Mother Nature was last weeks big winner freezing out and shutting down six games on Tuesday.
However, that didn’t keep some of the Lakeshore Lightning girls from showing up at the rink to help with some youth hockey practices. Always great to see high school athletes, the role models for our youth players, making themselves available.
Two games did brave the cold weather. ECA made the trip to Hudson where they picked up a 3-2 Big Rivers Conference win. Hudson scored a pair of powerplay goals. ECA’s Lauryn Eckloff broke the 2-2 tie with a third period game winner. The Raiders continue to show improvement despite losing their last eight games. In that span they lost four straight by a single goal, including a 3-2 loss to second ranked Superior. Eighth-year Head Coach Matt Szypura has taken his team to state three times, and they could be a dangerous team come playoff time.
Black River Falls pulled off the upset of the week when they edged the Fusion 2-1 at Milt Lunda Memorial Arena. Mara Noth scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal into an empty net with just over a minute to play. Alexa Moore had nineteen saves for the Tigers. St. Croix Valley sandwiched a pair of 7-0 wins over Red Wing, Minnesota and USM around the BRF loss. Jane Volgren scored four goals in the two games, giving her sixteen on the season. Katelyn Gustafson earned both shutouts and only allowed one goal in three games last week.
With their next win, the Lakeshore Lightning can tie their school record of fourteen set in 2015.
Maddy Gilson scored just her fourth goal of the season in overtime to lift Fond du Lac past WVU, 3-2. The Warbirds improved to 15-4 on the season. It was the seventh loss in the last nine games for the Union. Caitlin Ryan scored the first two goals of the game, eleven seconds apart, and her first two goals of the season as WVU beat Northland Pines 6-0.
Fox Cities put 41 shots on ECA’s Evie Pritzl in a 4-0 Stars win at Hobbs in Eau Claire on Friday. Saturday Bay Area won their fourteenth straight game 3-1 over ECA. The Stars became the first team all season to reach twenty shots on goal versus the Ice Bears. Faye Brunke scored twice for Bay Area. After a gritty 4-1 loss to Bay Area, CFM rebounded with a big 3-2 victory over Fox Cities. Ashley Slupe netted the game winner, on the powerplay, for the Sabers. Aubrie Dowd topped her thirty-four save performance in the loss to Bay Area with a forty-seven save effort to stymie the Stars. CFM will be another interesting team to watch when Section Two playoffs begin.
Hayward hammered USM 9-1 behind a hat trick by Olivia Webster and a pair of goals each from Reese Sheehan and defenseman Zandra Land. They finished the week with 5-3 win over Hudson. Sheehan scored two more and has twenty-four goals for the year.
It was a busy week for the Arrowhead Warhawks. They shut down USM 2-0 then lost 4-2 to Beaver Dam. Emily Smedema had 35 saves for the Beavers and freshman Brenna Rhodes a goal and two assists. At 12-6, Beaver Dam has won eleven of their last thirteen. The Warhawks finished the week with a 7-2 victory over Rock County paced by Paxtyn Showers four-point game. Macy Murphy scored both goals for the Fury.
The Coulee Region Cyclones got a pure hat trick from Onalaska senior Gianna Snachez in a 3-0 win over Stoughton. Ainka Mueller was fantastic with a 41 save performance for the Icebergs.
After being frozen out of a game on Tuesday, the Central Wisconsin Storm will play only four games in the final four weeks of the season. That will include a home date with Superior, February 8th and a trip to Green Bay on February 15th to play the Ice Bears.
Sami Bramstedt stayed red hot leading Viroqua to their second win, 3-1 over Cap City. Cougars forward Olivia Dull is having a nice season with seventeen goals. Bramstedt had 52 saves in the win and has stopped 150 of the last 155 shots she has faced.
Adalyn Benson had a four-assist game as Superior skated past Hibbing/Chisholm 4-1.
Western Wisconsin defeated Hopkins/Park, Minnesota 4-1 to improve their record across the border to 3-5. The Stars have quietly won six straight. They will face a huge Section Two showdown with the Fusion, Tuesday night in River Falls.
The state’s top assist leaders as we head into the final three weeks looks like this: 1-Madeline Kelter, CWS-24, followed by six players all tied with nineteen. Addison Dahl, Emily Bill, Julianne Bradford--Bay Area, Adalyn Benson—Superior, Gabi Heuser and Ava Rode—CWS.
Finally, a preview of what I have uncovered in the quest to piece together the history of WIAA Girl’s Hockey. Still more programs to hear from. Here is the current list of the All- Time Leading Point Scorers.
1 |
Theresa Knutson |
Onalaska |
395 |
2 |
Abigail Stow |
ECA |
331 |
3 |
Anna Wilgren |
Hudson |
291 |
4 |
Markie Ash |
Waupaca/WVU |
249 |
5 |
Hadley Malcolmson |
Brookfield |
231 |
6 |
Madelynn Jablonski |
Fox Cities |
226 |
7 |
McKayla Zilisch |
Fox Cities |
221 |
8 |
Alice Cranston |
St. Croix Valley |
220 |
9 |
Maddie Rowe |
St. Croix Valley |
218 |
10 |
Ava Kison |
ECA |
212 |
Upcoming Game of the Week
Western Wisconsin (8-9-1) vs St. Croix Valley Fusion (10-8) at Wildcat Center—River Falls 7:00pm