When:  Friday, March 4, 2016
Time:   11:00 AM
Where:  Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI

Hayward Hurricanes

Hayward Co-op consists of the following high schools (the numbers next to each school are the number of players from that school):
Hayward(6), Ashland(4), Northwestern(2), Rice Lake(2), Shell Lake(1) and Spooner(5)

State Titles: 2013
State Appearances:  2012, 2013 and 2015

The Hurricanes had six players with 20 points or more during the regular season.  The team allowed 22 shots per game on their goaltenders.  Amber Heidenreich was tied for 10th in the state on goals scored.  Jenna Curtis was in a three way tie at 13 for total points on the season with 42.  Hayward played the USM Wildcats on November 27 and fell 3-2.  The Central Wisconsin Storm played Hayward on January 15th and defeated the Hurricanes 3-2.  Two players, Alex Grubbs and Karin Knapp, played in the championship game back in 2013.

Rock County Fury

Rock County Fury consists of the following high schools:
Beloit Memorial, Black Hawk, Clinton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Milton, Monroe and Beloit Turner

This is the first appearance at the WIAA State tournament for the Fury.

The Fury outscored their opponents 67-48 during the regular season.  Freshman Maggy Henschler led the Fury with 12 goals and total of 20 points.  In the words of Coach Soddy, “We’re a blue collar team.”  Rock County are a hard skating team and may not play with a lot of flash, but they will battle for the puck and hustle for every loose puck on the ice.  The sectional final game showed Molly Gross at her best.  The Lynx fought hard putting 27 shots on net in the final two periods and Gross stopped 10 of 11 in the second and 15 of 16 in the third.  Gross had 4 games in which she faced 40 or more shots on goal.  One of those games was against the Central Wisconsin Storm and she stopped 43 of 47 shots for a .915 save percentage.

Keys to advance 

Rock County – The most goals given up by the Fury in a game this season was 4.  This happened on 4 occasions and resulted in a loss each time.  I believe Rock County will need to hold the Hurricanes to a maximum of two goals in order to win this game.

Hurricanes – The Hurricanes need to continue to play the way they have the entire season.  Hayward has lost to two WIAA teams this season, Central Wisconsin and USM, both are playing in the state semi-finals.  They have outshot their opponents on average 32.4 to 22 per game.  Hayward will need to continue to use their defensive presence and keep Rock County shooting from the outside.

The statistics entered above are from the regular season and do not include playoff numbers.

When:  Friday, March 4, 2016
Time:   1:15 PM (approximately)
Where:  Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI

Central Wisconsin Storm

Central Wisconsin consists of the following high schools:
D.C. Everest, Mosinee, Wausau East and Wausau West

State Titles: 2008 and 2012
State Appearances:  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015

Central Wisconsin had five players with 20 points or more during the regular season.  The team allowed 15.8 shots per game on their goaltenders.  Coach Susens took over as head coach this season and the Storm have continued to allow an average of less than 20 shots on goal per game.  Central Wisconsin built an overall record of 21-4-1 which includes their 3 playoff wins.  They have outscored their opponents 113 to 47 during the regular season and 25 to 1 in the playoffs.

USM Wildcats

The USM Co-op consists of the following high schools (the numbers next to each school represent the number of players from that school):
University School of Milwaukee(8), Divine Savior Holy Angels(2), Nicolet(4), Shorewood(3) and Whitefish Bay(7)

State Titles: 2015
State Appearances:  2010, 2013 and 2015

USM entered the season with the target of being the defending state champion.  While they are the defending state champion, they did graduate 9 seniors from last year.  They returned last year’s Jinelle Siergiej Award winner, Nicole Unsworth, who led the team in scoring.  Caitlin McBride was second on the team in the regular season and tied with freshman Gaby Turer during the playoffs with 10 points.  Freshman Marie Dedert was introduced to high school hockey facing 3 top ten teams for her first three games of the season (Hayward, Central Wisconsin and Fond du Lac/Waupun) having to face 95 shots allowing 8 goals and going 1-1-1. 

Previous Meetings This Season

The Storm defeated USM on November 28th 4-0 including an empty net goal putting 31 shots on Dedert.  Chloe Westberg stopped all 30 shots she faced that day.  They played again on January 30th with the game ending in a 3-3 tie.  USM scored two goals in the third period to come back from a 3-1 deficit.  USM has the second and third most shots placed on the Storm this season, Thief River Falls is the only team to have put more shots on goal.

Keys to advance 

Central Wisconsin Storm – The Storm will want to score early to disrupt the confidence of USM’s goaltender Marie Dedert.  Central Wisconsin’s first line, consisting of Katelynn Ramthun, Emily and Elizabeth Bauer is arguably the strongest line in the state, have the ability to put pressure on the net.  Force Caitlin McBride, Gaby Turer or another USM player other than Nicole Unsworth to score.  The Storm have allowed 1 goal during the playoffs.  Westberg played the sectional semi-final and final games stopping 22 of 23 shots.  She will need to continue her strong play in net.

USM Wildcats – USM need to find players to score and have been doing this during the playoffs.  Gaby Turer and Caitlin McBride each have 5 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs having more goals than Unsworth (4 goals, 8 assists).  The Wildcats need to use the philosophy of the Storm by limiting the shots on goal and make them be from the outside with nothing up close.  Also, Marie Dedert needs to continue with her strong play in net.  Dedert has improved her GAA (goals against average) during the playoffs lowering it to 1.69 and improved her save percentage to .937.

The statistics entered above are from the regular season and do not include playoff numbers.