller, with the assist to Trucco.
The Tigers would cut the lead to 4-2 midway through the period with a power play rebound by Jala Zahn, who was assisted by Johnson. The goal came at the 8:35 mark.
The last half of the period was marked by spirited play, although only one penalty was called (Appleton).
As the horn sounded on a 4-2 AU win, the saves for the game showed Straughan with a fine effort, stopping 25 shots, while her United counterpart Breaker made 15 saves.
