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Neudorfer's hattie leads USM past Glacier

By Tom Geilfuss, USM assistant , 12/07/19, 4:15PM CST

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Seven players score for Wildcats

The University School co-op girls’ hockey team sailed out of the scoring doldrums by defeating the Brookfield Glacier co-op 10-0 in an Eastern Shores Conference game on Friday, December 6th at The Ponds of Brookfield.

Zoe Neudorfer scored a hat trick to lead the Wildcats, who had scored a mere two goals in their first three games of the season. Emily Mueller added two goals to USM’s total.  Layne Diffley, Maggie Mueller, Rachel Gauthier, Jordan Bonk, and Mallory DeLuca each scored one goal for the victors.

Skating relentlessly, the Wildcats fired 51 shots at the Brookfield net.  Mattie Buckett, the Glacier’s goalie, stopped 41 of them.  Sami Stommel started in goal for the Wildcats. Stommel made 12 saves in two periods.  Anna Schultz completed the shutout by stopping all 10 shots the Glacier players took in the game’s final frame.

Meissner, who is one of USM’s captains, said, “Tonight’s game was a huge success. It was amazing to get our first win of the season. We were able to get more players out and work on systems, which will help us against other teams. It was a good game and a good chance for many to get game experience. Hopefully we can take this win and build on it tomorrow and the rest of the season.”

Diffley started the Wildcat’s scoring with a goal early the game.  Bonk stole the puck from a defender in the Glacier’s left corner. She circled around the near circle then zipped a pass to Diffley who was all alone in the slot.  Diffley swiftly buried the puck in the netting behind Buckett at 4:30 of the first period.

Neudorfer scored the first of her three goals a few minutes later.  Backing up a pinching defenseman, Rachel Gauthier got the puck at the edge of the Brookfield blue line on the right side.  She dumped it deep into the far corner.  Neudorfer raced in, collected it, and skated behind the Glacier net.  She spun out along the top of the right circle then fired a rising shot past Buckett at 8:52.

The Wildcats scored three more goals in the second period. Mueller scored the first of these.  As the Wildcats forechecked, Bonk got the puck in the right corner then passed it toward the point. Defenseman Julia Schmitt pinched in and received the puck along the right boards.  She shot it netward.  Mueller caught the in-coming puck in the slot.  Like she was exiting a crowded freeway, she skated away from the players in front of the net toward the blue line. She then deftly turned and quickly released a high shot that flew past Buckett at 7:06.

WiPH Game Summaries

The Wildcats made it 4-0 a little over a minute later.  Behind the Brookfield net, Neudorfer knocked the puck to her line mate, Molly Guenther.  Guenther skated toward the left corner.  She turned and passed the puck to Meissner at the top of the slot.  Meissner one-timed a shot into the net up where your mother hides the Christmas presents.  Time of the goal was 8:39.

The clock went on running time late in the third period when the Wildcats made it 6-0.  Helen Bechtold stopped a Glacier clearing attempt at the right point.  She bumped into a defender and released the puck to Gauthier who was down the boards a bit.  Gauthier skated into the low circle and passed the puck to Bechtold who was heading down the slot.  Bechtold passed it across the crease to Natalie Epperson who quickly shot it.  The rebound caromed out to Gauthier who fired puck into the net at 15:04.

The Wildcats liked scoring, so they kept at it in the third period.  They scored again at 2:25 when Bonk outraced a Glacier defender for the puck in the Brookfield right corner.  Bonk wheeled around the top of the near circle and came down the slot.  As she moved in, she fired a shot off the post and into the net.

Neudorfer scored the next two goals.  From the left point in the Brookfield end, Lily Valimont sent the puck along the boards into the right corner.  Guenther won a battle for it and centered the puck to Nuedorfer in the low slot.  Neudorfer snapped it in at 4:43.

She scored again just a few seconds later.  Guenther chased down a loose puck along the left boards.  She turned and fired it toward the net.  The puck glanced off of Neudorfer’s skate and careened into the net at 5:12.

The Wildcats quickly scored again.  Forechecking forcefully behind the net, Bechtold knocked the puck away from a defenseman.  It skittered to the left corner to DeLuca, who skated out front and zipped a low shot inside the near post at 5:45.

It was DeLuca’s first varsity goal.  She proudly stated, “It was a feeling of accomplishment, and relief. A goal that I have had for a while now has finally happened.”

Mueller completed the game’s scoring on a textbook zone entry play at 7:42. Bonk collected a loose puck in center ice and skated into the Glacier zone on the left.  Midway in, she sent a cross-slot pass to Diffley.  Diffley then past it to the high slot to Mueller who was skating in as a trailer.  Mueller immediately shot and scored.

After the game, Zoe Uihlein, one of the Wildcats’ other captains commented, “I think the win we had over Brookfield was very important for our team. We were able to work as a team with our systems, and the goals were spread out amongst a lot of our girls. It was a very fun game for all of us, and we hope to keep the energy up for the rest of the season.”

The loss left the Glacier winless with an 0-4 record and an 0-1 mark in the Easter Shores Conference.  Brookfield hosts Wisconsin Valley Union at the Ponds of Brookfield for an Eastern Shores Conference game at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 7th.

USM is now 1-2-1 and 1-0 in the conference.  The Wildcats play the Metro Lynx in a non-conference game at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 7th at USM.