University School Co-op loses in OT
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Rather than focus on the loss, Jordan Bonk appreciated the moment.
One of the eight seniors on the University School Co-op girls hockey team, Bonk remembered what it was like to not know if there would be a season and pointed out that once the school was given the go-ahead to compete, few expected this kind of success for the Wildcats.
The record will show a 16-game winning streak, a regular-season win over the state's No. 1 ranked team and a state semifinal win over the top seed in the field.
The list of accomplishments just won't include a state championship.
University School, the fourth-seeded team out of four at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament, led after two periods but ended up losing, 3-2, in overtime to Chippewa Falls/Menomonie in the state final Saturday afternoon at South Wood Country Rink.
“Going in we thought it was a gift to make it as far as possible, so we were going to put everything out on the ice that we could,” Bonk said. “We have a lot of seniors that in the third (period) were working. We were like this is the last period of our high school career and we were all going to just give it all we've got and I think everyone is pretty happy with it.”
Sophomore Joey Schmenauer scored the game-winner for the Sabers off a pass from sophomore Brianna Buonincontro at 4 minutes 40 seconds of overtime. The co-op finished 14-6-1 and won its first championship. Chippewa Falls won titles in 2007 and '08 while in a co-op with Chippewa Falls McDonell.
University School finished 18-4, overcoming an early onslaught of opportunities by the Sabers to almost win its first state title since 2015.
“The way they competed, I'm just super proud of them,” USM coach Dan Carey said. “This one hurts. It hurts bad, but at the end of the day with high school athletics you're building memories for the rest of your life and they're going to be really proud of the way they played.”
Bonk had a hand in both of her team's goals. She assisted senior Emily Mueller with 10 seconds left in the opening period to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead and scored on a power play at 10:08 of the third period off assists from Maddie Wagner and Eileen Carey to give her team a 2-1 advantage.
The Wildcats were outshot, 28-17. They started slow with Chippewa Falls seemingly living in their zone throughout the first period but their defense didn't break. It was a theme of the afternoon as freshman Molly Jex made 25 saves and the team's back line cleaned up a number of potentially messy situations.
University School, meanwhile, had just one shot on goal in the first period, the one that at the time mattered most.
“Talk about a shot in the arm. We needed that,” Carey said of Mueller's goal.
Despite the final shot numbers, play was more evenly spread in both zones during the final two periods and overtime.
Jex made 12 saves in the second period to preserve the shutout, but early in the third senior Sidney Polzin, the state player of the year, set up senior Ella Ausman for the tying goal with 16:20 left in regulation.
The Wildcats responded with Bonk's power play goal 6 minutes later to reclaim the lead but Polzin and Ausman teamed up again – this time Polzin scored – with 7:20 left to for the goal that forced overtime.
Ironically, in the OT it was University School that controlled the puck early. It owned a 4-1 edge in shots in overtime but couldn't finish its chances.
Boys Division 1
Hudson 4, Verona 0: Carter Mears and Alex Pottratz scored first-period goals within 1 minute of each other to set the tone for the Raiders, who finished 20-3 and won their first title since 2018. Mears scored twice and Carson Strapon had two assists.
Division 2
Fond du Lac Springs 4, Superior 1: Springs scored three times in the final period to wrap up its second straight championship. Brady Welsh and Calvin Grass had two goals each.