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Quick Start Fuels Fusion Victory

By Dan Bauer, WiPH Staff, 01/29/25, 4:15PM CST

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Battling injuries and sickness, the St. Croix Valley Fusion was playing .500 hockey in January with five wins and four losses. Needing a win to keep pace in the Big Rivers Conference race, the teams top goal scorers Morgan Kivel and Jane Volgren stepped up early, each scoring a first period goal in a contentious 2-1 win over Western Wisconsin Stars. The victory created a four-team tie for first place in the conference between the Stars, Fusion, ECA and CFM all with 3-2 marks.

The city of River Falls was a women’s hockey hotbed on Tuesday night. The 6th ranked Western Wisconsin Stars and the 5th ranked St. Croix Valley Fusion faced off at Wildcat Center, and less than a mile away the defending National Champions and #1 ranked River Falls Falcons dropped the puck against 7th ranked Gustavus Adolphus at Hunt Arena. The coaching brotherhood of Matt Cranston of the Fusion and Joe Cranston of the Falcons came up short of a family sweep as the Fusion scored a 2-1 victory while the Falcons came up short in a 3-2 defeat. The Cranston brothers have combined for 920 wins in their dual careers. Joe also coached eight years at Somerset High School before the Falcons job.

It was a rollicking atmosphere as the River Falls Pep Band was on hand at the Wildcat Center. Fusion leading scorer Morgan Kivel got people off their seats at 2:15 into the game when she slipped behind the Stars defense and turned a pass from Captain Lauren Lindus into a breakaway. Kivel faked to her forehand then shoveled a backhander, her 13th goal of the season, past Stars goalie Sierra Andert, for a 1-0 Fusion lead.

Jane Volgren would add to the lead with just under ten minutes in the period on another breakaway. The silky-handed sophomore, pushed the puck through both Stars defenseman, then somehow slide between both finding her way to the net where she pushed a forehand past Andert. The unassisted goal was her seventeenth and the Fusion led 2-0. Chloe Ralston nearly made it 3-0 with ten seconds left in the period, but pushed a backhand wide from the top of the crease.

Western Wisconsin Head Coach Chris Lepper offered no excuses for his teams abysmal first period that rendered just a single shot on goal. “Have to come to play 51 minutes, otherwise you go home with a loss in our conference,” he said after the game.

A different Western Wisconsin team emerged in period two as the Stars would turn the tables outshooting the Fusion 10-5. Goal scoring maven Ashley Jensen got the Stars their first prime chance on a breakaway, a minute into the period. Izzy Johnson knocked a puck ahead that Jensen ran down but couldn’t get past St. Croix goalie Katelyn Gustafson.  A minute later Chloe Julson couldn’t convert a puck from the backdoor. Jensen got her second breakaway of the period, but Gustafson stayed with her as she went to her backhand and made the save. Despite the Stars second period onslaught, the score remained 2-0.

The Fusion took their second penalty of the game at 8:51. The Stars wasted little time as powerplay flanker Gabby Thomsen one-timed a cross-ice feed from Jensen to get the Stars on the board. The Stars got two more powerplays in the period, but the period ended with a 2-1 Fusion lead.

Period three was fast paced with few whistles as the Fusion made the Stars go two-hundred feet every chance they got. St. Croix killed off two more penalties in the final frame with some strong goaltending from Gustafson who improved her record to 8-4. The Baldwin-Woodville sophomore, has stepped into the number one goalie spot due to an injury to senior Anna Woodley, has allowed just two goals in her last four starts. The Fusion has held their opponents to twenty-five or fewer shots in each of those games. Gustafson finished with twenty-two saves.

Although they did not figure in the scoring, the Fusions most impressive line may have been their third line of Ella Stanley, Taya Peterson and Kendra Harmon. The upperclassmen trio of two juniors and a senior have scored but a single goal between them this season, but their high-octane energy and effort was highly visible all night. They were relentless as St. Croix rolled three lines most of the game. Also impressive in her tenacity was Emersyn Lindus, who along with Stanley, were moved up to play for Alexus Ralston and Sophia DeLong who are out with mononucleosis.

Head Coach Matt Cranston agreed, “They were a big part of our win.”

For Western Wisconsin, “A game of missed chances,” lamented Lepper.

St. Croix (11-9) will travel to Hudson (4-15-1) and Fox Cities (11-8) this weekend. The Stars (8-10-1) saw their six-game winning streak come to an end. They will travel to Park Cottage Grove (11-11-2) on Friday to face their ninth Minnesota opponent of the season.  

 

Three Stars of the Game

1-SCV-Kivel, 2-SCV-Gustafson, 3-WW-I.Johnson

Blue Collar: SCV-Stanley, Peterson, Harmon, Lindus

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