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There was a heavy dose of déjà vu permeating through Hobbs Ice Arena on Thursday night as the Eau Claire/Altoona Stars turned a 1-0 first period into a fade away 8-1 win over the Coulee Region Cyclones. As the first period closed, I ran into a former goaltender of mine, Anna Ryder and we reminisced about our time with the Waupaca Ice and the Wisconsin Valley Union.

“I have a lot of bad memories from this place,” she quipped. She reminded me of the duo of Abigail Stow and Ava Kison who were terrorizing goalies like her back then. Ryder was a player who, like Cyclone Grace Johnsrude began playing goalie in high school, understands the difficult learning curve that goes with that choice. Stow and Kison led ECA to a state championship in 2018 and combined for 543 points in their careers. Abigail is of course the daughter of current Stars head coach Bob Stow. As Molly Wright and Kjessia Lahner flew around the ice on this night, scoring five goals, it looked hauntingly familiar. The Stars are hoping the potential of their youth, 14 freshman and sophomores, can help them claim another championship in the near future. 

It was one of those games whereas an impartial observer it seemed as if the Cyclones never got a puck to bounce their way. That wasn’t the difference between winning and losing, but definitely contributed to the uneven score. A lot of neutral zone back and forth finally resulted in a clean breakaway for ECA freshman Kjessia Lahner who turned it into a 1-0 Stars lead with 2:27 remaining in the first period. A closely played period ended 1-0 with the Stars out shooting the Cyclones 8-5.

Cyclones goaltender Grace Johnsrude weathered an early second period onslaught by the Stars keeping the score at 1-0 until Sierra Blomquist got free in front of her net and tipped Peyton Schroeder’s shot over her blocker to put ECA up 2-0. Net front security would prove to be a big problem for the Cyclones. Molly Wright was in the right place at the right time 37 seconds later and tapped a backdoor rebound home for a 3-0 lead. Cyclones head coach Jamie Olson called his time out to regroup his team. At 7:01 Lahner showcased her eye-hand coordination redirecting Wright’s shot past Johnsrude for a powerplay goal and 4-0 lead.

“We are young and we just need to keep working and learning,” said Olson following the game. While the Cyclones struggled with puck possession, the senior line of Brooke Borkenhagen, Samara Collins and Raegan Domack held their own throughout the game generating scoring chances that finally paid off.

Domack paused the ECA attack with a goal at 5:04. It may have been the prettiest goal of the night as Borkenhagen lured the Stars defenseman her way on a 2 on 1 rush, then sent a tape-to-tape pass to Domack who wired a wrist shot over the blocker of goalie Malayna Menard. The period ended with ECA up 4-1.

The Stars Peyton Kelshaw scored twice to open the third period pushing the lead to 6-1. Lahner and Wright added goals, their 6th of the season for both. For Wright, her eleven points tied her for the top in state scoring with Bay Area’s Faye Brunke and USM’s Esme Loomans. And for Lahner, her third of the game and first high school hat trick. “I was very happy to see how we finished the night as we are continuing to develop and find our way,” said Stars head coach Bob Stow. The Stars are 5-2 on the season.

Maylana Menard finished with 16 saves in her first varsity start. Johnsrude, playing in just her second season as a goalie, had 30 saves. The Cyclones simply gave up too many high danger chances for Johnsrude or any goalie to be successful. Shoring up their net front woes will certainly be on their practice agenda as the Cyclones won’t play again until next Thursday when they welcome the Wisconsin Valley Union (0-2) to the Panther Den Ice Arena in West Salem.

With a tough stretch of games for ECA leading up to Christmas, Superior, Hayward, St. Croix Valley and CFM, Stow was pleased to get a lot of players into the game. “It was a good night to get some of our younger players into the lineup and gain some more experience. It’s also a nice way to kick off our next three game series in seven days as we will be truly tested.”

• Three Stars of the Game: 1-Wright, 2-Lahner, 3-Borkenhagen
• Blue Collar: ECA-Kitelinger, CR-Binsfeld