In the second round of the Girls Hockey Classic Tournament, the University School co-op girls’ hockey team defeated Waupaca 4-1 on Friday, December 9th at USM.
The Wildcats forged ahead 2-0 in the first period, allowed Waupaca to score but skillfully killed off a five-minute major penalty in the second period, added two goals in the third period, and with the victory worked their record above .500 for the first time this season.
Describing the game, senior defenseman Delaney Weiss, one of the USM captains, went right to the point, “We got better as the game went on and made some really nice team plays.”
The Wildcats scored their first goal while on a power play. From inside the USM zone, sophomore Karly Lamoreaux sent the puck into to center ice where it tipped off the stick of junior Abby Hentzen and sent deep into the Waupaca end. Sophomore Michela Fritz and junior Megan McPike raced after it. McPike won the race, corralled the puck along the goal line, then backhanded it away from a defender into the left corner to Fritz. She calmly skated out and fired a low-angle shot past sophomore Anna Ryder, Waupaca’s goalie, at 6:46.
Less than two minutes later the Wildcats increased their lead. Junior Hannah Gold retrieved the puck in center ice and sped into the Waupaca zone with sophomore Gaby Turer. Avoiding a defender, Gold passed the puck to Turer. Turer moved closer to the Waupaca net, then passed the puck back to Gold, who immediately shoveled the puck into the net at 8:13.
Waupaca tightened the score with a goal early in the second period. The Waupaca players controlled the puck in the Wildcats’ zone. Freshman Cadie Ash obtained the puck in the right corner and passed it to junior Kylie Hiddemen on the near mid-boards. A defender closed on Hiddemen and fought for the puck, so Ash skated to the scrum, pulled the puck away, and swerved to the goal line. She skated to the net and jammed the puck between the goalpost and the Wildcats’ sophomore goaltender, Marie Dedert at 2:42.
Midway through the second period, Waupaca had a five-minute power play. The Wildcats nullified the advantage, however, with polished and practical penalty-killing.
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The one-goal lead was good, but precarious for the Wildcats as the teams came onto the ice for the third period. The Wildcats took a two-goal lead early in the third period to make the situation more bearable.
In center ice, sophomore defenseman, Libby Hennelly chipped the puck up the right boards to freshman Georgia Sisk. Sisk skated off the boards and backhanded a pass to Lamoreaux at the edge of the Waupaca blue line. Lamoreaux skated into the zone, cut away from a defender into the right circle then wired a shot that beat Ryder on the far side at 5:00.
The Wildcats added another goal to their total while on a power play late in the game. Gold skated the puck deep into the Waupaca zone and put on the brakes behind the Waupaca net. She passed the puck to the right mid-boards to Hentzen, who moved it along to senior Rachel Hoge in the center of the blue line. Hoge gunned a shot that bounced off of Ryder’s pads. Like an approaching storm, Gold swept to the rebound and popped it in at 13:30.
USM is now 4-3-1 and 1-1 in the Eastern Shores Conference. The Wildcats hope to win the tournament outright when they play the Brookfield co-op in an Eastern Shores Conference game on Saturday, December 10th at USM.
