The University School co-op girls’ hockey team came ready to play in the championship game of the Girls Hockey Classic on Saturday, December 8th at USM. As a result, the Wildcats won the tournament’s championship cup by defeating the Cap City Cougars of Sun Prairie, 4-1.
"It was a fun weekend for the girls,” said USM’s head coach, Dan Carey. “I think we played our best ‘complete’ game of the season today and saw big contributions from a lot of girls, including freshman Molly Guenther, who scored her first varsity goal."
The Wildcats wanted to show last year’s state tournament finalist that they were a team to be reckoned with this season. They came out aggressively and outshot the Cougars 32-12 in the game.
“They skated hard and really forechecked us,” said Cap City’s head coach Jeff Thornton after the game.
Neither team scored in the first period, during which the Wildcats fired 8 pucks at Jenna Jager, Cap City’s senior goalie. Freshman goaltender Sami Stommel only had to make 2 saves in the period for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats finally put one past Jager midway through the second period. Senior Gaby Turer snared a loose puck just outside the Wildcats’ blue line. She skated through center ice. Then, as soon as she crossed the Cap City line, she fired a shot. Her quick release seemed to surprise Jager as the puck sailed into the net at 7:07.
Kinzie Youngblood scored the first of her two goals in the game to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead at 9:16 of the period. The senior got the puck in the Wildcats’ zone and passed it to sophomore Jordan Bonk. Youngblood joined Bonk on a two-on-one rush. Bonk skated the puck deep into the Cap City zone. She pulled it to the left around a defender who barely knocked it off of Bonk’s stick. The puck skittered toward the goal line on the left of the net. Youngblood rushed to it, sped around the net, and scored on a wraparound goal.
WiPH Game Summaries
WEHL 16U Southwest Skate All The Way To USA Hockey Semi-Finals
- By Coach Hoehn, WEHL 04/16/2024, 5:45pm CDT
WEHL 18U South East Girls at USA Hockey Nationals, March 20-24
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/20/2024, 7:45pm CDT
TW, Wisc Selects, and WEHL at Central Districts
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/16/2024, 9:45am CDT
19U Girls, 18U Boys Lead Six Team Wisconsin Teams to Central Districts
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/11/2024, 11:30am CDT
Tritons Stifle Stars to Go Back-to-Back
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/02/2024, 9:00pm CST
Storm Win Battle of Last Two State Champions
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/02/2024, 4:30pm CST
Gaertig and Two Minutes of Dominance Lead Springs to Division 2 Championship
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/02/2024, 11:45am CST
Tritons Ride Big First Period to Semi-Final Win
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/01/2024, 4:30pm CST
Stars Shine With Extra Attacker To Head to D1 Title Game
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 03/01/2024, 12:00pm CST
Ice Bears Get the Chance to Defend Their Title
- By Bill Berg Jr, WiPH Staff 02/29/2024, 10:30pm CST
Youngblood said, “Jordan and I had a two-on-one, and she made a good move and drove the net but lost the puck. So then I picked it up and wrapped around the net. I was excited because Jordan made a great play, and we were still able to get a goal out of it.”
Cap City closed the scoring gap with a power play goal late in the second period. The Cougars had good control of the puck as they moved it around the Wildcats’ zone. Eventually it went to junior Mary Gross at the left point. She gunned a low shot toward the far post. Junior Zephryn Jager put her stick on it, tipping it in at 13:04.
The Cougars’ goal did not seem to faze the home team. The Wildcats scored again less than a minute later while on their own power play. They set up in the Cougars’ end and passed the puck around. Youngblood got in on the left side boards then sent a pass to senior Lexie Epperson in the near corner. Youngblood headed to the net. Epperson passed it back. Youngblood made the give-and-go play successful by zipping a shot into the net at 13:42.
Guenther scored her first varsity goal in the third period. She pulled the puck from a scrum along the left boards in the Cap City end, skated toward the bottom of the circle, and fired a shot. The rebound came back to her, so she skated with it behind the net. As she rounded it, she backhanded the puck toward the crease. The off-angle shot made it past Jager at 8:52, helping the Wildcats seal the victory and win the tournament.
After receiving the tournament trophy, Epperson, who is a USM captain, commented on the win, “We were very disciplined. The team went hard the whole game and didn't let up. We played a mentally tough game. I’m very proud of every player on the team. I think we had a lot of underclassman power propelling us through the game even though a lot of their efforts didn't show up on the scoreboard. It was great to be out on the ice with Molly as she scored her first high school goal.”
The Cougars are now 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Badger Conference. They play the Rock County Fury in a Badger Conference contest at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 13th at the Beloit Ice Arena.
USM is 6-2 and 1-1 in the Eastern Shores Conference. The Wildcats face a tough test when they play host to the Central Wisconsin Storm in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, December 14th.
