Beaver Dam entered the season on the heels of arguably their most successful season ever. In 2009 the team, with a 9-12 record, made their only state tournament appearance. A year ago, they won nineteen games and a Badger Conference title and earned a trip to the sectional finals. They returned a core roster that only graduated two seniors, but one of those was three-year starter in goal Emily Smedema. Her senior year she led the Beavers with an 18-7 record, 2.08 GAA and six shutouts.

“Goalie is our question mark at this time,” said head coach Mike Pogorelec prior to the season, “but I’m confident in the two that we have.” After Thursday’s 4-1 win over Cap City, the Beavers are undefeated at 6-0, and Pogorelec’s prediction has come true. Sophomore Arianna Wallace made 17 saves in winning her third game of the year and together with junior Dot Baker have allowed a mere seven goals in six games. “Arianna and Dot have been great,” said Pogorelec. “They push each other and both will continue to get time in net.”

The Beavers knew coming into the season that they had guaranteed offense returning in standout Brenna Rhodes (30G -14A) who lit up the scoreboard with 44 points as a freshman. And the radar was up on incoming freshman Macy Damon. The young defenseman has not disappointed. It was indeed the younger Damon, her sister Emerson is also on the team, who got things started for the Beavers Thursday night in Sun Prairie. She innocently grabbed a loose puck inside her own blue line, and seconds later had dodged two defenders and was alone on Cougars goaltender Sophia Martinelli. Her wrist shot sailed past Martinelli’s glove and Beaver Dam led 1-0 at 12:25 of the opening period.

“We knew Macy would contribute as a freshman, but she is surpassing expectations,” said Pogorelec. “She’s calm under pressure and very productive but it’s quiet, not flashy.” It was my first look at the young Damon, but along with her sister and Rhodes they are a trio that can create a lot of offense.

Not be out done by her younger sister, Emersen doubled the Beavers lead at 7:23. Defenseman Kamryn Albert sent a puck toward the net that Lilian Mansueto stopped in the high slot and then touched to Damon, who spun around and beat Martinelli from the hash marks. It was her team leading 9th goal of the season. Damon and Rhodes flirted with making it 3-0 with in alone looks on Martinelli including a sliding pad save on a Rhodes breakaway. Martinelli, whose crouch and sprawling saves will remind you of Jonathan Quick at times, helped Cap City escape the period only down 2-0.

The Cougars clawed back into the game on a second period goal by Penny Loeffelholz. Grace Allison circled behind the Beaver’s net and found an unattended Loeffelholz in the high slot who buried her shot pulling the Cougars close at 2-1. The DeForest sophomore has scored in six of the Cougars seven games. You will be hard pressed to find a player who works harder at both ends of the rink than Loefellholz. Moments later Cap City defenseman Caitie Sullivan drove the net hard from the right side and went down with the Beaver’s defenseman, both colliding with the goal, but there was no call.

It looked like the game would head to the third period at 2-1. However, at 14:32 Cap City’s Macy Scherer went to the box for tripping. With 41 ticks left in the period, on the powerplay, Rhodes escaped down the right-wing, put a shot on Martinelli that she stopped, but Rhodes gathered the rebound, in stride and slipped it past the junior netminder for a 3-1 Beaver’s lead. It was a back-breaking goal for the Cougars. “We expected a lot from 8 (Rhodes),” stated Pogorelec. “Great kid who works extremely hard.”  

“Beaver Dam found their chances and finished,” said Cougars’ head coach Brenna Weber.

The two period shots on goal totals had the Beavers holding an 18-13 edge. The final frame was all Beavers starting surprisingly with a Cougar’s powerplay early in the period. Cap City struggled and the Beavers came very close to making them pay. Rhodes and Mansueto each got loose for breakaways, but Martinelli shut the door on both. The dagger came at 9:28 when Macy Damon repeated her earlier goal with a smooth rush from the neutral zone, down the left wall, finishing with her second goal from just below the left dot. It was her fourth goal and ninth point of the season. “Macy is having a great year and has always been really skilled,” explained Pogorelec. “She’s had a lot of personal growth and it’s benefiting her play.”

The Beavers outshot the Cougars 18-5 in the third period and 35-18 for the game. In the last five regular season meetings between these two rivals, Beaver Dam is 4-0-1. The Cougars however own a 4-3 sectional final win over the Beavers last February. “We didn’t get enough shots to the net but are already looking forward to the second matchup against them,” said Weber. “Tough battle but fun.”

Don’t bet against a third meeting between these two in February.

A glance at the game program and you see two very different programs. Cap City has 48 players listed from six different schools and Beaver Dam 22 players, 17 from the home town high school. Beaver Dam is the blueprint for splitting a co-op. They left the Fond du Lac Warbirds co-op six years ago and have built themselves into a legitimate contender. Stay tuned for WiPH feature on the Beaver’s split from the Warbirds and rise from the ashes of four winless seasons.

For Weber, juggling the roster early in the season is required and perhaps a cause of their slow starts the past two seasons. Last year they began the year 0-5 and in 23-24 they started 1-8. At 4-3 this season it looks like a red-hot beginning. “We have a lot of kids this year and are finding the right rhythm across all of them,” she said. “We had some sickness this week so was nice to have more skilled bodies to keep our legs under us. Overall, we saw improvements from some of our previous games.”

Things will get real for the Beavers on Saturday when they try to slow the Bay Area Ice Bears (8-0) and their 31-game win streak. “Saturday will be a big test for the girls,” Pogorelec admitted. The Cougars will have time to get back to practice and won’t play a game until they meet Superior in the Culver’s Cup on December 27th.

• Three Stars of the Game: 1-M.Damon, 2-Rhodes, 3-Martinelli
• Blue Collar: BD-Mansueto, CC-Loeffelholz/Allison