350 Wins for Cranston

St. Croix Valley head coach Matt Cranston celebrated his 350th win on Saturday as the Fusion slipped by the USM Wildcats 2-1. Cranston is in his 21st season as the only head coach the Fusion has ever known. He is the only girl's coach in WIAA history to win three consecutive state tournament titles. Superior and David Kukowski also did it on the boy's side. He has never, I repeat, never had a losing season and is still the only girl’s coach to steer his team to an undefeated season, 23-0-1 in 2008-09. He has 13 Big River Conference championships along with those three consecutive state championships and is a four-time GWHCA Coach of the Year. Along with his brother Joe, who is the coach of the back-to-back NCAA D-III River Falls women’s program, they may just be the winningest brothers in the history of the game. And if you ask either of them how they got where they are, they will tell you stories about their dad Gary, who was also a lifetime hockey coach. You can read about this dynamic coaching duo in my All in the Family feature here on WiPH.  Congratulations Matt, #400 is right around the corner!

Gentry Ends Bay Area's 36 Game Streak

The longest winning streak on record, 36 games, came to end as the Gentry Academy Stars sent the Bay Area Ice Bears to defeat for the first time in 398 days with a 6-3 victory Friday night. Gentry scored twice early in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and take the lead. Elliana Memken brought the Ice Bears to within one with 1:21 left on the clock. Gentry then hit the empty net twice to seal the win.

For Bay Area head coach Mike Buchan the loss went deeper than just ending the streak. We were disappointed,” he said candidly. “We didn’t just go over to Minnesota to play for the Ice Bears. We went to play for people like you and the other teams in the state of Wisconsin. We didn’t care about the streak, we wanted to represent our girl’s hockey from Wisconsin.” Buchan continued, “I am not one for excuses. We ran into a very solid well coached team in Gentry and we didn’t have our best last night. It happened and we will learn from it and get better. We are pulling for the Storm.” (Gentry defeated the Storm on Saturday 4-1)

The Bears started a new streak on Saturday with a 5-0 shutout over the Metro Lynx.

Twin Sisters Face-off Behind the Bench

Former Central Wisconsin Storm players, Elizabeth and Emily Bauer faced each other as college coaches last Sunday as Augsburg University and Lawrence University clashed in a non-conference game in Minneapolis. Elizabeth is the head coach for the 9-2-1, 3rd ranked Auggies and her sister, Emily is an assistant coach for Lawrence. Augsburg had their way with the Vikings in a 6-1 win, despite a memorable 66 save performance from Sarah Dobrzynski. Lawrence is in just their sixth season as a D-III women’s program. Augsburg made their first trip to the Frozen Four last March and Elizabeth was named ACHA D-III National Coach of the Year.

It was a proud dad’s moment for me and one of those that I never really saw coming. Perhaps the biggest reward for me might just be all the conversations we have had since they headed down this coaching path. I am very grateful for the opportunity to be an unofficial “advisor”. It has been another piece of the puzzle that has filled the void of not coaching. For those who just love the game, when your playing days wind down, coaching is a great avenue to stay in the game.

While I didn’t encourage them to dress alike for the game, I did suggest they should switch lockerooms for the pre-game speech—they didn’t.

The ’26 List: Morgan Kivel

St. Croix Valley’s Morgan Kivel has committed to play for St. Catherine University in St. Paul next year. The River Falls senior has 17 points on the season (9G - 8A) and 103 points in her career. Playing for the Wisconsin Selects in the fall, Kivel led the team with 16 goals in 18 games. Kivel was a GWHCA Honorable Mention All-State selection last season.

Kayla Chilstrom, St. Kate’s Head Coach had high praise for her newest Wildcat. “What immediately stood out was her genuine love for the game and the passion she brings every time she steps on the ice,” she said. “She has a natural ability to find the back of the net, but what impressed our staff even more was that she’s never satisfied with where she’s at. She’s committed to improving, puts in the work during the offseason, and truly enjoys the process of getting better. Beyond her skill set, she’s the kind of person who fits our team culture—competitive, driven, and a great teammate. Bringing in talented players who are also good people is extremely important to our staff and she checks every box.

We expect her to earn an immediate impact through her work ethic, competitiveness, and willingness to do the little things right. Nothing will be given, but her approach and scoring ability put her in a position to contribute early while continuing to grow at the college level.”

Morgan’s current coach Matt Cranston talked about the work she put in over the summer to prepare for her senior season. “Morgan really turned the page from her junior year to her senior year,” he said. “She took a big step in taking care of her body and training very hard to increase her hockey skills, especially her speed.  She attended FHIT in Hudson this summer. Morgan always had very good hands, a good shot, and a good hockey IQ, but speed was her limiting factor. Now she has found a new gear, and you can definitely see the difference. She is also a very good student and has set herself up for the next step at St. Kate‘s.”

Coaches don’t forget to vote on the Top Six Polls and send your nominations for Player of the Week. POTW nominations should be sent by 3pm on Mondays.

Girl’s Top Six Games

Lakeshore 4  WVU 1: Sophomore Madeline Sandler scored a shorthanded goal, her first high school goal, just 3:37 into the game on a wrist shot from inside the left dot to jump start the Lightnings 4-1 win over the Union. Freshman Natalie Donovan showed her quickness, taking a puck from her own blue line, turning the Union defenseman and sliding a backhand past goalie Kylin Wright as she sped across the crease to make it 2-0 at 7:47. Olivia Sapeta scored her first high school goal in the second and Liela Reed hit the back of the net in the third as Lakeshore won their 11th of the year.  

The Lightning limited WVU to 5 five shots on goal over the first two periods. Elizabeth Bowers stopped 15 for the Lightning and Kylin Wright’s three-game shutout streak ended with a 23 save effort.

Black River Falls 1  St. Croix Valley 0: Black River Falls has been hovering just outside the Top Six rankings all season, but with an impressive 1-0 win over the Fusion, they might finally find a spot in the rankings. Chloe Noth netted her fourth goal of the season at 5:44 of the second period and Tiger’s goalie Lexi Moore made that stand. The Tigers took three third period penalties and the Fusion pushed hard, putting 16 shots on net, but BRF held on for the victory. “We got back on our heels (third period) and survived,” said head coach Brady Mathison, “Lexi played great.” The Tigers advanced their record to 8-4-1 while the Fusion lost their third of the year against seven wins.

Hopkins/St. Louis Park 5  Western Wisconsin 3: The Stars fell into a 3-1 hole in the opening period and couldn’t recover as they dropped 5-3 decision to Hopkins/St. Louis Park. Western got goals from Taylor Larson, Madison Kamish and Annika Olinski.

Lakeshore 3  Hudson 1: The youth and balance of the Lakeshore Lightning was on full display as they defeated Hudson 3-1 in the championship game of the Admiral’s Cup. Kaitlyn Juneau, Kennedi Bystol and Natalie Donavan, all underclassmen, scored for the Lightning. Lakeshore’s freshmen and sophomore classes have accounted for 33 of the team’s 41 goals, and the team has goals from 16 different players. The Lightning have won 7 of their last 8 and are tied with Bay Area for the most wins with 12. Hudson’s Emma Amundson had an impressive 36 saves in the loss.

St. Croix Valley 6  CFM 2: Fusion senior Morgan Kivel scored her 100th career point on a first period goal helping St. Croix Valley to a 6-2 victory over Chippewa Falls/Menomonie. The Fusion got scoring from six different players and 25 saves from Katelyn Gustafson as they won their eighth game of the season. Ellie Ash scored her first career goal for CFM.

Winona, MN 1  Black River Falls 0: The Tigers played their second 1-0 game in a row, only this time they were on the wrong end of the score as Winona goalie Kiera Rose threw up a 58-save gauntlet. The games only goal was a shorthanded goal by Cora Wdewitz. “Goalie stood on her head,” said Tiger’s head coach Brady Mathison.

Bay Area 4  Fox Cities 0: The Ice Bears extended their winning streak to 36 games with a 4-0 blanking of Fox Cities. Defensive partners Addison Dahl and Ava McDonald opened the scoring for the Bears in the first period. Elliana Memken added a second period goal and a powerplay in the third to complete the scoring. Fox Cities can claim a small moral victory as they were only the second team during the current streak to outshoot the Bears, and did so by a 24-21 margin.

Black River Falls 4  Northland Pines 0: Pines goalie Lucy Nowak kept the Tigers at bay turning away 34 of 36 shots over the first two periods as BRF scored in the last two minutes of each period for a 2-0 lead. Kai Moore and Jordyn King chipped in third period goals and the Tigers topped the Eagles 4-0.

CW Storm 2  Western Wisconsin 1 (OT): Cami Flohr weathered the Stars first period 21 shot blitz, finishing with 38 saves in a 2-1 overtime Storm win. Madeline Kelter ripped a shot past Stella Olson with 1:19 left in the first overtime.

St. Croix Valley 2  USM 1 (OT): It was win number 350 for head coach Matt Cranston. Senior Ella Stanley brought home the milestone win with an overtime goal as the Fusion topped the Wildcats 2-1 at the Wildcat Center in River Falls. USM goaltender Carson Markgraf turned in a remarkable performance with 42 saves.

Western Wisconsin 3  Anoka 2: As the featured girl’s game at the first Wisconsin Hockey Day, the Stars bounced back from an overtime loss to the Storm on Friday night to down the Anoka Tornadoes 3-2 on the River Valley Hockey Association outdoor rink in St. Croix Falls.

Bay Area 5  Metro Lynx 0: It took the Bay Area Ice Bears less than 24 hours to start a new winning streak as they hammered Metro Lynx goalie Addy Buzzell with 71 shots in a 5-0 win. Elliana Memken scored in her third straight game and Aisling Buchan had a goal and two assists for Bay Area. Buzzell’s 66 saves earned her a 93% save percentage for the game. Kade Kitchenmaster, 19 saves, made her second start of the year in net for the Ice Bears.

Lakeshore 2  Fond du Lac 0: Elizabeth Bowers and Kennedy Kohlman waged a shutout war for two periods. The Lightning broke through in the third period on a goal by Kennedi Bystol. Erin Brezovar made it 2-0 with her fifth goal of the season as the Lightning won their 14th game of the year. With the loss Fondy is now 6-4-3.

QUOTE of the WEEK 

“Moorsey’s (Oliver Moore) a very, very hard worker, wants to be great, so I think some of that, at times you’ll be hard on yourself, too. He just has to be careful, stick with it and play and not necessarily stress about every play. He’s going to make some good plays. He’s going to make some mistakes. He’s going to get coached, and that’s OK, just stay with it and find a way to make sure he keeps his confidence.”   

      Jeff Blashill, Blackhawks Head Coach

Around the State

Hudson 7  USM 4: The Raiders used two three-goal runs to skate past USM 7-4 at the Admiral’s Classic Tournament held at Uihlein Arena on the campus of USM. Marley Larson and Arden Fenstermacher had two goals each for Hudson and Esme Loomans had the hat trick for USM. Carson Markgraf finished with 35 saves for USM, Emma Amundson 19 for Hudson.

Badger Lightning 3  Northland Pines 1: The Eagles and Lightning locked horns in battle at the Dome in Eagle River. Shots for the game were even at 25 each as the Lightning, on the strength of two Cassidy Putz goals, clung to a 2-1 lead through the final period. A late Pines penalty with less than two minutes to play put the Lightning on the powerplay. Elizabeth Haug scored on the backdoor with 30 seconds left to seal the 3-1 win.  

Metro Lynx 2  Stoughton 1: After dropping two overtime games in the Culver’s Cup, the Lynx got on the right side of a one-goal game with a 2-1 win over Stoughton. Scout Elmer and Caroline Held gave the Lynx a 2-0 lead after two periods. Ashlyn Bartels brought the Icebergs close with her 11th goal of the season in the third period.

The Icebergs outshot the Lynx 33-30.

Chisago Lakes 5  Superior 2: The Wildcats used two powerplay goals to help them defeat Superior 5-2 at the Superior Ice Arena. Chisago Lakes led 4-0 in period two. Lila Sislo and Adalyn Benson scored to close the margin to 4-2 in the third. A Wildcat powerplay goal at 13:47, by Aven Lyckholm sealed the win.

Northland Pines 4  Viroqua 1: Northland Pines peppered Blackhawk’s goalie Adey Oliver with 40 shots as they coasted to a 4-1 win. Pines held a 3-0 lead before freshman Grace Johnson scored for Viroqua. Pines had to kill off three consecutive penalties in the games final seven minutes.

Badger Lightning 7  Medford 1: The Lightning completed a successful road trip to the north with a 7-1 win in Medford. Jenna Garbacz scored twice in the first period as the Lightning opened a 4-0 lead. Alessia Salamin put up her fourth goal of the year for Medford. The Lightning held a hefty 48-17 shots advantage.

USM 1  WVU 0: Caroline Olson scored just 54 seconds into the game, and it turned out to be the only goal of the game as USM edged Wisconsin Valley Union 1-0. The Union fell to 6-5 and the Wildcats are now 7-4.

Stoughton 3  Coulee Region 2: With the game tied 2-2 late in the third period, Hazel Rothering celebrated what she thought was a potential game winning goal for the Cyclones. However, a delayed penalty negated the goal and the Icebergs went on the powerplay. Fourteen seconds later Molly Bible’s shot from the point found the back of the net and the Icebergs grabbed a 3-2 lead. It was the freshman’s first high school goal. Stoughton’s Ashlyn Bartels had tied the game with a powerplay goal with 5:40 to play. Brooke Borkenhagen had both goals for the Cyclones.

Fond du Lac 5  Beaver Dam 3: Senior Emma Jilling got her first start of the season in net for the Warbirds and turned in 20 saves in a 5-3 win over Beaver Dam. Fond du Lac surged to a 3-0 lead in the second before Brenna Rhodes put the Beavers on the board with her 15th goal. Trailing 4-1 late in the third period, the Beavers Rhodes and Lilian Mansueto scored 48 seconds apart to make it a 4-3 game. Jilling would come up with her biggest save of the game with 1:15 to play when Rhodes, on a breakaway, made her bid for the hat trick. Moments later Olivia Baer blocked a shot, chased down the loose puck and hit the empty net to seal the win. Brenalyn Goetz had two goals for the Warbirds. After starting the season 6-0, the Beavers have slumped to 1-4-1 since.  

Lakeshore 3  Brookfield 1: Lakeshore used early goals by Kennedi Bystol, her 11th, and Erin Brezovar to escape a wild first period with a 2-1 lead. Alyssa Panosh scored the Brookfield goal. Shots for the game were even at 32. Cheyenne Mojica made it 3-1 in the second period.

USM 4  Arrowhead 1: Three second period goals by the Wildcats erased the 1-0 lead Arrowhead took in period one on a goal by Elizabeth Robinson. Carolyn Olson had two goals for USM and Nora Sellers’ added a powerplay goal with six seconds remaining. Kennedy Bostrum stopped 25 shots for Arrowhead, Carson Markgraf 18 in the win for USM.   

North Shore, MN 1  Hayward 0 (OT): It was another nail-bitter for the Hurricanes, who have been in eight games decided by two or fewer goals, including two double overtime ties. North Shore scored a powerplay goal on a redirect from the slot to send the Hurricanes to a 1-0 overtime loss. The game winner by Berkley Hoff was her 23rd goal of the season. North Shore outshot Hayward 37-18, with Makenna Hutchison taking the loss for the Hurricanes. Hayward is now 6-5-2.

Coulee Region 5  Viroqua 2: Brooke Borgenhagen stayed hot, scoring three times, five goals in two games, leading the Cyclones past Viroqua 5-2. Brenna Rogers scored her 6th and 7th goals in the loss for Viroqua.

CFM 5  Coulee Region 1: The Sabers answered a Hannah Krish goal just 1:08 into the game with four unanswered to sail past the Cyclones 5-1 at the Panther Den in West Salem. Olivia Her, Kinzleigh Cody and Avery Lindstrom each scored and Allison Xu lit the lamp twice in the win. Aria Chamberland and Grace Johnsrude combined for 43 saves in the loss.

Superior 4  Rock Ridge, MN 3: Spartan senior Adalyn Benson snapped a 2-2 third period tie with her second goal of the game leading Superior to a 4-3 road win. Aaliyah Haroldson scored her second of the night at 11:07 giving the Spartans a 4-2 lead. Sophomore Peyton Benoit started her first game of the season turning in 30 saves for the win.

Cap City 1  Arrowhead 0: It was a special teams night filled with 13 penalties. Cap City scored the game’s only goal on the powerplay as they squeaked past Arrowhead 1-0. Lilly Wagners second period, 4 on 3 goal, from the side of the Warhawks net proved to be the game winner. Arrowhead marched to the box six times in the period. Cougar netminder Sophia Martinelli kept her cage clean turning away 29 shots.

Hayward 6  USM 0: Hayward exploded for six goals, only the fourth time all season they have scored more than two, as they crushed USM 6-0. Colby Sprenger lifted her goal total to seven with her first high school hat trick.

Reese Duncan had a goal and two assists and Makenna Hutchison registered a 24 save shutout, her sixth of the season and 16th of her career.

Metro Lynx 6  Viroqua 1: Maggie Onopa scored twice as the Lynx pelted Blackhawks goalie Adey Oliver with 63 shots in a 6-1 victory. Caraline Haley, Gracie Gaspid and Nina Rost all hit the back of the net for their first high school goals.

Fox Cities 5  Rochester Mayo 4: It was a back-and-forth battle between the Stars and Rochester Mayo, with Fox Cities escaping with a 5-4 win on the road. Margaret Thomas and Evie Mursau each scored a pair of goals for the surging Stars. Addison Grasse started her fourth straight game making 21 saves in the win.

Arrowhead 4  Brookfield 1: The Glacier fell short to the Warhawks 4-1 on Saturday. A day after ending their ten-game losing streak, Brookfield couldn’t find a way to defeat the Warhawks who got a pair of goals from Rowan Smith and 27 saves from Kennedy Bostrum. The win ended the Warhawks three-game winless streak.

Fox Cities 2  Rochester Century 1: Fox Cities stayed hot winning their sixth game in their last seven defeating Rochester Century 2-1 at the Rochester Recreation Center. The Stars landed 24 shots on goal in the first two periods and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Emmaree Drach and Kendall Lindemann. Teagan Wilkins was near perfect stopping 28 of 29 Panther shots.

Cap City 8  Viroqua 1: Eight different players got on the score sheet as the Cougars mauled the Blackhawks 8-1. Cap City bolted to a 4-0 first period lead in winning their third straight game. Adey Oliver had another busy night for Viroqua with 55 saves. It was her 8th game of the season with 40 or more saves.

CFM 3  WVU 0: Chippewa Falls/Menomonie scored three powerplay goals as they sent the Union to a 3-0 defeat. Avery Lindstrom scored two goals and has nine on the season for CFM. Kylin Wright started her 8th straight game for WVU and made 33 saves. Scoring continues to haunt WVU’s who have scored only one goal in their last three games.  

Superior 3  Hayward 2 (OT): Keep your eye on the Spartans, who have lost to only two Wisconsin teams this season. They avenged an opening season 1-0 loss to the Hurricanes with 3-2 overtime decision at the road on Saturday. Adalyn Benson took a puck the length of the ice in the third period and got a backhand shot on Hurricane goaltender MaKenna Hutchison. PaisLee Lystig followed up Benson and was able to punch the rebound past Hutchison to tie the game at 2-2.

It was Benson again in overtime, holding a puck in at the blue line then taking to the middle of the ice across the top of the circles and wiring a wrist shot past Hutchison for the OT game winner. It was the Hurricanes fourth overtime of the season and they are 0-2-2 in those games.

Northland Pines 1 Coulee Region 1 (2-OT): Grace Johnsrude, 34 saves and Lucy Nowak 32 saves dueled to a 1-1 double overtime tie. Avery Renkes found the net for the Eagles and Ava Ferguson for the Cyclones.