The University School girls’ hockey team defeated Beaver Dam 13-0 in an Eastern Shores Conference game in Beaver Dam Friday night.

The Wildcats sped out the starting block, scoring 8 goals in the first period.  That put the game on running time.  USM tallied two more in the second period and three in the third period.  Freshman Nicole Unsworth, sophomore Caitlin McBride, and senior Great Kobylinski each had a hat trick for the Wildcats.  Junior Rose Revolinski added two goals to USM’s total. Freshman Rachel Hoge and senior Sarah Skinner scored the other two goals for USM.  It was the first varsity goal for both Hoge and Skinner. Senior goaltender Heidi Golembiewski brought to mind lines from William Wordsworth’s poem as she ‘wandered lonely as a cloud’ at the USM end of the ice. Golembiewski faced a total of 4 shots on her way to recording her second shut out in the last four games, all victories for the Wildcats.

After the game Skinner, who scored the Wildcats’ 13th goal, was elated.  “It was lucky for me. Actually, it was all Nicole.  She shot from the slot right behind me.  I touched it and chipped it and got the goal.  Everyone was great trying to get me a goal on a pass for a simple shot, and I finally got one.  The girls on this team are great.  Everyone goes out of the way to help people who are new to the sport. I see them almost more than my school friends and my family from October to March.  I really like it.  They’re good people, great friends.  I really enjoy being part of this great team.”

The Wildcats took little time in gaining their first goal.  Sophomore Hannah Koniar took a shot from the opponents’ blue line.  McBride got the rebound and fired it in just 41 seconds into the game.

Less than a minute later it was 2-0.  Kobylinski got the puck at the opponents’ blue line and fired a low shot toward the net.  Unsworth caught the puck as it went by, looked, and fired a  five hole shot along the ice for the goal at 1:32.

Hoge scored her first Varsity goal at 4:09 when she took a pass from junior Liza Sisk at the opponents’ blue line then rifled a shot from the point into the net.

USM went ahead by four at less than two minutes later.  Koniar send the puck into the corner to Unsworth.  Unsworth gathered it off the boards like she was on an Easter egg hunt.  She skated toward the net and spotted Revolinski in the slot.  Unsworth passed it out.  Revolinski got it and lined a high shot into the opponents’ net at 6:05.

Unsworth scored the Wildcats’ fifth goal when she got a loose puck on the side boards, skated into the opponents’ left circle then ripped a shot into the net at 9:39.

The Wildcats kept at it.   At 12:49 junior Nina Andersen got the puck as the Wildcats’ were cycling in the opponents’ zone.  She sent it to Revolinski who had wheeled into the low slot.  Revolinski buried the shot to give USM a 6-0 lead.

 McBride scored her second goal of the evening when she snared a loose puck in the opponents’ right corner, spun out front, stickhandled into the high slot, and shot a bullet into the net at 14:05.

Unsworth recorded the Wildcats’ first hat trick of the evening on the ensuing face-off, won by Revolinski.  Unsworth skated into the opponents’ zone, pulled the puck around a defender, and with aplomb fired it in for a goal at 14:12.

USM’s coach Jason Woods made some line changes in the second period.  The Wildcats answered with two more goals.  McBride recorded her hat trick when she took a pass off the boards from Koniar, skated into the opponents’ slot and gunned a low shot into the net at 8:54.

USM scored a power play goal at 14:53 of the second period.  The Wildcats moved the puck around the opponents’ zone rapidly.  It went to Andersen who fed it to Revolinski on the sideboards.  Revolinski skated into the low slot and shot.  Kobylinski knocked in the rebound for the score.  Woods was excited by the play.  “We have scored a lot this year, but hardly any power play goals.  I made a few position changes in practice this week and between periods I insisted that the girls move the puck fast.  It worked.  We will certainly need to score more on the power play as the season goes on.”

Kobylinski completed her hat trick by scoring USM’s next two goals in the third period.  Hoge sent her the puck deep in the opponents’ zone. Like she was taking a Sunday stroll, Kobylinski moved into the nearby circle and wired a low shot into the net at 1:12.

At 10:58 Kobylinski knocked in a rebound off a shot by freshman Katie Gebhardt.  Revolinski was awarded an assist for her efforts on the play.

USM’s final goal came at 13:42 of the third period.  Unsworth got the puck in the opponents’ corner, skated into the high slot, and fired.  Skinner deftly redirected the shot as it whizzed past.

USM is now 11-1-1 and 5-0 in the conference.  The Wildcats play an important conference game against the Green Bay Area team at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 4th at the Cornerstone Ice Center in Green Bay.