For the second straight day, the Point-Rapids Red Panthers played evenly with a superior team for 59 minutes, forcing a shootout.
Unfortunately for Point-Rapids, Maddie Rowe was the only shooter to score as the St. Croix Valley Fusion grabbed a 3-2 shootout win Sunday afternoon at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in the Culvers Cup.
The Red Panthers (2-5-2) got on the board first five minutes into the contest.
Senior captain Hannah Beilke fired an on-ice shot from the left point through traffic that snuck past Fusion goalie Ellen Coggio for the 1-0 lead. Bryar Brooks got an assist on the play.
Rowe almost evened it up a few minutes later, but her shot from the slot caromed off the right post.
The Red Panthers almost put another score on the board two minutes later, but Emily Exner's shot from the slot went just wide right to keep the score at 1-0, which is how the period would end.
Fusion held a 6-4 shot edge in the stanza.
The tide turned early in the second when a Red Panthers player was called for a CFB (checking from behind) and was handed a 'dimestore,' (5 and a 10).
Just over a minute later, Rowe capitalized when she took the puck along the boards in the left corner, curled into the left circle and fired a shot that beat Red Panthers goalie Merina Chappel. The power play goal was unassisted.
One minute later, Rowe scored from the low left side to give the Fusion a 2-1 lead at the 5:49 mark, with an assist to Andrea Eliason on the second man-advantage goal.
Coach Matt Cranston called a time-out at this point, perhaps to give his power play unit a chance to catch their collective breaths.
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But it also allowed the Red Panthers a chance to re-group, and it must have worked because they killed off the remaining 2:25 of the major penalty without incident.
After a failed Fusion power play, the Red Panthers almost tied the game, but Hailey Ehr's shot from the right circle clanked off the crossbar and into the corner.
The Fusion skated to the locker room for the second break with 24 seconds left on a penalty kill and holding the slim 2-1 lead. They also out-shot their foes by a margin of 11-1 in the period.
The Red Panthers had a couple good chances early in the third period, but it was nearly twelve minutes into the period before they tied the score.
Megan Nolan's shot from the right point through heavy traffic evaded the Fusion goalie and tied the contest at two with 5:08 left in regulation.
The hectic period (10-9 shots, Red Panthers advantage) ended with the scoreboard showing '2' for both squads.
Two minutes into the extra period, Rowe almost won the game, but somehow her shot bounced off the one inch-wide piece of goalie equipment that was the handle of Chappel's stick, moved into the precise position at the precise time to make the great save.
The period ended with no additional scoring and a 6-1 shot edge by the Fusion.
Rowe was able to tally the single goal in the shootout to give St. Croix Valley (4-5-1) the shootout victory.
Coggio stopped 14 shots for the Fusion, while Chappel put forth a tremendous effort on the other end of the ice, making 30 saves for Point-Rapids.
It also must be added here that Red Panther defenseman Beilke played an outstanding game, spending much of the afternoon challenging Fusion All-State player Rowe, most of the time evenly.
The Fusion will play in Monday's Culvers Cup title game at 2:45pm, facing University School.
The Red Panthers will play for third place tomorrow morning at 10:15am against Northland Pines.
