The Saint Croix Valley Fusion defeated the Central Wisconsin Storm by a score of 4-1 on Saturday, Dec. 16 in River Falls.

Coming into the game, the Fusion were the third-ranked team in the state just behind the Storm at number two, so this was a game that a championship-minded team like Saint Croix Valley had high aspirations of winning.

Even though things got pretty lopsided by the end, it was pretty tight throughout the first period. The Fusion had seven shots on goal to the Storm’s five, and even though each team got one set of penalty minutes assigned to them, they occurred from a simultaneous infraction so neither team was afforded a power play. At the end of one, it was 0-0.

Things heated up quickly on the ice in the second period.

The Fusion came out hot and put continuous pressure on the Storm while still playing very clean hockey. They didn’t incur any penalty minutes of their own, but they took advantage of their only power play when Alexis Ralston put the puck in the net with 6:00 remaining. She was assisted in her effort by Kraly Walker and Jane Volgren.

It would be the only goal in a period where the Fusion limited the Storm to just five shots on goal while putting 15 of their own on Central Wisconsin’s goalie.

Saint Croix Valley got another power play to take advantage of in the third period after a tripping penalty early on put them at a 2:00 advantage. This time it was freshman Volgren who took the shot with Kendall Sundby and Morgan Kivel on the assist as they took a two-score lead.

The Fusion would tack on another one four minutes later after a goal by Lily Mittl put them up 3-0 with just over 10:00 remaining in regulation.

That’s the way the score sat until near the end when things got a little dicey for Saint Croix Valley. The Storm scored a power play goal of their own after a body checking penalty by the Fusion. Then, down 3-1 with the final minutes upon them, Central Wisconsin pulled their goalie and went full up-tempo with a manufactured power play.

After some high intensity play in front of the goal, Kivel got behind the defense and broke away to dump the puck in the empty net bringing the final score of the game to 4-1.

This was a big win for Saint Croix Valley who have now won six in a row after a week one loss. Overall, they outshot the Storm 31-17, and they scored on their only two power plays.

The points leader for the Fusion in this one was Sundby who had three assists. Volgren, Kivel and Walker all had nice games as well.

Junior skater Ralston, who earned the nickname “The Crusher” when she leveled a player from Hudson as a freshman, has been on the team all three years of high school, and she believes this is their year.

“I feel like we did pretty well today. We had really good passing and just like our connection. Everybody had a good day,” Ralston said. "I think that this is our year. We have a good dynamic. Our team chemistry is the best it’s ever been, and it gets better all the time. We should have a good season, and we’re aiming high. We want to make it to state this year, and I think this should be our year to go.”

Head Coach Matt Cranston says this is a young team with only two seniors on it, but it’s also a strong group with incredible depth.

“We don't give up any shots, therefore we don't give up many goals. Our goaltending is strong. We have a lot of sticks in the lanes, we're sticking on pucks, and we just don't give our opponent very many chances. We also have some really skilled offensive players, so we are able to bury the puck, like today when we had two power play goals,” Cranston said. “There's not a faster team in the state than this this team. Superior is ranked number one in the state with a couple of very good players, but no one's as deep as this team here.”

Next up for the Fusion is a trip to Hudson to play the Raiders on Tuesday. Saint Croix Valley currently sits in first place in the Big Rivers at 2-0 ahead of Hudson who is 1-1. Both the Fusion and the Raiders are currently at 6-1 overall setting up what should be a great rivalry game. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Later in the week, they will play two games in Baldwin. The first is against the Coulee Region Cyclones on Thursday at 7 p.m, and then they will play the Superior Spartans on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Spartans are the number one ranked team in the state, so this will be Saint Croix Valley’s moment to make a resounding statement about who should be the favorite in this year’s pursuit of a state championship. They knocked off one of the two teams above them already this week; why not make it two.