Early in Saturday’s girls’ hockey game at University School, the Wildcats of the USM co-op team had to keep their cool. Marie Detert, the Wildcats’ freshman goaltender, was the coolest of all. She turned aside shots from in close and shots from far away, all taken by the visiting Madison Metro Lynx of Middleton. Detert gave her teammates time as they endured a relentless forecheck and fought through some rough defensive tactics. The Wildcats scored finally, at 11:51 of the second period. They eventually forged further ahead, and won the non-conference game 5-0.
Detert made 21 saves in the game and captured a well-deserved shutout as a result. Her counterpart on the Lynx, sophomore Sydney McKersie, stopped 19 of the 24 shots the Wildcats took at her. Senior Caitlin McBride and junior Nicole Unsworth each scored twice for the Wildcats. Freshman Lexi Epperson also scored a goal.
“The Lynx are a tough team,” said Jacob Haury, USM’s head coach. “They gave a good game. They swarmed us in our defensive zone, but our girls were able to handle the pressure. The first period was scoreless, but all year we’ve gotten better in the second and third period. We did again tonight. I’m proud of the way the girls played this weekend against two good teams, Bay Area last night and the Lynx today. We have two more like it this coming week when we play Fox Cities on Thursday and then the Central Wisconsin Storm next Saturday. We’ve faced difficult tasks all year, and this team has made it through, but it won’t be easy; we’ll need to get ready.”
After being tightly checked for most of the opening two periods, Unsworth was finally able to get free enough to score the Wildcats first goal, 11:51 into the second period. Backchecking, freshman Claire Ali knocked the puck to freshman defenseman Libby Hennelly who chipped it off the glass into center ice. Unsworth swept towards it and gathered it up like she was shopping for a tasty meal. She skated into the Lynx’ zone fending off a checker as she did. Moving toward the defensemen, she made a quick stickhandle, looked to shoot, but hesitated momentarily. That slight delay froze the defenders and McKersie. Unsworth took advantage and fired the puck into the net to give her team the lead.
The first goal appeared to break the scoring ice for the Wildcats, giving them confidence. They began to pressure the Lynx more relentlessly. It caused the Lynx to take two penalties late in the second period, giving the Wildcats a chance to score a power play goal.
The Wildcats set up in the Lynx’ zone and began moving the puck around. Pulling the puck from a crowd battling in the right corner, McBride passed it to senior Hannah Koniar at the center of the blue line. McBride sprinted to the net as Koniar began to shoot. Koniar’s shot hit McKersie’s pads. McBride pulled it from them, stepped to the side, turned, and lifted the puck over the sprawling goalie at 14:59.
Encouraged, the Wildcats went into the locker room and reinforced their team confidence. They came out and added three more goals to their total in the third period.
They made the score 3-0 at 3:58. Hennelly got the puck on a center ice regroup and flipped it up the boards to Unsworth. Near the Lynx’ blue line, a defender took the puck away. Undaunted Unsworth was not to be denied. She lifted the defender’s stick, took the puck back, and skated away. Like thunder clouds on radar video, she circled, skating behind the net and all the way back into the high slot. She gave the defense time to crowd in front to help their goalie. The deleterious effect, however, was that they screened McKersie. She didn’t see Unsworth’s shot from the slot as it sailed past her shoulder.
The score became 4-0 at 9:05. Once again the Wildcats got the puck into the Lynx’ zone and passed it as they sought a scoring opportunity. McBride corralled a loose puck in the low slot and passed it to junior defenseman Delaney Weiss at the center point. Weiss immediately took a low slap shot. Epperson tipped it up and past McKersie.
McBride scored the Wildcats’ final goal on a beautiful play near the end of the game. It happened while the Wildcats were shorthanded. After a save by Detert, McBride snared the rebound and took off on an end-to-end rush. Like the wind in a desert storm, she blew past one defender on the right side in center ice, swirled to left around another opponent inside the Lynx’ blue line. From the center of the zone, she took a shot. The puck fluttered like a knuckleball, eluding McKersie at 13:46.
As a result of the victory USM is now 15-3-1 and 5-0-1 in the Eastern Shores Conference. The Metro Lynx are now 11-4-3 and 6-1 in the Badger Conference. The Wildcats play the Fox Cities Stars in an important Eastern Shores Conference game at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 28th at the Tri-County Ice Arena in Neenah.
