The Fusion hadn't played a game since November 28th, while Black River Falls had just dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Eau Claire.  The Tigers entered the game with one thought: beat the Fusion.  Black River Falls played a very physical game trying to slow down the fast paced attack of St. Croix Valley.

The Fusion went on the power play with 10:50 remaining in the first period, when Katylin Johnson was called for cross-checking.  The Tigers made St. Croix Valley work the puck.  Maddie Rowe took the puck just inside the blue line and skated down the boards and went below  the line to the right of Mollie Lelonek in net.  Rowe pulled it back, skated to the low slot just above the crease, lifted the puck and scored the goal at 7:01 giving the Fusion a 1 goal lead.  The score remained 1-0 as the the first period came to an end.

Andrea Eliason scored 11 seconds into the second period as she took it down the boards and made an aggressive move towards the net.  Eliason was able to slide the puck through the five hole putting the Fusion up 2-0. 

The Fusion went up 3-0 with 6:12 remaining in the second as Kamryn Jacobs fed the puck to Rowe, who skated in deep and appeared to over commit, but saw teammate Kendra Lesmeister on the back door and fired the pass.  Lesmeister one-timed the puck past Lelonek for the goal.  The Fusion led 3-0 at the end of two periods.

St. Croix Valley increased their lead at 5:14 of the second on a goal by Kamryn Jacobs with Emma VanDell and Maddie Rowe assisting.  Rowe collected her third assist as she brought the into the offensive zone to the right of Lelonek and made a backhand pass to Anna Albrightson in the low slot, who promptly put the puck in the goal to convert a second power play opportunity for the Fusion.

Black River Falls broke into the scoring column at 10:52 of the third.  Kacie Suchanek took the puck behind the Fusion net towards the corner.  Suchanek passed the puck up to Taylor Gular just inside the blue line as a delayed penalty  was in effect.  Gular fired the puck toward Coggio in net and it slid in for the goal.  The Tigers trailed 5-1.

Maddie Rowe pushed the lead back to five goals with 4:12 remaining in the game with an assist from Natalie Gabbert.  Gabbert scored the final goal of the night at 15:46 with Kamryn Jacobs and Jordan Erickson assisting.

The Fusion's Ellen Coggio had 13 saves, while Lelonek had 29 for Black River Falls. 

The Fusion improved their record to 4-0-0 and will play North/Tartan on Saturday, December 12th.  Black River Falls record is at 1-6-0.  The Tigers' next game is Monday, December 14th against Medford.

Michael (Trasher) Trzinski took all of the photos.