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Girls Hockey Preseason Top Ten Preview

By Coaches Input with editing by Del Scanlon, 11/21/14, 12:30PM CST

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How do the Preseason Top Ten teams look

While I wish I had the time to do a preview on all of the WIAA girls’ hockey teams, it is extremely difficult to assemble all of the information after all coaches only have a couple of weeks to practice prior to their first game.  All of the teams deserve recognition for their hard work and trying to determine the top ten teams is a guess at best, especially at the start of the season.  The one thing we do know is the rankings will change throughout the season.  Which teams can stay in the top ten and what teams will force us to take notice?

--Del Scanlon

How do the Top Ten look going into the season

Bay Area Ice Bears

Head Coach: Pat Rafferty
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 21-1-0 Playoffs 5-0

The defending state champion Ice Bears lost their opening game of the 2013-14 season and went undefeated the rest of the season.  They defeated USM 3-2 in overtime to clinch a trip to Madison in the sectional 4 final.  Once at state, they defeated the Central Wisconsin Storm 2-1 in overtime to advance to the championship game.  The championship game ended with a 6-5 victory over the Onalaska Hilltoppers.

Bay Area lost five players from last season due to graduation.  This year’s team consists of: 6 seniors; 2 juniors; 9 sophomores and 5 freshmen.  The Ice Bears return Courtney Wittig and Johanna Cano to help lead the way on offense.  Defensively, Nicole Niemi and Morgan Zirbel will form the foundation.  Lindsey Strainis will return in as one of the top goaltenders within the state.

Freshman Laken Anderson is expected to help pick up some of the scoring lost from last season.

Coach Rafferty believes, “We’ll have to replace a significant portion of our offense from last year and will likely have to rely on our ‘D’ and goaltending early in the season.”

University School of Milwaukee Co-op Wildcats

Head Coach:    Jason Woods
Asst Coaches: Tom Geilfuss, Megan Bailey and Jacob Haury
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 19-3-1 Playoffs 2-1

The Wildcats 2013-14 campaign came to an end with an overtime loss to the Bay Area Ice Bears in the sectional 4 championship game.  They will enter the 2014-15 season as the #2 team in the WiPH Top Ten preseason rankings.

USM was fortunate not to lose too much talent from last year’s team.  The key loss will be Jaime Hathaway.  Hathaway provided solid support as the team goaltender.  She had been third in the state in Goals Against (1.12) and second in the state in Save Percentage (.940) last season.  Jaime is on the Hamline University roster this season.

The Wildcats return 8 of their top scorers from last season, which includes 3 of the top point leaders in the state:  Nicole Unsworth (59 goals, 40 assists); Nina Andersen (25 goals, 41 assists) and Rose Revolinski (29 goals, 33 assists).  Caitlin McBride, their leading scorer during the playoffs, returns this season too.  On the defensive end of the ice, Hannah Koniar returns for her 3rd year and will help to lead the way.

However, USM will not be without an influx of new talent.  The defense will receive support from seniors, Lauren Hennelly and Sloan Sullivan.  Sullivan has signed a Letter of Intent to play for Union College.  Offensively, USM will have Jessica Malloy (a senior), Camille Marks (a senior) and Ellie Barney (a sophomore) taking on key roles.  Sophomore Liz Ostermeyer will replace Hathaway in the net.

Coach Woods states, “As always, our expectations are high.  With 16 newcomers to the program, it will be vital to come together as a team.  The ability to come together will go a long way towards establishing this team’s identity!”

St. Croix Valley Fusion

Head Coach:   Matt Cranston
Asst Coach:    Karl Erickson
Goalie Coach: Gerritt Jenson
Asst Coach/Speed & Strength Coach: Laura Hart
2014-2015 Record – Overall 19-9-1, Conference 4-2, Section 1 Champion, Big Rivers 2nd

Coach Matt Cranston and Assistant Karl Erickson return for another season after making their 4th appearance at the State Tournament last year.  Garrett Jensen has been added to the staff to coach the goalies replacing Ann Rock after a long stint with the Fusion. 

As usual, the Fusion will kick off their season in the Annual Thanksgiving Tournament at the United Civic Center in Baldwin and are set to play the WSFLG Blizzard (Wednesday, November 26, 7:00 PM), Sun Prairie Co-Op (aka Cap City Cougars, Friday, November 28, 2:30 PM) and Hayward/Spooner (Saturday, November 29, 11:00 AM).  Their season wrapped up last year with a 4-3 overtime loss to Onalaska in Madison. 

The team is still young with an infusion of 8 new players that will replace the 5 departing Seniors.

The Fusion’s five graduates were:  Forward Taylor Magill, Forward Laura Keimig, Forward Tori Forseth, and Forward Captain, Allie DeMotts.  The Fusion also graduated 1st Team All-State,  Big Rivers Conference Player or the year, 1st Team All-Conference and 2nd Team State Tournament Team Goaltender, and Captain, Carlie Christensen.  

The Fusion returns leading scorer, Junior Captain and 1st team All State Defenseman, Maddie Rowe (61 Points), along with talented Juniors, Hanna Zevenbergen (D), Emma Van Dell (F), Andrea Eliason (F), and Courtney Kempf (F).  Sophomore Forward Natalie Gabbert also plans to leave her mark. Senior center and Assistant Captain, Lindsay Veenendall, and Defenseman and Assistant Captain, McKayla Custer are strong players looking to finish their high school careers on a high note.  There are several talented freshman and Sophomores added to the mix that will make this team competitive, notably Freshmen, Kamryn Jacobs, Katie Anderson & Maura Laesser.  With a Freshman and Sophomore goalie corps, in Ellen Coggio (Soph) and Olivia Klund (Fresh), the Fusion will need to be strong defensively to support their development.

Central Wisconsin Storm

Head Coach:    Jana Wimmer
Asst Coaches: Jim Clemens and Dan Bauer
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 19-4-1 Playoffs 3-1

The Storm did not give up a goal in the playoffs until the state semi-final games against the Ice Bears.  The Storm lost the game to the eventual state champions 2-1.  Central Wisconsin finds themselves ranked #4 in the WiPH Preseason Top Ten.

The team lost 6 seniors to graduation from last season’s team.  However, they will return 4 of their top five point leaders from last season:  sophomore Katelyn Ramthun (14 goals, 15 assists); sophomore Katelynn Schilling (18 goals, 10 assists); junior Elizabeth Bauer (6 goals, 16 assists) and senior Kelly Knetter (11 goals, 10 assists).

Lisa Fowle graduated and the battle for playing time between the pipes will be between senior Renee Hosler and freshman Athena Kayler.  The Storm pride themselves on defensive pressure and limiting the shots on goal.

The current roster shows 3 seniors, 4 juniors, 9 sophomores and 6 freshmen.

Hayward/Spooner Hurricanes

Head Coach:   Tom Doig
Asst Coaches: Kate Sherry and Charles Tremblay
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 17-6-0 Playoffs 1-1

The Hurricanes lost to the Fusion in the sectional semi-finals.  They enter the season as the #5 team in the WiPH Top Ten Preseason rankings.

Hayward/Spooner lost four players due to graduation from last season:  Leandra Aldoff, Cheyenne Turnbull, Mckenzie Tingo and Noel Weber.  This season the Hurricanes consist of 8 seniors, 4 juniors, 6 sophomores and 4 freshmen.

Senior Madeline Spagenberg will be taking a leading role for the team.  Madeline had 11 goals and 11 assists last season.  Juniors, Harley Kinney (17 goals, 16 assists) and Alex Grubbs (14 goals, 13 assists) along with sophomore Amber Heidenreich (16 goals, 17 assists) will be key contributors to their success.  Lauren Tremblay had a solid freshman season between the pipes last season and provides a good foundation for the upcoming season.

Sophomore Jenna Curtis is a new player on the team.  She will be contributing on the offensive end of the ice.

Coach Doig states, “The players are working hard and believe they can have a successful season.”

Northland Pines Eagles

Head Coach:  Patrick Schmidt
Asst Coach:  Kendra Graper
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 18-4-0 Playoffs 2-1

Northland Pines fell to the Central Wisconsin Storm by a score of 2-0 in the sectional championship game.  They enter the season as the #6 team in the WiPH Top Ten Preseason rankings.

Coach Schmidt states, “As the smallest, single school team in the state (420 students), Pines continues to fight for the little guy.  For the 2014-15 season, Pines once again grew in numbers.  With a team of 24 players, we have a strong team. Graduating only 3 seniors, the Eagles have 17 letter winners coming back.”

Seven seniors lead the squad, with a strong support from the underclassmen.  Leaders on the ice will be Cali Sanborn (senior), Kali Ebert (senior) and Amanda Sergent (sophomore). 

Jenna Paez slid under the radar for a majority of last season.  However, when you look at the numbers it is easy to see Northland Pines has a strong goalie in net.  Last year Jenna posted the following numbers:  1.59 goals against average, .909 save percentage stopping 370 of 407 shots during the regular season.  Her numbers in 3 playoff games:  1.33 g.a.a., .925 save percentage stopping 49 of 53 shots.

Onalaska Co-op Hilltoppers

Head Coach:  Tim Franzini
Asst Coaches:  Mark Thorn, Ashley Bauer and Peter Coppola
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 15-7-0 Playoffs 4-1

The Hilltoppers climbed into the state championship game for the third straight year, but fell to the Ice Bears 6-5.  They enter the season at the #7 team in the WiPH Top Ten Preseason rankings.

Onalaska lost 3 players due to graduation:  Goalie Jeanalyn Schindler; Forward Jamie Wielandt and prolific scorer and player of the year – Theresa Knutson.  They return 13 letter winners with 9 new freshmen and 2 sophomores to bolster the roster.

Top returning players include:  Defenseman Jacyn Reeves (committed to Union College); defenseman Kianna Kalmes; defenseman Lucy Anderholm; forward Chazlyn Anderson; forward Kyla Bantle and forward Taylor Monroe.

Two incoming players goalie Skylar Dannoff and forward Emma Tyrggestad are players to keep an eye on in the upcoming season.

“We return much experience and depth, but we will need a team effort to pick up the scoring we lost from last season.  We should be better defensively and in goal with 2 solid goaltenders.  Also, we are hoping to add depth all the way around with 24 girls on the roster”, stated Coach Franzini.

Sun Prairie Co-op Cougars

Head Coach: Michael Johnson
Asst Coaches:  Maddie Haroldson and Tom Siegel
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 11-10-2 Playoffs 1-1

Sun Prairie season came to an end in the sectional semi-final with a 3-2 loss to the Middleton Metro Lynx.  The Cougars are ranked #8 in the WiPH Preseason Top Ten rankings.

Sun Prairie lost three players to graduation who played regularly last season: forward Cassie Smith; defenseman Emily Scheffler and goaltender Sarah Fuerstenberg.  The Cougars have several new freshmen and sophomores coming in and are expected to challenge some returning players to fill these vacancies.  Senior goaltender Dani Deltgen will increase her minutes between the pipes this season after splitting duties  with Fuerstenberg the last three seasons.

Currently all of the Cougars are healthy to start the season.  Last year they missed forward Alexis Peterson for a critical stretch and Coach Johnson believes, “The girls learned some things about dealing with adversity that will serve them will in the future, including the upcoming season.”

Sun Prairie will return their top five scorers from last season including:  senior Alexis Peterson; sophomore Jada Ward; senior Claire Johnson; senior Payton Herwig and sophomore Annika Johnson.  They have one of the best defensemen in the state, in the form of senior Catlin Siegel, back to anchor the blue line.

Coach Johnson goes on to say, “We are excited to have the majority of the pre-season top ten teams on our schedule again this year.  The girls are really looking forward to the challenges of a new season”.

Hudson Raiders

Head Coach: Greg Gamache
Asst Coach:  Mitch Benson
JV Coach:     Danni Krinke
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 15-6-2 Playoffs 0-1

Hudson fell to Chippewa Falls/Menomonie in the first round of the playoffs.  They enter the upcoming season ranked #9 in the WiPH Preseason Top Ten.  The Raiders lost 12 seniors due to graduation.  Also, 1 freshman player left to play at Hill Murray in Minnesota where her sister was already playing.

Unfortunately, sophomore forward Katie Meierotto will be out until early to mid-December due to an ankle injury.  She is expected to start light skating in sweats with no contact next week.

Key players for this season include:  senior forward/defenseman Ali Takkunen; junior defenseman Taylor Beckman; junior defenseman/forward Julia Pettee; freshman forward Anna Wilgren; sophomore forward Katie Meierotto and senior defenseman Emma Steiner.

Coach Gamache states, “Our U14’s won state last season, so we have a solid group of seven freshmen players coming up.  Anna Wilgren is an extremely talented freshman, who can play both forward or defense and will immediately compete for a position on our #1 power play unit.  Our geopgraphic location and numbers (we have 26 players on our roster) allow us to play both varsity and junior varsity games against Minnesota schools.  We play 8 Minnesota schools in our first 10 games.”

Middleton Metro Lynx

Head Coach:    Derek Ward
Asst Coaches:  Kevin Thomas; David Boyd and Madison Packer
Goalie Coach:   Jake Joyal
2013-14 Record:  Regular Season 16-6-2 Playoffs 2-1

The Lynx fell to Onalaska in the sectional final 4-3.  They enter the new season ranked #10 in WiPH Preseason Top Ten.  Also, Middleton Metro Lynx are under the direction of a new coaching staff.

The team will return 8 letter winners, while losing 9 letter winners.  They return 2 starters, while losing 4.  Key returning players include:  senior Maegan Sheehan; senior Amanda Holman; junior Lizzy Conybear; junior Taylor Olstad and sophomore Siera Petat.

On the upcoming season, Coach Ward states, "The top three teams in our conference are Sun Prairie, Stoughton and Beloit. Sun Prairie is an all-around solid team.  The Icebergs are a very good defensive team, led by the best goalie in the area. Rock County (Beloit) is always a good team and this year shouldn't be any different.  We will have to work hard and come together as a team to battle for the conference title".