skip navigation

Battle for Number One

By Delmar Scanlon, WiPH Staff, 01/18/18, 7:00PM CST

Share

ECA Stars battle from three down

Turnover Leads to Winning Goal

The second meeting between #1 Hudson Raiders and #2 ECA Stars was held at Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire. The Stars entered the game with 2 players in the top ten for goals, Ava Kison at 2 and Abigail Stow at 3, and both were in the top ten for total points (Kison at 3 and Stow at 1). Hudson's Anna Wilgren was at 6 for goals and 5 for points. The starting goalies for both teams were in the top ten for save percentage and goals against average. Naomi Stow was #1 in GAA and #3 in save percentage, while Cassie Schultz was #4 in GAA and #7 in save percentage.

Hudson was able to get on the board first as Bailee Dierks fed the puck to Angela Huepfel. Huepfel took the puck behind the net and centered the puck to Nikki Olund at the top of the crease. Olund slid the puck under Naomi Stow at 9:02 of the first giving the Raiders a 1-0 lead.  Sydney Hendricks bumped the lead to 2 with 2:03 remaining in the period, when she tipped the pass from Huepfel into the net (Dierks assisted on the goal too).

The second period found the Raiders increasing their lead to 3 as Quinn Winkowski took a shot from the high slot beating Naomi Stow with an assist from Rose Giblin and Lexie Nelson at 1:47. The Stars' Ava Kison put them on the board taking a shot from the circle with 6:28 remaining in the second with an assist from Annika Olson. Abigail Stow brought the Stars within 1 at 14:40 of the period as she fired the rebound off the pads of Schultz into the net with an assist being credited to Brooklynn Arbs. The comeback was complete as Stow stuffed one into the net with Arbs and Paige Rodriguez assisting with 55.5 seconds showing on the clock.

The Hudson Raiders were trying to clear their defensive zone late in the third period and facing pressure from the Stars. An outlet pass from the Raiders was knocked down and Paige Ruppert gained control. Ruppert took the shot and beat Schultz giving the Stars their first lead of the game. Hudson pulled their goalie with 22 seconds remaining, but the Stars held on for the win.

ECA's Naomi Stow finished the game with 26 saves, while Cassie Schultz had 21 saves for Hudson.

WiPH Games of the Week