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USM girls drop two at Gobbler Cup

By Tom Geilfuss, 11/29/12, 8:30PM CST

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Wildcats fall to Storm and Stars

The University School co-op girls’ hockey team lost to the Central Wisconsin Storm 6-3 and to the Eau Claire/Altoona Stars 4-2 in the Gobbler Cup Tournament sponsored by the Central Wisconsin Storm in Mosinee Friday and Saturday.

USM’s head coach Jason Woods said, “We showed flashes of brilliance during the tournament, showing that we can play with anybody. But it’s frustrating to lose. We still don’t realize how much potential we really have. We’re still testing, trying to figure out what works and what we’re best at and where we need to play people. It will come. I feel positive about where we can get as the season goes on. We need to be strong defensively and continue to have good goaltending.”

In Friday’s game against the Storm, the Wildcats fell behind in the first minute, but soon tied it when defenseman Meredith Behm fired a pass from the USM blue line to Nina Andersen racing through center ice. Andersen outskated the Storm’s defenders and sped in all alone to beat the Storm’s goalie Lisa Fowle on a low shot off a deke at 3:08.

The Storm roared back and took a 3-1 lead with two goals in the next two minutes. The lead did not faze the Wildcats, however. They kept working and eventually tied the score with two goals late in the second period. The first came while the Wildcats were on the power play. After the Storm cleared the puck, USM’s goalkeeper Jaime Hathaway stopped it near the goal line and sent a pass to Laine Tomesch along the boards. Tomesch skated the puck into the Storm zone and rocketed a high shot past Fowle’s glove at 13:59.

The Wildcats tied it with one second left in the period. Defenseman Abby Leitschuh collected the puck along the boards in the USM zone and sent a breakout pass to Andersen. Like a 747 jet, Andersen took off, roared into the Storm’s zone, and fired a quick shot. She followed her shot, and lofted the rebound into the net.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats could not contain the defending state champions in the third period. The Storm scored three unanswered goals to seize the victory.

In the tournament’s consolation game against Eau Claire/Altoona Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats took a quick lead, scoring a goal in the game’s opening minute.

Playing short-handed, USM defenseman Meredith Behm sent a clearing pass ahead to Andersen, who took off with speed and went in on a breakaway. She beat the Stars’ goalie Jordyn Bunce with a nice move in close at 0:44.

The Stars tied it late in the first period, but before the period ended, USM quickly jumped back ahead. Tomesch got the puck near the USM blue line, skated through center ice and into the Eau Claire/Altoona zone. From about 15 feet out she rifled a shot into the upper corner of the net at 15:51.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that was the last goal they could muster in the game. Eau Claire/Altoona went ahead with two goals in the second period and sealed the victory with another goal in the third period.

USM is now 0-3. The Wildcats will seek their first victory of the young season when they face Beaver Dam in an Eastern Shores Conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.