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Bay Area Edges Fox Cities Extends Win Streak to Twelve

By Dan Bauer, WiPH Staff, 01/20/25, 7:00AM CST

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 Tik Tok’s run may be over, but the Bay Area Ice Bears winning streak goes on.

While the Ice Bears and Fox Cities Stars each had a full complement of players on Saturday night at the Tri-County Arena in Neenah, it came down to a one-on-one battle. Fox Cities Freshman goaltender, Addy Grasse was magnificent all-night stopping every Ice Bear player all night long except one. Junior Bay Area sniper, Faye Brunke was the only player to solve Grasse, and she did so three times completing her hat trick with ninety seconds to play in the Bears 3-1 win.

Grasse finished with 32 saves and Brunke with eighteen goals on the season. 

The energy on the Fox Cities bench was clearly evident as the home team had upset on their agenda. The state’s number one ranked Bears were riding an eleven-game winning streak. Each Stars blocked shot, or icing by Bay Area brought an enthusiastic response from the Stars bench. 

“Everybody pulled the rope,” said Head Coach Blake Hackbarth. “We brought some girls on the bench that were simply there to provide energy and enthusiasm.”

Time and space were at a premium as both teams checked tightly in the opening period. Ironically, it was a Bears icing that set-up the games first great scoring chance. Emily Bill won the ensuing face-off to defenseman Ava McDonald who passed across the front of her net to Julliane Bradford, who taped a pass to a streaking Faye Brunke. Grasse would stop one of five breakaways on the night getting a glove on Brunke’s shot.  The Ice Bears maintained pressure with Bill twice getting to the net on plays from below the goal line and MacDonald getting a point-blank look from between the dots. 

Still scoreless with under a minute to go Aisling Buchan snatched a loose puck in the neutral zone and got in alone on Grasse. The freshman stayed with Buchan making a pad save to keep the game scoreless with her nine first period saves.

When you have been the top ranked team in the state for most of the year, you get every teams best night after night. Bears Head Coach Mike Buchan stayed patient after the first period stalemate, “It took us a period to adjust but after the first period I though our girls played well.”

The teams traded powerplay chances to open the second period. Grasse made a big stop on Buchan from the front of the net after a good keep at the blue line by defenseman Briana Anundsen. Seconds later Buchan set up Hannah Von Haden from the same spot. The Stars got their second powerplay of the period when Von Haden went off for cross-checking at 8:12. A minute into the Stars advantage, Brunke stepped in front of a blue line pass and criss crossed her way past the Stars defenseman, slipping the puck past Grasse for a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 Bears lead.

With a minute of powerplay still remaining, Fox Cities answered when Olivia Merritt sent a perfect pass to Scarlet Pellegrini on the backdoor where she beat Reese Spiering on the short side. It was Pellegrini’s fourth goal of the season and just the third powerplay goal the Ice Bears have allowed all season. Tied at 1-1, the Stars used their momentum to generate back-to-back shifts with good offensive pressure.

The Bay Area top line of Bradford, Bill and Brunke went to work in the periods final few minutes. Brunke would make it 2-1 with a tough angle shot after a Bradford retrieval from below the goal line. The Bears threatened to open the game up with Von Haden firing high from the right dot and Bill ringing a blast off the crossbar. Grasse finished the period with thirteen saves.

The opening third period face-off set the tone for a physical finish. Centers Emily Bill and Lyla Cooke locked up off the draw like two Bighorn sheep and were both quickly sent to the penalty box. 

For first year Head Coach Mike Buchan it was his first Bears-Stars game. “It was our coaching staff's first girls' rivalry game vs Fox Cities and it didn't disappoint.  It was explained to me as a comparison to a rival Packers/Bears contest and it seemed to have many of the same attributes.”

With just over nine minutes to play, Bears defenseman Tiana Stindt caught the Stars in a line change and sent Von Haden in on a short breakaway from the neutral zone. Grasse, from her butterfly, got a glove on the shot keeping the game at 2-1. 

Bay Areas calculated puck possession in the period kept the Stars at bay for most of the final period. Grasse held off a Bears flurry of chances with just under two minutes to play. Addison Dahl’s point shot was blocked, but the loose puck found Emily Bill and then Brunke who stuffed it in from the side of the net putting the final nail in the coffin with ninety seconds to play. 

Grasse finished with a season high 32 saves for the Stars. Spiering stopped 15. “I thought both goaltenders were solid and did their jobs well,” said Buchan. 

The game ended with a skirmish around the Ice Bears net as the bad blood of a prep rivalry spilled a bit of real blood on the nose of Stars sophomore Lyle Cooke. The fans had been treated to an intense, well-played game. 

“That game was simply so much fun to watch as a hockey fan,” an excited Hackbarth declared.  

Buchan offered, “First of all, hats off to Coach Hackbarth and staff having their team well prepared.  I thought the Stars played very well and worked extremely hard; it was a great game to be a part of!”

Buchan continued, “These are great games to be a part of.  You learn a lot about your team and the details of what we need to work on and it was good to work through adversity.   I think both teams come out of that game a step above where we were on Friday.”

Hackbarth was pleased with his teams performance even in defeat. “I’m so proud of my team, we simply told them we were not going to look at the scoreboard or let the outcome dictate our effort.” 

Bay Area (16-1) and Fox Cities (9-7) will both travel west next weekend to play CFM (7-8) and ECA (8-8).   

 

Three Stars of the game:

1-BA-Brunke, 2-FOX-Grasse, 3-BA-Von Haden

Blue Collar- BA-McDonald, FOX-O.Merritt

WiPH Game Summaries