The University School co-op girls’ hockey team defeated the Badger Thunder 13-1 in a non-conference game as the two teams played in the opening round of the Culver’s Cup Tournament Saturday at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in Madison.

Nicole Unsworth scored four of the five goals the Wildcats tallied in the first period to lead the team to a large lead. She added two more in the second period to bring her total to six in the game. It was the second game in a row in which Unsworth had scored six goals.  Nina Andersen and Sloan Sullivan each scored two goals, and Abby Hentzen, Camille Marks, and Caitlin McBride each scored one during the game.

Rose Revolinski, one of the Wildcats' captains said, "Once we got going, we played some good hockey as a whole team.  But we'll have to tighten things up and play well for a full game as the opponents will get tougher in this tournament."

Unsworth scored the first goal of the game at 5:57.  As she and her line mates, Andersen and Revolinski, cycled the puck in the Thunder's zone, Andersen received it below the goal line and then sent it to Unsworth at the post. Unsworth slammed it past Jamie Dutton, the Thunder’s starting goalie.

The Wildcats scored again at 8:31 when Unsworth captured a loose puck in the Thunder’s zone.  She stickhandled around the defenders until she had the shot.  She took it and scored.

Unsworth completed a natural hat trick on USM’s next goal.  She started the play by passing the puck to Revolinski who skated in on Dutton and shot.  The puck rebounded off the goalie’s pads.  Like she had spotted a final present waiting under the tree, Unsworth dashed to the loose puck and swept it into the net at 11:25.

The score became 4-0 at 14:32.  Cycling with the puck, Revolinski got it in the high right circle.  Moving toward the slot, she shot.  Andersen was in front, and she tipped the incoming puck past Dutton.

The Wildcats scored their fifth goal in the final second of the first period.  During a kerfuffle for a loose puck near the crease, Revolinski snapped it at the net.  The rebound popped to Unsworth who knocked it across the goal line.

In the very first minute of the second period the Wildcats put the clock on running time.  The Wildcats moved the puck into the Thunder’s zone and forechecked.  An attempted clearing pass by the defenders went to USM defenseman Hannah Koniar at the right point.  Koniar turned and bulleted a pass to her defense partner, Sullivan, on the center of the blue line.  Sullivan looked, saw Wildcat forwards moving to screen the Thunder’s goalie, stepped in, and whistled a rising shot through the crowd at 0:57.

Just over a minute later the Wildcats scored again.  Taking a face off in the left circle in the Thunder end, Revolinski knocked the puck toward the right corner.  She raced after it and won the fight for it.  With the puck under her command, she skated along the goal line.  She saw Unsworth moving through the near circle unimpeded.  Revolinski passed the puck out, Unsworth one-timed it, and it was 7-0 in favor of the Wildcats at 1:55.

Unsworth scored her sixth goal of the game at 6:09 of the second period.  Andersen got the puck and skated toward the Thunder net.  She fired.  The puck popped out front.  Unsworth raced in and blazed it past Dutton.

The Wildcats scored again at 12:59 of the second frame.  Coming out of the USM zone, Unsworth passed the puck to Andersen near the left boards.  The speedy forward darted across the Thunder blue line and headed toward the net. From the circle she fired.  The puck hit Dutton’s pad, rolled up and descended across the goal line behind the goalie to give USM a nine-goal lead.

The Thunder scored their only goal of the game less than a minute later.  Battling for the puck in the right corner of the USM zone, Courtney Sakry got it and centered a pass to Paige Pawlek who was unmarked in the slot.  Pawlek quickly fired a high shot past Liz Ostermeyer, USM’s starting goaltender, at 13:41.

The Wildcats added four goals to their total in the third period.  The first of these came just seconds into the period.  On a breakout play from the USM zone, Delaney Weiss passed the puck to Hentzen.  Hentzen skated through center ice.  After entering the Thunder’s zone, Hentzen passed the puck to Sullivan on the left wing.  Hentzen kept going to the net.  As a result, she was able to slot a rebound off a blast by Sullivan past Gabby Christiansen, who had replaced Dutton as the Thunder’s goalie.  The goal was Hentzen’s first as a varsity player.  Asked about the goal, she beamed and said, “It felt pretty good.”

Sullivan scored the Wildcats’ next goal while USM was short handed.  The Wildcats sent the puck out of their own zone deep into the Thunder’s.  Sullivan took off after it.  A defender had it in the right circle, but Sullivan descended on her like an eagle pursuing its quivering quarry.  Sullivan swept the puck away, turned, and lasered a shot past Christiansen at 6:57.

The Wildcats scored their twelfth goal at 11:00.  Jessica Malloy won a battle for the puck along the Thunder’s right mid boards.  Malloy passed it to defenseman Rachel Hoge at the blue line.  Hoge line a hard shot at Christiansen’s pads.  Camille Marks was on the left post, and she tapped the puck past the falling goalie.

With 4:00 minutes left, the Wildcats replaced Ostermeyer, who had made 14 saves on the night, with Taylor Yelton.  Yelton made four more saves for USM in her first stint as a varsity goalie.

USM’s final goal came at 13:40.  Defenseman Rachel Lowe started the play by taking a shot from the point.  The puck hit a player and skipped to Malloy in the right corner.  Malloy circled out and headed toward the net.  She gunned a shot at Christiansen. The rebound flew toward the left circle.  McBride buzzed in like a bee to honey and one-timed it into the net.

USM is now 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the Eastern Shores Conference. The Wildcats play Northland Pines in the semi-finals of the tournament on Sunday, December 28th at Hartmeyer Ice Arena in Madison beginning at 7:15 p.m.