The University School co-op girls’ hockey team defeated Fond du Lac 8-0 on Monday, December 23rd at USM.

Led by freshman Nicole Unsworth, who scored 5 goals and had 2 assists, junior Rose Revolinski, who had 2 goals and 5 assists, and senior goaltender Jaime Hathaway, who made 18 saves on the way to her fifth shutout of the season, the Wildcats celebrated the holiday season and brought ice hockey gifts of joy to the large crowd attending the game.

USM coach Jason Woods said, “We started a little sluggish coming out of USM’s exam break. We haven’t played a game in nine days. It’s good to get back at it. Overall it was a good win. We continue to play good defense. I was especially glad to see (freshman) Delaney Weiss step up tonight. She stepped in for a missing player and played a good, solid game for us.” It took the high-scoring Wildcats nearly five minutes to score their first goal. Sophomore defenseman Hannah Koniar sent the puck to Unsworth in the left corner of the Warbirds’ zone. Unsworth pulled it away from a defender and passed it to Revolinski who was waiting in the slot like a kid in line to see Santa. Revolinski quickly fired the puck past Fondy’s senior goalie Jade Van Buren at 4:31 of the first period.

Unsworth scored the Wildcats’ next goal at 5:56. Junior forward Nina Andersen cycled the puck to Revolinski below the goal line in Fond du Lac’s end. Revolinski sent it to Unsworth near the left post, and Unsworth batted it in.

The Wildcats scored again late in the first period. Once again the line of Andersen, Revolinski and Unsworth took control of the puck in the opponents’ zone and began cycling it. Eventually Revolinski delivered it to Andersen behind the net. Eagle-eyed, Andersen spotted Unsworth in the slot and passed it out front her. Like she was putting an ornament high on the tree, Unsworth lofted the puck with a wrist shot into the Fondy net, giving USM a 3-0 lead at 16:09.

Early in the second period it was 4-0. Taking a face-off draw in the right circle in the Warbirds’ zone, Revolinski pulled the puck toward the boards to Unsworth. Unsworth skated with it through the low circle, pulled it past two defensemen, skated across the top of the crease, and slid the puck under Van Buren at 2:06.

Unsworth scored again at 9:42 of the second period. Off of breakout passes by Andersen and Revolinski, Unsworth got the puck on the boards near the USM blue line, skated into the Fond du Lac zone, made a Fondy defender look hapless as she pulled the puck around her. Unsworth then gunned a low shot into the net to make it 5-0.

The Wildcats made it 6-0 at 12:35 of the second period. Senior Heidi Golembiewski moved the puck to freshman Katie Gebhardt in the left corner of the Warbirds’ end. As Gebhardt fought for it with a defender, the Wildcats’ Caitlin McBride stepped in and pulled the puck from the fray. The sophomore skated uninhibited behind the net then out front. McBride put the clock on running time by pushing the puck past the goalie as she moved across the crease.

The Wildcats added two more goals to their total in the third period. The first of these came at 2:15. Revolinski sent the puck to Unsworth who was heading out of the USM end. Unsworth moved toward one defender. Like she was a catalogue, she offered the Fondy player a view of the puck, but then pulled it away as the defender fell. Unsworth deked the next defender as she sped down the slot on Van Buren. Unsworth pulled the puck to the left and fired. The puck ricocheted high off the left post, then caromed off the right post, then flew into the net.

USM’s final goal came just over a minute later. Working hard along the Fond du Lac boards, Golembiewski corralled a loose puck and sent it to Revolinski in the high slot. Revolinski one-timed a hard shot into the net, giving the Wildcats and their fans a happy holiday memory.

USM is now 7-1-1. The Wildcats head to Madison after Christmas to compete in the Culver Cup Tournament on Friday, December 27th through Sunday, December 29th. They begin the tournament at 5:00 p.m. on Friday with a game against the Point/Rapids Red Panthers at Hartmeyer Ice Arena.