The Fox Cities Stars scored four goals in the second period to defeat the University School co-op girls’ hockey team 4-0 in an Eastern Shores Conference game on Friday, January 31st at USM.

The Stars dominated the first period, outshooting the Wildcats 15-2, but USM’s goaltender, Sami Stommel turned every shot aside.  Stommel played well throughout the entire contest, making a total of 42 saves. Meanwhile, the Wildcats barely tested her counterpart Ella Sciborski who stopped all 10 shots that the Wildcats were able to put into her pads in front of the Fox Cities net.

The Stars finally put one of their shots past Stommel in the opening seconds of the second period.  Maddy Jablonski gained control of the puck in center ice and skated into the Wildcats' zone along the right boards.  She dodged a defenseman then took a shot from the right circle.  Mckayla Zilisch had rushed to the net, and the puck hit her skate.  It bounced into the slot as Jablonski skated there.  Jablonski then fired a low shot into the net at 0:40. Hannah Hiltunen was also awarded an assist on the play.

Fox Cities went ahead by two goals a couple of minutes later.  Defenseman Gwen Gillard pinched in from the blue line and prevented a breakout by the Wildcats.  The puck skipped down the right boards to Teagan Dickman.  Dickman spun, avoided a defenseman’s reach, and skated into the circle.  She ripped a shot into the far side of the net at 3:00.

The Stars scored again at 7:29.  Taking a faceoff in the Wildcats’ left circle, Izzy Murphy drew the puck back to Emma Webster at the point.  Webster wristed a low shot toward the net.  Murphy tipped it to the side, and Riley Maulik tapped it in.

The game’s final goal came at 14:00 of the second period. Gillard got the puck in center ice and skated toward the Wildcats’ goal.  Just inside the blue line, she fired a shot on Stommel and kept going.  The rebound skittered right back to Gillard who whizzed her second shot past the goalie, giving the Stars a 4-0 lead.

The Wildcats played valiantly and kept the Stars from scoring in the final period.  But the Wildcats’ scoring woes continued, and they were not able to muster enough shots to make a difference.

Dan Carey, USM’s head coach, was disappointed but said, “I like the way we competed tonight.  Fox Cities is a very good team and Sami played a great game.   We need to be ready for a big game tomorrow against Wisconsin Valley Union.”

Fox Cities is now 15-5 and 6-1 in the Eastern Shores Conference.  The Stars play the Western Wisconsin Stars in a non-conference game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 14th at the Somerset Ice Arena in Somerset.

USM is 4-11-4 and 2-2-2 in the Eastern Shores Conference.  The Wildcats play the Wisconsin Valley Union in an Eastern Shores Conference game at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday February 1st in Stevens Point.