The Capitols U16 girls hosted TW U16 for two games at the new Legacy 20 Arena in DeForest on Saturday, October 11.

Dan Ruoho is head coach of the Caps. Ruoho won WIAA State in 1988 with Madison Memorial, he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, and he won the 1991 NCAA Championship with Northern Michigan. Caps U16 assistant coach Joel Marshall coached Verona 16 seasons, winning two WIAA state championships and runner-up three times.

Game one: Caps won 2-1

The two-game series opened on Saturday morning. TW U16 entered the game ranked 3rd and the Caps U16 4th in the Central District, according to myhockeyrankings.com.

The flow of the game was as smooth as a choppy Lake Mendota. Neither team could generate much offense or sustain a series of passes. It wasn’t until five minutes into the second period when the game’s first goal was scored.

The Caps were on a power play and started to pass the puck well. However, in the final seconds of the power play the puck got sent down into the Caps zone. The Caps goalie made an errant pass that went to Aisling Buchan of the Bay Area Ice Bears. Buchan fired the puck into the back of the net for a shorthanded goal and gave TW a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later Eleanor Porter of the Caps tied it with a shot that appeared to hit TW goalie Camille Flohr of the Central Wisconsin Storm, bounced up and into the net. Porter’s goal was assisted by Sydney Moskol and Eliana Reimer. The second period ended 1-1.

The game stayed tied until 4 minutes remained on the clock. Sydney Moskol scored to give the Caps a 2-1 lead and the win. Moskol’s goal was assisted by Eleanor Porter. “We were in the O zone, my teammate was on the boards and got me the puck, I took the shot, got my rebound and scored.” Sydney Moskol, Caps U16

Game two: Caps won 3-1

Game two of the TW/Caps series was a faster paced, better flow, and more precise passing game than the morning. Much better puck movement by both teams in this game.

With congestion in front of the TW net, a deflected shot, and a rebound, the Caps went up 1-0 a little over four minutes into the first period when smooth handed Brooke Lakowske, sister of TW 18 player Calvin Lakowske, scored with an assist from Eleanor Porter.

The first period ended with the Caps up 1-0.

Six minutes into the second period the Caps went up 2-0 when Elin Martin scored with a nice assist from Claire Napier.

TW cut the lead in half four minutes later when Hayward’s Olivia Webster ripped a shot top shelf. Webster gained speed in the neutral zone, blasted past the Caps left D, cut towards the slot and fired the puck to get TW on the board. Webster’s goal was assisted by Olivia Merritt of the Fox Cities Stars.

The second period ended with the Caps up 2-1.

The Caps increased their lead to 3-1 a little over a minute into the third period when Taylor Schmidt received a beautiful pass from Kara Grudzinski and sniped a shot top shelf. Schmidt’s goal was assisted by Grudzinski and Emma Wipperfurth.

Neither team scored again the remaining 14 minutes of the third period. The final score was Caps 3, TW 1. These two teams will face each other in the March Tier 1 Playdowns.

TW 16 girls are coached by Leah Schaar and Hunter Mans. For more information regarding TW, please visit www.teamwisconsin.net

Yours for hockey,

Matt Carey