The Lakeshore Lightning arrived at Marathon Park Tuesday night in Wausau with a 0-8 record in their previous meetings with the Central Wisconsin Storm. The threat of a winter storm hovered outside, and the challenge of the state’s winningest program waited inside. The Lightning brought a bundle of confidence, a hungry young roster and escaped both storms with a hard-fought 2-1 win.

"We knew this was going to be a battle between potentially two of the top teams in the State, and the game didn't disappoint,” said a happy Lightning head coach Dan Wade after the game.

The Storm showed their youthfulness in an uneven first period that saw the Lightning outshoot them 20-5. Senior Anna Gagnon led a defensive core that included three freshman and a sophomore. Up front, head coach Jana Wimmer sent out an all-freshman line of Grace du Vair, Addyson Birkenmeier and Alexandra Brandt. Penalties and turnovers plagued the Storm early, but sophomore goalie Cami Flohr kept the Lightning from striking.

Consecutive penalties by Mataya DePuydt and Ava Whitmore put Lakeshore on a 5 on 3 powerplay late in the period. Flohr made several key saves including a point-blank chance by Cheyenne Mojica. Defenseman Chloe Katsma, quarterbacking the top of the powerplay finally got a shot past Flohr with fifty-eight seconds remaining in the period to give Lakeshore a 1-0 lead. Kennedi Bystol won a clean draw to Olivia Dykema who fed Katsma for a quick shot through a screen by Mojica. It was an important goal for Lakeshore after their dominating first period performance looked like it might end in a demoralizing scoreless tie.  

Period two saw the Storm respond in a big way outshooting the Lightning 14-4. However, neither team found the back of the net and Lakeshore took that 1-0 lead back to the locker room and into the final period.

Central Wisconsin got a great forechecking effort by senior Ava Whitmore and Yirkovsky to set up the game tying goal. Whitmore battled for and won a puck behind the Lakeshore goal line and fired a pass toward the front of the net. The puck deflected off a Lakeshore defenseman’s skate and past an unsuspecting Bowers to tie the game at 1-1.

It may not have been a Wayne Larrivee “dagger”, but when Elizabeth Bowers shut down Jayden Yirkovsky on a breakaway just minutes after the Storm had tied the game, it stopped the momentum of a Storm rally and propelled the Lightning to a 2-1 victory. Yirkovsky, who scored 28 goals a year ago, got a great pass from defenseman Everly Boris and was in on Bowers alone from the blue line. The 2nd Team All-State forward tried to beat Bowers low to the stick side, but the junior netminder made a blocker save to keep the game tied.

With 10:33 to play another Storm turnover in their own end put the puck on the stick of Kennedi Bystol near the right dot. The sophomore attacked the net, faking to her backhand, then sliding a forehand shot inside the post, past Flohr, for the game winning goal.

Wade said, “Top players come through in big games, and after goals by Chloe Katsma from the point and Kennedi Bystol on a great move, our goalie Elizabeth Bowers shut them down.”

The Storms’ comeback effort was hampered by a five-minute major for boarding on Alexandra Brandt at 10:08. With just over three minutes to play Lakeshore took a penalty and Bowers was called upon to protect the tenuous one-goal lead. Yirkovsky and Kelter had good looks, but Bowers stymied both chances. Flohr was pulled with just over a minute left, but CWS was unable to generate any good scoring opportunities. Final shots on goal for the game favored Lakeshore 33-28.

Katsma, the senior Lightning defenseman from West Bend West scored the game’s first goal, but her steady and calm play from the blue line was evident all night. Katsma, paired up with senior Sydney Bertolino and the pair of Liela Reed and McKenzie Cook kept the Storm out of the middle of the ice for most of the night. For the Storm, senior Madeline Kelter, who will play for UW-Stevens Point next year, brought her trademark high level energy to every shift. And it is impossible to miss the energy and positive attitude that radiates from Storm goalie Cami Flohr, no matter what the situation.

“Good teams find ways to win close games, and we hope this bodes well for other upcoming difficult opponents as we enter conference play,” added Wade. That will be tested in the near future as the Lightning have a stretch of games vs Beaver Dam, Bay Area, Fox Cities and USM starting on November 29th. The Storm will be back in action this weekend as Hayward, USM and ECA come to Mosinee for the Gobbler Cup. CWS will play USM at 5pm on Friday.

Storm head coach Jana Wimmer simply stated, “Lots to grow on this year.”

Three Stars of the Game: 1-Katsma, 2-Bowers, 3-Flohr/Bystol

Blue Collar: CWS-Kelter, LL-Brezovar