The Wildcats took the lead midway through the first period on a goal by Rachel Lowe and held it for the remainder of the game.  Caitlin McBride, Rose Revolinski, and Rachel Hoge scored USM’s other goals on Libbey Breaker, Appleton’s goalie, who stopped 28 other shots the Wildcats took at her. Solid defensive play by Lowe, Hoge, Hannah Koniar, Greta Kobylinski, and Katie Lamoreaux, along with effective goaltending by Jaime Hathaway, who had 19 saves, made the difference for the Wildcats.

Jason Woods, USM’s head coach, said, “I thought we executed our game plan to near perfection.  We knew what Appleton was going to try and do to us, and, for the most part, we limited their opportunities.  Appleton is a very well-coached, talented team so we had to be on our game.  Give our girls credit; they were ready for this moment.  Now we challenge ourselves on Friday with a trip to state on the line.  It is a tremendous opportunity.”

USM and Appleton battled throughout the game, but after Lowe’s goal at 7:14, the Wildcats gained confidence and took control of the game. On a face off play in Appleton’s zone, Nicole Unsworth drew the puck to Heidi Golembiewski.  Golembiewski pushed it back to Lowe who collected it, stepped in, and fired. The puck made it through a crowd of players in front of Breaker, and USM had a 1-0 lead.

 The Wildcats out shot Appleton 9-2 in the first period, but they did not score again until early in the second period.  The Wildcats got the puck deep into the Appleton zone and began cycling.  Unsworth got it below the goal line and sent a pass to McBride behind the net.  McBride avoided a defender. She whirled out front and stuffed a low shot between the post and goalie at 1:21.

The Wildcats increased their lead a few minutes later on a power play.  They set up in the Appleton zone and moved the puck around looking for an opportunity to score.  It developed when Unsworth got the puck below on the sideboards and whizzed a sharp pass out to Revolinski at the point.  Revolinski blazed a shot toward the net.  It hit a defender and skipped past Breaker at 4:24.

Appleton’s lone goal came at 8:11 of the second period on a power play.  Juuli Spelman gained the puck near the goal line in the USM zone and sent it toward the USM net.  The puck hit a player and bounced to Molly McKeever near the far post, and she quickly tapped it in.

USM scored again at 11:18 of the second period on a statement goal by Hoge. As the Appleton players attempted a play to break out of their zone, Hoge pinched in from the blue line and broke up the play.  The puck stayed near as she moved into the left circle.  She got it. She fired it. She scored.

Appleton did not give up and out shot USM in the scoreless third period, mostly because Appleton had four power play opportunities in the final period, but Hathaway and her cohorts played relentlessly and were unwilling to give their opponents a break.

USM is now 21-3-2. The Wildcats take on the Green Bay Area Ice Bears in the Sectional 4 Final of the WIAA state tournament on Friday, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. at USM.