In a clean, close, back-and-forth battle, the St. Croix Valley Fusion defeated the University School co-op girls’ hockey team 3-1 on Saturday, January 27th at the United Civic Center in Baldwin.

The non-conference game between the Fusion and the Wildcats, who are ranked 3rd and 4th in the state respectively, could have gone either way.  The shot totals were even, and both goaltenders, the Wildcats’ Juliana Strother and the Fusion’s Olivia Klund, kept the score low by playing well.  Strother made 19 saves while Klund made 20.

“It was a close game,” said Dan Carey, USM’s head coach, “both teams did a good job.  We like playing good competition like the Fusion.  Even though we lost, it helped us get better.”

Matt Cranston, the Fusion’s coach agreed.  “This was a good game between two of the top seven teams in the state.  It was fun for us to be playing in it.”

The Fusion got the scoring started with a goal late in the first period.  Taylor Meier collected the puck and raced into the Wildcats’ zone.  A defenseman closed in on her, forcing her into the right corner.  The two collided and fell.  Kamryn Jacobs picked up the puck and skated out toward the blue line along the right boards, flying by two different stick-check attempts as she progressed.  Nearing the line, she turned and headed down the slot. Moving in, Jacobs avoided two more sweep checks.  From the edge of the crease, she fired and scored at 13:06.

The Wildcats tied the score in the second period.  As the Wildcats forechecked in the Fusion end, the puck jumped loose from a scrum in the right corner.  Lexie Epperson snared it along the mid-boards.  She skated across the right circle and released a hard wrist shot.  The puck caromed off a skate to Gaby Turer in the low slot.  Turer shot fast and scored at 4:08.

The Fusion tallied the game-winning goal came in the opening minute of the third period.  From the period’s opening faceoff, Maddie Schultz threw the puck deep into the Wildcats’ zone and took off after it.  She forced the defenseman who got the puck in the right corner to make a hurried breakout pass to the near boards.  Jacobs was trailing, and she knocked into the forward there. Like mustard oozing from a squeeze bottle, the puck slipped into the right circle.  Schultz reached back for it, and in one motion whipped her body around to shoot the puck.  It made it through Strother’s five-hole at 0:14.