By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The South Central Wisconsin Elite Hockey League team, including Sauk County players, Dayana Wade and Sophia Gesicki started with an impressive win but that ended up as the lone victory in three games at the Wisconsin Tier II 16U State Championship tournament in Fond du Lac this past weekend.
After a 3-1 win against SouthEast WEHL in its opening game Saturday, the team dropped a 4-1 decision to eventual state champion Western and also lost 9-3 to North Central/NorthEast in its final game.
SouthEast 1 South Central 3
Teams started slowiy in their first game, playing through a scoreless opening period before Mary Gaffaney got South Central on the board with the only goal of the second, from Ella Cook and Caroline Cutrano.
SouthEast evened the score early in the final period but Wade notched the game winner, unassisted on a powerplay with 5:39 to play and Gaffaney added another in the final minute, also unassisted.
Sofia Martinelli picked up the win in goal but unfortunately there were no shot tallies kept.
South-Central 1 Western 4
Western surely knew it dodged a bullet in this one as the standout goaltending of Katelyn Gustafson denied South Central a second win, despite a 36-22 edge on the shot clock.
Western opened a 2-0 first period lead and was up 3-1 heading to the third, Abby Hoffelder with the goal, from Cook.
Aubrie Dowd ad Martinelli split the work in goal, combining on an 18-save game that wasn’t clinched until an empty net goal 44 seconds from the buzzer.
NC/NE 9 South Central 3
The final game was tough from the start as the Northern squad opened a 4-2 first period cusshion and widened it to 6-2 in the middle frame, holding a 40-16 edge in shots along the way.
Cutrano, Cook and Gaffaney each collected a goal, Cutrano also adding an assist for South Central and Martinelli was the game’s busiest player, stopping 31 shots in the contest.
Sauk Hockey 