FOND DU LAC – After cruising past Appleton United 5-1 in the Badgerland Conference quarterfinal game, the No. 4 seeded Stars were looking to keep their season alive in the semi-final game. It would not be an easy task however, as the Stars drew the No. 1 seeded Waupun Warriors who have been on a mission all season.

In their previous meeting just over a week ago, the Stars had a chance to finish in the top two in the standings if they could beat the Warriors on the road. It didn’t go well that night as Waupun showed them exactly why they have been the class of the league all season long.

 Looking to not only redeem themselves from that defeat, but to also continue their tournament run, Fox Cities came out and gave one of their best efforts of the season. Unfortunately, that effort was just not quite enough as once again the Warriors got the best of the Stars 3-0 sending Fox Cities to a tough defeat. Even with the loss, Head Coach Chris Van Zeeland believes his team gave one of their best efforts of the season.

“Tonight, the boys battled harder than they have in a while,” Van Zeeland said. “Even in the losing effort for us, I am proud of the hard work we put in this week and it definitely showed tonight against a great team.”

It was a very evenly matched first period of hockey, as both teams found their fair share of shots on goal. With both teams getting 10 plus shots on net, it was Max Gutjahr and Caleb Sauer holding strong as they kept things close early. With the first period winding down and still no score, it was the Warriors finally breaking through. With both teams at even strength, Carter Schramm found Jarrett Buchholz in front of the goal as he made it 1-0 heading into the second period.

It was all about the Stars defense in the second period as Waupun certainly turned up the intensity. In total, the Warriors fired 14 shots on goal, but Gutjahr was having none of it, keeping things close at 1-0. The Stars looking for some offense of their own continued to match that same intensity, but the result remained the same on the scoreboard trailing 1-0 after two periods of play.

It was in the third period when the Warriors began to create the separation they needed to end any hope of a Stars upset win. In particular, it was basically a two-minute stretch midway through the period that proved to be the undoing of Fox Cities. With the eight-minute mark rapidly approaching, Waupun looked to cash in on a power play opportunity looking to gain a bit more separation.

That was exactly the case as Baron Buchholz took the pass from Colin Holz for the powerplay goal extending the lead to 2-0. The Warriors were not quite done as they needed less than three minutes to add on. Once again, it was an even strength opportunity for the Warriors as Caleb Baxter found the net unassisted to push the lead to 3-0. Despite a terrific final period of play from the Stars offense, nothing could get past Sauer as Fox Cities battled for the 3-0 loss.