After a week stewing over an upsetting loss, the members of the University School co-op girls’ hockey team were eager to show the Lakeshore Lightning their true colors on Tuesday, January 31st. The Wildcats proceeded to defeat the Lightning 5-0 in a non-conference game at USM.
It was the annual Cancer Awareness game at USM. The Wildcats and Lightning honored people they knew who have suffered various forms of cancer. Many of the Wildcats taped their sticks in pink colored tape, and they played like they were in the pink during the evening's action.
Returning from a week off due to an injury, sophomore goaltender Marie Dedert was personally ready to show she was back in the pink of condition. Dedert stopped all 31 of Lakeshore’s shots to record the shutout, her fourth of the season.
The Wildcats took 41 shots at the Lightning’s freshman goalie, Jaden Mirek. USM Sophomore forward, and team captain, Gaby Turer scored on three of those shots to lead the Wildcats. Junior Megan McPike scored the other two goals for the victors.
Turer explained her hat trick, “I just shot the puck when I had the opportunity and found the back of the net on my better shots.”
McPike smiled and noted, “Gaby had a hat trick. I wanted to get one too.” Shaking her head, McPike added, “I should have made that last shot.” She would have had her own hat trick had she not missed an open net shot in the waning minutes of the game.
The Wildcats opened the game’s scoring early in the first period. Sophomore Hannah Neudorfer skated the puck deep into the Lightning’s zone. A defenseman angled her into the left corner. Like an eagle spotting a salmon, McPike swooped in, picked up the puck, and bopped it into the near circle to Turer. Turer stepped toward the net and released a low, off-angle shot that beat Mirek between her blocker and the post at 5:45.
The score became 2-0 later in the same period. Taking a faceoff in the Lightning’s left corner, McPike punched the puck to the corner. Sophomore Lexie Epperson chased it down and passed it to Neudorfer in the circle. Neudorfer skated toward the net, avoided a check, and fired a close shot at Mirek’s stick. The rebound jumped out front. McPike got it and flipped it over the goalie’s arm at 10:05.
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Trailing by two, the Lightning outplayed the Wildcats in the second period. They kept the Wildcats scoreless and out shot their hosts 12-10. Despite all their efforts, the Lightning were unable to solve Dedert, who kept her cool and kept them from scoring.
Having lost a third period lead to the Lightning back on January 24th, the Wildcats were not about to make the same mistakes again. They dominated play in the third period, outscoring the Lightning 21-6 in the process.
Turer increased the Wildcats’ lead to three midway through the period. In the final seconds of a power play, junior defenseman Hannah Gold collected the puck behind the Wildcats’ net and swiftly passed it to McPike on the right boards. McPike began to skate it out of the zone. As she did, she spotted Turer skating across center ice, and forwarded the puck to her. Turer gave her skates some extra fuel to speed past a defender. As she entered Lakeshore’s right circle, she bulleted a shot over the butt end of Mirek’s stick, high into the far side of the net at 8:21.
Turer completed her hat trick less than a minute later. The Wildcats got the puck into the Lakeshore zone and began to methodically move it around. Eventually Gold pinched down from the point to contain a loose puck. She zipped a pass to Turer in the high slot. Turer stepped closer to the goal then clothes-lined a shot under the bar at 9:18.
McPike seemed to say, “Okay, it’s my turn,” and seconds later she made the score 5-0. Taking the center ice faceoff after Turer’s goal, McPike jabbed the puck to Neudorfer who chipped it deep into the Lakeshore end. Neudorfer and Epperson chased after it. McPike found a wide-open parking space in the slot and watched her line mates skirmish for the puck below the goal line. Epperson controlled it and knocked it to Neudorfer near the net. Neudorfer immediately passed it out front to McPike, who spiked a shot into the upper corner of the net at 9:39.
The Wildcats continued their onslaught for the remainder of the game, making sure to leave the ice as winners.
After the game, Delaney Weiss, the Wildcats’ only senior and a team captain, commented, “We played a great team game and kept the puck in their zone.”
The Wildcats have little time to savor the victory over their North Shore neighbors. They have another recent loss to avenge. They lost a close Eastern Shores Conference game to the Fond du lac Warbirds, the conference’s top team, on January 21st. Now, on Wednesday, February 1st They travel back to Fond du Lac to face the Warbirds in the opening game of the Eastern Shores Conference Tournament. The Wildcats enter the showdown with an 11-9-1 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the conference. The Warbirds come in at 16-2-2 and a 6-1 record in the conference. Game time is 6:00 p.m.
