Third-ranked Central Wisconsin Storm might have been looking past the Point-Rapids Red Panthers on a very chilly Thursday evening at the South Wood County Rec Center, as the two teams skated off the ice after the first period with the game scoreless.

Coach Denny Drake voiced his frustration during the first break, and his squad took it to heart, scoring twice in the second and three times in the final stanza for a 5-1 victory over the home team.

After a stirring rendition of our National Anthem by LHS junior Sarah Spaulding, the teams took the ice.

The first period saw no scoring, as the Storm outshot the Red Panthers by a margin of 8-5.

Kylie Gazzolo opened the scoring with her put-back from the low left side to make it 1-0 at the 4:32 mark of the second, with Emilee Mytinger and Alex Guenther getting assists on the play.

The Storm lead would stretch to 2-0 just over seven minutes later.

Twelve seconds after a Red Panther penalty, Sarah Poirier knocked home a rebound with assists to Myranda Hayes and Rachel Babiarz for the power play goal at the 5:23 mark.

The Storm held a commanding 17-7 shot advantage in the period.

The majority of the third period was back-and-forth hockey with neither team scoring until the Storm got a rebound goal from Kelly Knetter at the 13:35 mark to make it 3-0, with assists to Guenther and Megan Marlowe. 

Just 22 seconds later, Knetter once again knocked in a loose puck to increase the lead to four goals. Marlowe and Guenther once again earned helpers on the play.

With nothing left but to spoil the shutout, the hosts did just that when Brianne Huettner knocked in a rebound  from the right side at the 15:41 mark, with an assist to Nicole Hassig to cut the lead to 4-1.

The euphoria in the building was short-lived, as Knetter earned her hattie with a goal at 16:15, with an assist to Guenther, for her fourth assist. This came remarkably after Guenther was helped off the ice after getting hit in the throat by a stick or a puck early in the game.

The Storm outshot the hosts 13-7 in the period.

Lisa Fowle, playing in first game of the year for the Storm, stopped 18 of 19 shots in earning the win. Emily Bubla made 33 saves on the other end for the Red Panthers.

The Storm (13-3) will have a busy weekend, as they travel to Baldwin Friday to take on #4 St. Croix Valley Fusion for a re-match of the 2011 state title game, and then host the Stoughton co-op at Mosinee on Saturday afternoon.

For the Red Panthers--who drop to 7-9--it's out of the frying pan and into the fire as they challenge top-ranked Onalaska Saturday afternoon at the K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point.