Win away from state championship
By Erik Buchinger
The Fox Cities Stars girls’ hockey team is one win away from earning a state championship after their 3-1 semifinal win over Cap City in Madison on Friday, March 1.
Stars’ leading scorer Maddy Jablonski said she has been waiting all year long to step on to the ice for the state tournament.
“I’ve been anticipating this moment for the whole season pretty much,” Jablonski said. “A lot of people came out, and that was exciting. This was probably one of the funnest games I’ve ever played.”
The Stars arrived in Madison on Wednesday, and Fox said the team has enjoyed the state experience so far.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Fox said. “The girls worked so hard to be here. We got to do different things, and today we got to just play hockey.”
Stars’ goalkeeper Hattie Berndt said it was exciting to play in front of such a large crowd.
“We’re not used to the size of the crowd with everyone being all spread out,” Berndt said. “I think we had a lot of nerves and had a really bad second period, but we fought threw it and ended up winning so that’s all that matters at this point.”
Jablonski started the scoring with a goal in the first period, assisted by Lauryn Hull and Tori Nelson.
“It felt awesome especially because it’s the first time the Fox Cities Stars have ever been to state and the first time for all of us,” Jablonski said. “To go out there and score right way was a lot of run.”
Less than a minute later, Jablonski and Nelson assisted Annika Horman, who gave the Stars a 2-0 lead.
Cap City cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second period, but Fox Cities answered with a goal from Morgan Treml, as Nelson picked up her third assist to give the Stars a 3-1 advantage.
Berndt finished with 12 saves and said she is looking forward to one final game with the team’s five seniors Lauren Fine, Sarah Marvin, Hull, Nelson and Treml.
“It feels amazing especially for our seniors,” Berndt said. “We love all of our seniors so much, and it’s great to play one more game with them especially at this level in the state tournament finals.”
These two teams played during the regular season in Neenah on Jan. 5, and the Stars finished with a 7-0 win.
“It helped because we knew what we were going to get,” Fox said. “They played much harder today, and they’re an experienced team that has been here the last three years, but we were able to fight through it and get a few really nice goals that got us over the top.”
Fox, Berndt and Jablonski each said the team did not play its best game, but Jablonski said she expects an improvement in the championship game.
“I think we looked past this game a little bit because we beat these guys 7-0 before,” Jablonski said. “Tomorrow, no matter what, is the last game of the season, so we’ll have all our focus on that, give it everything we’ve got and hopefully win a state championship.”
The Stars will play in the state championship on Saturday, March 2 at 12:15 p.m. against the Hudson Raiders, which earned a 3-2 win in four overtimes to advance.
Fox Cities 5, Warbirds/Beaver Dam Alliance 2
The Fox Cities Stars girls’ hockey team earned a sectional title victory over the Warbirds/Beaver Dam Alliance on Friday, Feb. 22.
The Stars trailed 1-0 after the first period before adding three consecutive goals in the second period to take a 3-1 with the first coming from Jablonski.
The Warbirds added a goal late in the second period, but Fox Cities scored two more in the third for the 5-2 victory.
Berndt finished with 20 saves in the victory.
Fox Cities 6, University School of Milwaukee 1
The Stars defeated University School of Milwaukee in the sectional semifinal game on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Hortonville’s Maddy Jablonski tied with a team-high three points with two goals and one assist.
“I thought I played well, I skated hard and go two goals so I can’t complain,” Jablonski said.
New London goalkeeper Hattie Berndt finished with 18 saves with one goal allowed.
“It’s always fun to watch my team when they have a lot of energy especially in between periods in the locker room,” Berndt said. “There was so much energy that lifted the mood even after being scored on.”
Berndt said she was happy to move on to the next round after beating University School of Milwaukee.
“Last year we lost in the second round, so making it through this year feels really good,” Berndt said.