In the opening round of the Eastern Shores Conference Tournament, the University School co-op girls’ hockey team lost to the Warbirds/Beaver Dam co-op 6-1 on Thursday, February 1st at the Mullett Center at Arrowhead High School in Hartland.
The Wildcats outshot the Warbirds 26-25 in the game, but they could only get one past the Warbirds’ goalie, Abby Okon. Meanwhile the Warbirds found the net with 6 of their shots.
“I thought we played well in the first period,” said Dan Carey, USM’s head coach. “But we didn’t match the Warbirds’ intensity in the second and third periods. I give them credit; they played a good game. Our girls need to play with more intensity for three full periods from now on.”
As Carey indicated, the Wildcats opened strong. They outshot their opponent 8-4 in the first period, which ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Warbirds scored the game’s first goal late in the period. On a regroup in center ice, Drew Deanovich took a pass from TJ Lindemann and skated into the USM zone on the left side. As she moved into the circle, she fired a shot into the far upper corner over the glove of Juliana Strother, the Wildcats’ goaltender at 14:28.
The Wildcats tied it on a power play in the period’s final minute. Off a face off in the Warbirds left circle, Karly Lamoreaux gained the puck, swung into the slot and fired at Okon. The rebound toppled behind the net. Lexie Epperson raced to it and passed it to Jordan Bonk who was moving out of the right corner. Bonk bopped the puck between Okon and the near post at 16:25.
Deanovich scored the eventual game winner at 6:39 of the second period. Alyssa Heim took a faceoff in the Wildcats’ right circle and won it back to Deanovich at the near point. Deanovich fired quickly, lining her shot into the net.
The Warbirds made it 3-1 late in the second period. Lauren Huettl stopped a USM rush at the Warbirds blue line, skated through center ice, and dumped the puck behind the Wildcats’ net. Hattie Verstegen won a battle for it and zipped it into the slot to Heim who immediately shot it into Strother’s pads. Maike Zipp, who was helping the forecheck behind the net, slipped around the net and came out front unchecked. Zipp snapped the loose puck into the open side at 14:54.
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The Warbirds added another goal to their total while on a 5-on-3 power play in the final seconds of the period. Heim got the puck deep in the Wildcats zone and swung out into the left circle. She passed the puck to Deanovich at the far point and Deanovich shot it into Strother’s pads. Verstegen was at the post and jammed at the puck several times. It popped loose behind the net. Verstegen retrieved it and passed it back out to Deanovich. Once again, she fired. The rebound off the goalie’s pads caromed to Heim who was all alone on the left side of the net. She quickly shot the loose puck into the opening for the goal at 16:48.
The Warbirds scored two more goals in the third period. At 9:17 Mary Skroupa intercepted a Wildcats’ clearing attempt at the Wildcats’ blue line. Skroupa skated in, rounded a defender, and fired a shot from the right circle. She kept going, got the rebound near the crease, and flipped it past Strother to give the Warbirds a commanding 5-1 lead.
The Warbirds scored their final goal on a power play at 15:04. As they moved the puck around the Wildcats’ zone, Zipp got the puck on the left mid-boards. She skated into the circle and passed it across the slot to the far post to Verstegen, who moved toward the goal and fired. The rebound came to Huettl who was unguarded out front. Huettl backhanded it into the net to help move the 16-5 Warbirds into the Easter Shores Conference Tournament’s championship game against the Fox Cities Stars at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 3rd at the Ozaukee Ice Center in Cedarburg.
USM is now 14-8. The Wildcats play the Bay Area Ice Bears in the third-place game of the conference tournament at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 3rd at the Ozaukee Ice Center at 2:00 p.m.
