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USM girls grab 7-0 victory over Lightning

By Tom Geilfuss, USM Assistant Coach, 02/18/17, 8:00PM CST

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Dedert and Strother combine for shutout


Shooting and scoring was not always easy during the regular season for the members of the University School co-op girls’ hockey team.  That wasn’t the case for the Wildcats in the opening round of the state tournament playoffs.  The Wildcats outshot the Lakeshore Lightning 49-24 and outscored their North Shore neighbor 7-0 in a Sectional 4 Regional Final in the WIAA state tournament playoffs on Friday, February 17th at USM.

Sophomore goaltender Marie Dedert played 45:30 seconds for the Wildcats; she and junior Juliana Strother, who replaced her, combined for the shutout.  Dedert made 21 saves, while Strother stopped all 3 shots she faced.

The Wildcats wasted little time putting a number on the scoreboard.  In the USM zone, senior defenseman Delaney Weiss sent a breakout pass along the right boards to junior Abby Hentzen.  Hentzen immediately moved the puck to her line mate sophomore Gaby Turer who was moving into center ice.  The puck tipped off Turer’s stick toward the Lakeshore zone. Turer outraced a defenseman for it, controlled it, moved to the lower right circle, and took an off-angle shot.  Lakeshore’s freshman goalie, Jaden Mirek, stopped it, but the rebound popped out to the low slot.  Looking like she was on a drive-by mission, sophomore Karly Lamoreaux skated through and took a backhand shot that went into the net just 23 seconds into the game.

The Wildcats increased their lead late in the period.  Taking a faceoff in the Lightning’s end, junior Megan McPike drew the puck back to junior defenseman Hannah Gold.  From the top of the right circle, Gold took a shot.  The puck hit a player and caromed to McPike in the low slot.  She immediately buzzed a backhander at Mirek.  The rebound bounced to the right and onto the stick of USM sophomore, Lexie Epperson.  Epperson’s quick backhander beat Mirek at 15:46.

The Wildcats made it 3-0 early in the second period.  Sophomore defenseman Libby Hennelly collected a loose puck behind the USM net and beamed a hard clearing pass off the right boards.  The puck careened past a Lakeshore defenseman and slid toward the Lakeshore zone.  Like a dragster at full throttle, Turer roared past the defender and picked up the puck near the Lakeshore blue line.  She raced down the slot.  As she neared the crease she discharged a shot that flew past Mirek at 1:35.

WiPH Game Summaries

A five-on-three power play goal at 12:50 gave the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.  As they controlled the puck in the Lightning’s end, Weiss passed the puck along the blue line to Hennelly.  Hennelly sent a diagonal cross-slot pass to sophomore Hannah Neudorfer in the left circle.  Neudorfer took a shot.  As a defender lifted Epperson’s stick in front of Mirek, the rebound dropped into the crease.  Neudorfer dashed in and made sure it went into the net.

The Wildcats scored another goal late in second period.  Angling a defender in the left corner of the Lightning’s zone, Epperson forced her opponent to ill-advisedly send the puck to Weiss at the near point.  With the eye of an owl, Weiss spotted Neudorfer move unmarked into the high slot. Weiss sent her a tape-to-tape pass.  Neudorfer turned and fired a low shot through a screen and past Mirek at 15:12.

The Wildcats went ahead by six goals early in the third period.  As they cycled the puck in the Lakeshore end, Neudorfer won a battle for it in the right corner and backhanded a pass to McPike in the near circle.  McPike twirled toward the net. As she skated across the top of the crease, she unleashed a backhand shot.  Mirek stopped it.  The rebound dropped near her pads.  Epperson took a poke at it forcing the puck to skitter across the crease.  Instead of jabbing at it, McPike wisely pulled the puck away from Mirek, then flipped a shot over the goalie’s pads at 2:22.

The six-goal lead put the clock on running time.  The Wildcats didn’t have much time, but like excited shoppers crowding through a department store’s revolving store, they weren’t ready to stop.  They added another goal to their total just a few minutes later.  Sophomore defenseman Michaela Fritz got a loose puck inside the USM zone and skated out with it.  She hustled down the right boards, and swung behind the Lakeshore net.  As she came out the other side, she passed the puck to McPike who was battling for a parking space in front.  The puck bounced off McPike toward the right circle.  Epperson reached for it and adroitly fired a wrist shot into the net at 5:07.

The loss ended Lakeshore’s season.  The Lightning concluded with a 7-16 record.  The win gave the Wildcats the opportunity to move further into the playoffs.  On Tuesday, February 21st, they take their 12-11-2 record to the Blue Line Center in Fond du Lac to play Fond du Lac in a Sectional 4 semi-final.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.