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Storm, Ice Bears settle for 1-1 tie

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 01/28/17, 11:00PM CST

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Central Wisconsin wins shot battle, 43-6


Coming into the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Game of the Week, those 'in the know' expected a low-scoring, low shot game between top-ranked Central Wisconsin and fifth-ranked Bay Area Saturday afternoon.

Well, they got half of it right.

Before an estimated 300 witnesses at Cornerstone Community Center Rink 1, the Storm and the Ice Bears battled to a 1-1 tie after 59 minutes of play. The part they got wrong was the shots: Storm 43, Ice Bears 6.

What happened?

The Storm were finishing up a six game, 16-day road trip in which they faced five top-ten teams. They were 5-0 prior to today's matchup. They also were without second-leading scorer senior Katelynn Schilling, lost to a broken thumb suffered last Monday against Eau Claire-Altoona.

On the Ice Bears' side of the ledger, they were missing senior defensemen Morgan Zirbel and Ashley Raisbeck. Also on the sidelines due to injury was junior forward Jordyn Kadrlik. This threesome represented 18 goals and 35 points.

"We knew coming into a  game like this with three girls injured it was going to be a battle and that we would need some girls to step up," said Bay Area coach Brandon Erkkila.

But today, one girl that stepped up for sure was Ana Holzbach.

"Ana Holzbach played solid for us like she always does," noted Erkkila.

The first period saw back-and-forth play, but even though the visitors held a 10-0 shot advantage in the period, the score was 0-0 after 17 minutes of play.

Central Wisconsin (16-3-1) had a pair of good chances early in the period, but Eden Gruber airmailed a semi-bustout and then a minute later, Holzbach made a nice stop on a 2-on-1 rush.

"I'm sure there was frustration because we weren't putting the puck in the net," said Storm coach Pete Susens. "But you have to fight through that and realize that as the game gets longer and longer, absolutely every play is important." 

Two minutes later the Storm cashed in during a 3-on-2, when Katelyn Ramthun fired a shot from the low right circle that beat the Bay Area goalie for the 1-0 lead. Sammie Brown and Taylor Treu assisted on the play.

The Storm had a power play opportunity in the middle of the period, but the Ice Bears, living up to their 95% PK rating, held fast for two minutes and kept the score at 1-0.

That's how the period ended, and it could have been worse for the home team, but Holzbach stopped 16 of 17 shots to keep the margin at one. Storm goalie Chloe Westberg recorded her first save with five seconds left in the period.

The third period was prolonged by ten minutes as the officials waited to have the ice set up, as it was a tad wet on the ends. Both teams were allowed to skate during the delay.

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The hosts nearly tied the game two minutes in but Mia Dunning's shot from the left point clanked off the left post harmlessly into the corner.

In the middle of the period, Gruber returned the favor with her second near-miss, this one off the right post from the right dot.

Then the Ice Bears (16-2-3) gave the home crowd something to cheer about when Autumn Klemencic re-directed a point shot past Westberg for her seventh goal of the season. Dunning and Dani Reince earned helpers on the play.

"Our girls just never gave up and we were able to get one in," said Erkkila.

"They scored a goal because we weren't set up right in the d-zone on the faceoff," said Susens. "They won the draw, made two passes and scored on a shot from the point."

Bay Area called a time-out with 4:36 left prior to a power play and almost took the lead, but just as a post is the goalie's best friend, it is the shooter's worst enemy, as Reince found out as her shot from close-in pinged off the right upright.

Four minutes later, the horn sounded on a 1-1 tie and the teams took a three-minute breather before embarking on a fourth period of hockey.

"We had them down," stated Susens. "But we didn't keep them down."

The only major scoring chance in the overtime was a 3-on-2 break by the Storm, but Holzbach made her 41st save of the game to keep it tied with 2:10 left. A minute later, Ramthun was sent to the ice but no penalty was called, much to the consternation of the Storm bench and players on the ice.

Seventy seconds later, the teams lined up for handshakes after a 1-1 tie. Shots were 6-1, Storm, in the eight minutes of play.

Westberg made five saves while Holzbach finished with 42 in a great effort.