The Sun Prairie Co-op Cougars (aka Cap City Cougars) joined the WIAA in 2008.  Their first two years in the WIAA the Cougars lost in the sectional semi-finals.  Last year, 2010, they lost the sectional final game to the USM Co-op Wildcats.  They earned the Sectional Four Championship without giving up a goal this season.

 

The Storm finished the season as the top ranked team in the state and outscored their opponents 137-8 during the regular season.  Their only loss this year was to the St. Croix Valley Fusion in overtime on January 21st by a score of 3-2.  They avenged this loss with an overtime victory on February 12th with the final score of 3-2.  In the playoffs, the Storm defeated the Northern Edge (Rhinelander/Antigo) 7-0 in the regional finals.  Their opponent in the sectional two semi-finals, the Point-Rapids Red Panthers, the Red Panthers fell 8-1.  The sectional final was between the Marshfield Tigers and the Central Wisconsin Storm.  This time the storm came away with a 4-1 victory earning their fourth straight sectional championship.

 

The Cougars entered the playoffs as the #3 team in the state and the top seed in sectional four.  Sun Prairie Co-op outscored their opponents 121-41 in the regular season. In compiling a 22-3-2 record, the Cougars lost to one Wisconsin team on December 17th, when they lost to the Fusion in overtime 4-3.  They tied Fond du Lac Co-op on February 8th with a 3-3 final.  The other two losses came to Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Eveleth-Gilbert (both ranked teams in the Minnesota Girls High School Hockey League).  Their other tie was a game they won in a shoot-out during the Schwan Cup Tournament against Silver Bay, MN.  During the playoffs, the Cougars have posted three straight shut-outs by defeating Beaver Dam Co-op 9-0; the Rock County Fury (Beloit Co-op) 6-0 and the USM Co-op Wildcats 2-0.

 

The Cougars are lead by senior, Josie Johnson.  Johnson led the team in total points, by being an offensive minded defenseman, with 49 points (32 goals, 17 assists).  Second on the team in points was freshman Jamie Henderson with 45 points (31 goals, 14 assists).  Two other players had 20 or more points:  Michaela Johnson (sophomore) 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) and Morgan Sefzik (senior) 20 points (6 goals, 14 assists).

 

CWS had five players with 20 or more points with sophomore Kylie Gazzolo leading the way with 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists).  Three players had points in the 31-37 range:  Miranda Hayes, a junior with 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists); Tiffany Hladovak a senior with 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) and Morgan Pearson a senior with 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists).  Sarah Poirer a junior rounded out the top five with 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists).

 

The Storm defense did an excellent job at protecting their goaltender.  When Hillary Drake was in net, she faced 316 shots and stopped 308 of them.  This averaged out to 15.05 shots on goal per game against Drake.  Hillary finished the regular season with a GAA of 0.39 per game (that’s not even half a goal per game!) and a 0.975 save percentage.  During the playoffs, Drake played 8 of the 9 periods facing 34 shots and stopping 32 of them.

 

Sun Prairie Co-op’s Janna Bielke-Skoug stopped 525 of the 562 shots for a 0.934 save percentage.  On average she faced 24.04 shots per game and stopped 22.82 of them.  Janna had a GAA of 1.71 per game during the regular season.  Once the playoffs started Janna has stopped all 59 shots she has faced.

 

This should be a low scoring game.  You have arguably two of the top three goalies in the state in the net.  On one side you have a senior and her team trying to win their first State Championship.  The other side has a team with a goaltender trying to put the finishing bookend on her high school career with another State title in her senior year to go with the one from her freshman year.  However, more important than that is the fact you have two players in which their team success is more important to them than their own and teams that know goaltending and defense is the key to winning championships.