There was nothing unlucky about the Bay Area Ice Bears thirteenth straight win Friday night at Marathon Park in Wausau. Playing on a neutral site, the Chippewa Falls-Menomonie Sabers gave a gritty effort in a game that entered the third period a scoreless tie. CFM Junior goalie Aubrie Dowd weathered the Ice Bears persistent attacks denying all twenty-one shots over the first two periods.

Playing with ten skaters finally caught up with the Sabers as Bay Area erupted for two goals in the first two minutes of the final period that ended in another convincing Ice Bears win, 4-1. The state’s top ranked team is now 17-1 and has allowed a meager fourteen goals on the season. The only game they have allowed more than two goals was a 7-5 win over Gentry Academy.

Sabers Head Coach Mikayla Hogan discovered what every team has experienced against the Bears, their extremely deep bench and the fortress they build around their net. “Bay Area is strong top to bottom, it felt like they had an endless supply of fresh legs,” said the first-year head coach. “That defensive unit is tough, no wonder they’re giving up only eleven shots a game.”

The first two periods showcased Dowd’s focus and the air-tight defense played by the Ice Bears. CFM managed just seven shots over the first thirty-four minutes. Bears goalie Reese Spiering was also perfect stopping all seven.

CFM’s best opportunity came late in the second period when the Bears took back-to-back penalties at 14:48 and 15:56. Freshman center Avery Lindstrom won several consecutive draws as the Sabers powerplay manufactured some scoring chances. Lindstrom tried to tuck a rebound in from the side of the net after a Rhylee Buesgen shot and took another face-off right to the net where Spiering made the save. Addison Dahl came up with a key blocked shot as CFM’s Ashley Slupe drove one toward the net. What could have been a big momentum shift for CFM ended unsuccessfully.

While the Sabers gas tank teetered on empty, Bay Area shifted to a higher gear scoring two quick goals in the first two minutes of the third period. Hannah Von Haden, perhaps an underrated piece of the Bears offense, ripped a wrist shot past Dowd’s glove from the dot and Julianne Bradford dumped a rebound from a Faye Brunke shot into an empty net and it was suddenly 2-0 Ice Bears.

“We made some changes in the third period that worked out for us,” according to Bears Head Coach Mike Buchan.

Later, at 7:23, Bradford would score and almost identical rebound goal from Emily Bill’s point shot.

Olivia Herr ended Spiering’s shutout bid when she scored on a nice pass from Allison Xu. Lindstrom and Xu kept an offensive zone possession alive with some good corner work leading to the goal.

Bay Area completed the scoring when Bradford telegraphed a perfect pass to Brunke streaking through the neutral zone. Brunke, split the defense with her speed and beat Dowd through the five-hole. It was her 19th goal of the season. Dowd finished with thirty-four saves, tying her single game high for the season.

“We went in with a game plan and executed it well for two periods, but we ran out of gas and lost our focus a bit in the third,” said Hogan. “We were impressed with their ability to stretch the ice from the defensive zone and didn’t make the adjustments needed to mitigate their opportunities generated through it.”  

“I think that CFM had a great game,” Buchan said. “We are fortunate and have a great group of girls that have put themselves in a good spot and we get everyone’s best game when we play opponents. It forces both teams to not take a shift off. We would like to see some quicker starts for our group, and we will continue to work towards that.”

Three Stars of the Game

1-CFM-Dowd, 2-BA-Bradford, 3-BA-Brunke

Blue Collar: CFM-Team, BA-Dahl