The Rock County Fury might have had superior numbers off the ice, but state veteran Hayward had the better numbers on the ice, as evidenced by a 6-1 victory in Friday's first state semifinal game at the Clamshell in Mad City.
The Fury brought at least two dozen buses' worth of fans and four bands, but the Hurricanes had the better of it on the ice.
The Hurricanes started early while on a power play.
Amber Heidenreich took a cross-ice pass and ripped a shot from the left dot that beat Fury goalie Molly Gross for the 1-0 lead. Jenna Curtis and Harley Kinney earned helpers on the scoring play just two minutes into the contest.
Rock County had a chance to tie the game in the middle of the period, but Gabby Tremblay broke up a Fury 2-on-1 rush to keep them off the board.
A minute later, the Hurricanes made it 2-0 when Kinney took a pass from below the goal line and snuck the biscuit past Gross for the two-goal lead. Sarah Pearson and Autumn Fenske had assists.
Late in the period, Rock County scored to cut the lead to 2-1.
Maggy Henschler took a pass on the left dot and put a 'knuckle puck' on net that fluttered past Hayward goalie Lauren Tremblay with 1:45 left. Ally Burke and Kayla Kaufman got assists on the play.
Gross had 13 saves in the period while Tremblay stopped three shots.
The second period was a repeat of the first, as in Hayward scoring an early power play goal.
Alex Grubbs tapped in a rebound, with assists to Fenske and Heidenreich, to make it 3-1 just over a minute into the period.
Then Heidenreich got back into gear, scoring the first of three consecutive goals for Hayward.
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She grabbed a loose puck in the NZ, skated down the left side and cut into the low slot, going forehand to backhand as she slid the puck into the net as she was tripped. An assist on the play went to Gabby Tremblay.
With less than a minute left, a Rock County shot was tipped and clanked off the left post, much to the chagrin of the large Fury crowd.
Gross had a baker's dozen worth of saves in the period, while Lauren Tremblay stopped four shots.
Heidenreich earned her hat trick five minutes into the final period when she copied her earlier goal—left side to slot—but this time it was unassisted.
The junior added her fourth goal with under five minutes left to account for the final tally with a near carbon-copy of her previous two goals. This time the puck temporarily slid off her stick but she was able to recover it and tap it into the net.
In the period, Lauren Tremblay had seven saves while Cat Hopper, who came in with 3:50 left, made two saves for Hayward. Tremblay ended with 14 saves.
Gross had six saves for Rock County for a game total of 32.
The Fury ended their season with a mark of 16-11-1.
Hayward moves to the title game for the third time in the past four years, improving to 20-8. They will take on the winner of the Central Wisconsin-USM game.
