Resilient. 

The Wildcats of the University School co-op girls’ hockey team were  certainly resilient in their Culver’s Cup Tournament semi-final game against the St. Croix Valley Fusion Tuesday at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in Madison.  The Wildcats fought back from behind twice to defeat the Fusion 3-2.

The Wildcats were outshot in the game 32-24, but Marie Detert, their freshman goaltender, kept them in the game with some fine saves that gave the Wildcats the impetus to go down the ice and score the goals they needed to secure the victory.

Senior captain Caitlin McBride led the Wildcats with two goals and junior captain Nicole Unsworth scored USM’s other goal.  Senior captain Maddie Rowe and sophomore Kamyrn Jacobs scored the Fusion’s goals.

“What an amazing effort by our team,” said Jake Haury, USM‘s head coach. “We fought back twice from a deficit today against St. Croix Valley.  The Fusion is a great team and beating them today proved to the girls just how good we can be. It showed how mentally tough we are. We bounced back from a tough game against Superior yesterday and did the same again today.  We'll need that same team toughness and spirit to help us in the championship game tomorrow.”

In the opening minutes of the game, the Fusion controlled the play.  They forechecked aggressively with all five skaters.  Their efforts created an early power play, and their power play created a goal.

 On the play Rowe got the puck on the right side, skated behind the net, and back up the left side.  She cut through the circle into the low slot and blazed a shot past Detert at 5:15 into the period.

Despite being down early, the Wildcats kept the Fusion from scoring again in the opening period.  The teams went to the locker rooms with the score 1-0.

The respite bolstered the Wildcats, and they came out with a renewed sense of purpose.  With some more good saves by Detert, some blocked shots, and tighter checking, they held off the Fusion and eventually tied the game at 10:57.

Freshman winger Gaby Turer got the puck in the USM zone and passed it to Unsworth, who was heading toward the blue line.  Unsworth spun to avoid a forechecker and slipped a behind-the-back pass to McBride who was exciting the zone.

McBride did the rest.  She picked up speed through center ice.  Crossing the Fusion blue line, she lowered her shoulder to protect the puck as a defender closed in on her. McBride outskated the check, and as she turned to face the Fusion’s junior goalie Ellen Coggio, she fired a high shot past the goalie to even the score at 1-1.

The Fusion retook the lead early in the third period.  Jacobs snared the loose puck after a USM misplay near the St. Croix Valley blue line.  She skated between the Wildcat defensemen and headed off on a breakaway.  She skated into the slot in the USM end and gunned a high shot high on Detert’s glove side at 2:31.

The goal startled the Wildcats, but it did not deflate their desire.  They came back hard and caused a Fusion penalty just over a minute later.

The Wildcats scored on the ensuing power play.  Turer sent the puck to Unsworth along the left boards in the Fusion zone.  Unsworth skated with it through the circle into the slot.  She headed toward the goal and, nearing it, she lifted a high shot past Coggio at 3:36 to tie the score once again.

It became clear to the fans, who were witnessing a fine hockey game between two of the state’s top five teams, that the next goal could be the winner.  It was, and the Wildcats scored it at 7:50.

On the play, Unsworth got the puck on the left mid-boards in the Fusion zone.  She passed it to senior captain Hannah Koniar at the near point.  Koniar immediately passed the puck to her defense partner, sophomore Hannah Gold.  Like an assassin, Gold lined up her target and fired.  McBride was in front of Coggio and she tipped the low incoming puck past the goalie to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game.

While the clock ticked off the remaining minutes of the game, the play was furious as the Fusion tried to score, and the Wildcats worked to prevent them.  The score did not change and the victory belonged to the Wildcats.

As a result of the game, USM now has a record 10-1-1 and St. Croix Valley is now 6-2. The Wildcats play the Middleton Metro Lynx in the Culver’s Cup Tournament championship game on Wednesday, December 30th at the Madison Ice Arena in Madison.  The game is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m.