The Saint Croix Valley Fusion were defeated by the Superior Spartans by a score of 5-3 on Saturday in Baldwin.

The Fusion started the day as the second-ranked girls’ hockey team in the state behind the Spartans, making this the biggest game of the regular season for both teams.

Superior jumped out to a 1-0 lead early on looking every inch a championship team. Shortly after midperiod they did it again, this time circling around the back of the net and sneaking it in on the corner to take a two-goal advantage.

The Fusion didn’t quit, instead answering back with an assisted goal out in front of the net. The momentum seemed to be shifting as well as they had multiple breakaways for shots on goal, and 30 seconds later they were back on their doorstep and putting pressure on. They almost tied it up before the Spartans managed to get it out of their d-zone, dumping it down the ice.

The period came to a close like that, with the Spartan coach trying to fix things from the sidelines and the Fusion pushing with everything they had.

The Fusion came out in the second period without missing a beat. They were aggressive, and two minutes in, they tied it up.

They kept putting shot upon shot on the Spartans goalie, and the momentum was with them until around midperiod when things flipped, and St. Croix Valley couldn’t seem to get them out of their defensive zone.

Anna Woolley, the Fusion’s goalie, was amply tested including on a wide-open breakaway by one of the best Spartan shooters, but she held. Woolley couldn’t keep it up forever though, and eventually one slid through for Superior to break the tie and take the lead, 3-2 with 7:15 remaining.

At this point, the Fusion were outshooting the Spartans 15-10, and it felt like their defense was controlling the game except for a couple little mistakes. Those little mistakes looked like they were going to cause things to spiral out of control for a minute as St. Croix Valley incurred a body checking penalty and granted Superior a power play just seconds after their goal. Not even a minute later, the home team incurred yet another penalty for slashing as they were defending their own net.

Instead of accepting the penalty minutes, Superior opted for the penalty shot option and put one of their two top shooters in to take the shot. The Spartan tried a deke to get Woolley to shift to the side, but she didn’t fall for it, and the penalty shot was batted away.

Wild times continued into the final 4:00 of the frame as Jane Volgren had a huge lead on a breakaway, but the shot was blocked. This resulted in a dog fight in front of the net, and somehow the puck just wouldn’t go in. Superior answered by taking it down and almost scoring again themselves before the power play ended, but came up short, and the Fusion returned to full strength.

The period ended with a near tie in shots on goal at 17-15 in favor of the Fusion.

With 17:00 on the clock, they lined up with one period left to go and a one goal difference between these two titans. The puck dropped to start the final frame, and it was off to the races, both teams getting after it, fast and furious.

It was the Fusion who scored first, tying the game at the 13:55 mark, and pandemonium overtook the packed house at Baldwin United Civic Center. Unfortunately, the Spartans retook the lead just seconds later to claim a 4-3 advantage.

Approaching midperiod, Superior was a constant presence in the Fusion’s d-zone, bringing a lot of pressure to the front of St. Croix Valley’s net. They eventually scored one more time on sort of a flukey goal that was shot from out by the blue line. It was floated towards the net in the midst of a lot of chaos, and it just managed to squeak by on the left corner to make it 5-3.

Normally a defensive-minded team, the Fusion did not say die, but instead they went on the offensive, going up tempo and pushing the net. They created opportunities for themselves, put the Spartans on their heels and had some great shots, but to no avail. Sometimes the puck just won’t go in the net, and this was one of those times.

Entering the final 4:00 of play, the Spartans returned the favor. Instead of doing what the Fusion would normally do with a two-goal advantage in the final minutes and run the clock out while playing defense, they went on an all-out offensive. They increased their pressure, eventually taking the lead in shots on goal for the game.

With 1:30 left, the Fusion called a time out to plan their last-ditch effort to tie it up or win it. They put the puck in Sundby’s hands. She deftly outmaneuvered the Spartan defenders, taking it to the net and putting a shot on goal, but it was blocked.

So, with 0:50 remaining, St. Croix Valley pulled their goalie. It wouldn’t prove successful, though, and the game would end at 5-3.

Sundby, who plays for team Wisconsin with two of the Spartans players in the offseason, was the player of the game with two goals and an assist. She says that they played well against a great opponent; the end result just didn’t go their way.

 “It's hard to keep up with a team that's that fast plus has three pretty good lines. We could have done a little bit better picking up on some things, but we haven’t played a team that is that good in a while. So, I think we played pretty good and kept it close,” Sundby said. “In the second period we lost our legs a little. We had the long change, and we got stuck out there a couple of times too many. You're trying to match the lines, so we got stuck out there with our third line and their first line a couple times but nothing we really could have done any different. I mean, we condition every single day, so we just have to keep working.”

Assistant Coach of the Fusion, Jon Zevenbergen, says they played hard but that playing from behind late sort of changed their game plan.

“Their power is with their forwards. They try to utilize puck possession and gain opportunity on offense, but we kept them to about 25 shots. Overall, it was a great defensive battle by us keeping a team with two of the top scorers in the state pretty much under control as best you can,” Zevenbergen said. “We started getting more aggressive trying to put up the goal to tie the game. So, we swung a little bit to try to get the tying point, and that created opportunity for them, giving them a little bit better shooting angles.”

The silver lining for this loss is that it’s only the second of the season for the 8-2 Fusion, and they retain their position as a top two team in the state.

Next up for St. Croix Valley is a home game against the Eau Claire Area Stars on Tuesday and then an away game on Thursday against the Black River Falls Tigers. The puck drops at 7 p.m. for both games.