While the WIAA Girls state tournament played their first championship game in 2002, the first time the girls actually had four sectionals was in 2006.  In 2002 there were six teams (Hudson, Onalaska, Superior, Viroqua Co-op, Fond du Lac/Waupun and Arrowhead) battling it out for the ultimate prize.  Fast forward to 2016 and there were 33 teams trying to earn their way to Mad City.  We are now down to eight teams: four #1 seeds, two #2’s and two #3’s.  We do know there will be one newcomer to Madison.

When:  Friday, February 26
Time:   6:00 PM
Where: Eagle River Recreation Arena in Eagle River, WI

The Central Wisconsin Storm will enter the contest with a 20-4-1 overall record this season.  They have put together 13-0-1 record since their last loss on January 2nd to Fond du Lac.  The Storm have made eight straight appearances in Madison and are looking to make it nine.  The Storm won the title in 2008 and 2012.

Northland Pines have won seven straight games (including their two wins in the playoffs) and have a 19-4-2 overall record.  The Eagles are trying to make their second trip to Madison and first since 2007.

This will be the fifth consecutive year Northland Pines and Central Wisconsin meet in the sectional finals.  The Eagles are led by junior Amanda Sergent.  Amanda had 25 goals and 17 assists during the regular season.  Senior Allison Sauvola was second on the team with 32 points (9 goals, 23 assists).  Jenna Paez, a senior, has performed solidly between the pipes for Northland Pines with a 1.97 GAA and stopping 297 of 331 shots.

The Storm have a history of playing a tight defense and allowing very few shots on goal.  This has been very evident during the post-season where they have allowed a total of 15 shots on goal in two games.  Two key seniors for Central Wisconsin are the Bauer twins as evidenced by the totals they have put up this season.  Emily Bauer had 9 goals and 37 assists during the regular season.  She has added 2 goals with 6 assists during the playoffs.  Elizabeth Bauer had 20 goals and 27 assists during the regular season, with 2 goals and 6 assists in the post season.  Freshman Chloe Westberg has played the majority of the season in goal for the Storm.  During the regular season, Westberg posted a 1.92 GAA and stopped 243 of 275 shots.

Key to the game:  Shots on goal.  Both teams averaged allowing less than 20 shots on goal per game.  Jenna Paez faced an average of 19.2 shots per 51 minutes, while Chloe Westberg saw an average of 16.5 shots per 51 minutes.  The Storm have a formidable force for points in Katelyn Ramthun, Emily Bauer and Elizabeth Bauer with the three having combined for 140 points during the regular season.  The Eagles will need to have a third player step up to help Sergent and Sauvola on the offensive end, who will answer the challenge?

When:  Frday, February 26
Time:   7:00 PM
Where: Rice Lake Hockey Arena in Eau Claire, WI

This will be the second meeting of the season between Hayward and St. Croix Valley.  The Hurricanes defeated the Fusion on January 5th at the Wildcat Centre 3-2.  The Fusion led 2-0 going into the third period, but Hayward scored 3 even strength goals with the final goal coming with 6:39 left in the period.

As you look at the past brackets (unfortunately the bracket for 2010 doesn’t come up on http://www.wiaawi.org ), the teams have met in 5 of the last 6 going back to 2009.  The exception was in 2014, when they met in the sectional semi-final game.  Hayward Co-ops have made it to Madison on three occasions, (2012, 2013 and 2015), winning the title in 2013.  St. Croix Valley has made the trip four times: 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014.  They won the title in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and are the only team with three state titles in WIAA girl’s hockey.  The 2011 championship game went into four overtimes.

Hayward is led by Amber Heidenreich with 25 goals and 16 assists, while teammate Jenna Curtis had 16 goals and 26 assists in the regular season.  Lauren Tremblay has had a terrific season in goal with a 1.88 GAA and .917 save percentage.

St. Croix Valley has 5 players with 20 points or more during the regular season with defenseman Maddie Rowe leading the Fusion.  Rowe had 58 points (33 goals, 25 assists) in the regular season and has continued with 3 goals and 4 assists in the playoffs.  Kamryn Jacobs was second on the team with 20 goals and 20 assists in the regular season followed up with 3 goals and 3 assists in the playoffs.  Ellen Coggio has a 2.17 GAA in the regular season and .894 save percentage.

Key to win:  Hayward needs to contain Maddie Rowe and force someone else on the Fusion to defeat them.  The Hurricanes have a balanced attack with 6 players with 20 points or more.  The Fusion need to play a complete game from the drop of the opening puck through the sounding of the final horn.  The Fusion can’t have the late game breakdowns, which can lead to giving away a win.

When:  Saturday, February 27
Time:   7:30 PM
Where: Appleton Family Ice Center in Appleton, WI

Bay Area Ice Bears and the USM Wildcats will meet for the third time this season.  The Ice Bears fell to the Wildcats in their previous two meetings.  They lost to USM 4-1 at Uihlein Ice Arena on January 22nd and then lost the Eastern Shores Conference Tournament Championship game on February 6th 2-1. 

The Ice Bears have been to the WIAA state tournament on two occasions.  The first was in 2010 and made it to the title game, but fell to St. Croix Valley.  The second in 2014 and defeated Onalaska for the state championship.  University School has made three appearances in Madison losing in the semi-finals in 2010 and 2013 before winning the championship in 2015.

This will be the third time they have met in the sectional final.  The Ice Bears won the sectional final game in 2014 3-2 in overtime.  The Wildcats won last year 3-0 to advance to Madison.

Mia Dunning led Bay Area with 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) during the regular season. Johanna Cano was second on the team with 12 goals and 8 assists.  Defenseman Morgan Zirbel was third with 19 points (11 goals, 8 assists).  The team allowed the fewest shots on goal during the regular season with 14.7 shots on goal for every 51 minutes played.  Ana Holzbach had a 1.30 GAA and 7 shutouts on the season.

USM is led by Nicole Unsworth.  During the regular season, Unsworth had 43 goals and 22 assists.  Caitlin McBride was second on the team with 16 goals and 23 assists.  Freshman Gaby Turer was third with 27 points.  Freshman goaltender Marie Dedert had a solid season in net facing 23 shots per 51 minutes played and posted a 1.77 GAA with a .923 save percentage.  The playoffs have seen Dedert’s save percentage at .941 with a 1.47 GAA facing 24.9 shots per 51 minutes played.

Key to advance:  Teams have tried to frustrate Unsworth this season by putting one or two players to key on her to deny her the puck.  USM has seen McBride and Turer step up, this needs to continue.  USM needs to get back to the defense their team played in the first meeting against Bay Area, where they allowed 20 shots on Dedert compared to the 38 shots they allowed during the Conference Title game.  Bay Area needs to build on their last game and confidence they gained during the Eastern Shores Conference championship game.  They were able to get offensive opportunities and need to continue placing pressure on the young USM team.

When:  Saturday, February 27
Time:   8:00 PM
Where: Madison Ice Arena in Madison, WI

While I don’t know the goals set by the Metro Lynx at the beginning of the season, I can presume they went something like this:

1. Win the Badger Conference – Mission accomplished with 9-1-0 conference record

2. Obtain #1 seed in sectional – Mission accomplished with a 14-6-4 overall record

3. Play at the Alliant Energy Center in March

The first two goals have been marked off, but the third still has one major obstacle in the way.  The Rock County Fury are that obstacle.  Neither, the Metro Lynx or the Fury, have made the trip to play in the semi-finals at the Alliant Energy Center in March.  The previous two meetings this season between the Fury and Metro Lynx were won by the Lynx by the identical score of 2-1.

The Lynx were led by Lizzy Conybear during the season with 18 goals and 12 assists.  McKenzie Imhoff had 8 goals and 18 assists, while Julia Dragoo had 12 goals and 9 assists.  The Lynx split time in the net this season between Gwen Parker, Erin Webb and Sydney McKersie.  Parker and Mckersie each played one game in the playoffs.

Rock County’s leader in points during the season was Maggy Henschler with 20 (12 goals, 8 assists).  Alyx Richards and Danielle Heitsman had 19 points each.  Richards had 9 goals and 10 assists, while Heitsman had 8 goals and 11 assists.  Molly Gross was the undisputed leader in goal with a 2.14 GAA and .929 save percentage.

Key to win:  This game is going to be close and a battle of attrition.  Metro Lynx won the first game with 57 seconds left on the clock in overtime.  The second game saw the Lynx score 2 goals in the first period and hold on to a 2-1 victory.  In order for the Fury to advance, they need to allow fewer shots on Gross.  The Lynx had 42 shots on goal in the overtime game (9 were in the overtime) and 35 shots on goal in the second game.  This compares to the Fury putting a total of 33 shots on goal over the two games.