St. Croix Valley Fusion Head Coach Matt Cranston has been coaching girls' hockey for over 20 years. He's racked up over 300 wins and three state titles during his tenure with the Fusion.

"I still have a tough time trying to figure out what the right thing is to say before a game to get them going," said Cranston.

The Fusion came in to last Tuesday's game against Chippewa Falls/Menomonie ranked fourth in the state. The Sabers were unranked.

The Fusion had a power play early in the first period and sent a blitzkrieg at CFM goalie Aubrey Dowd with 10 shots on goal before the Sabers killed the penalty. 

"It ended on a huge rebound that Aubrey slid over and got a pad on it," said CFM Head Coach Mikayla Hogan. "It was a huge momentum shift and we felt like we could just go after that."

The Sabers did go right into the scoring column, taking a 1-0 lead on an Allison Xu goal at 8:43. The Sabers scored two more in the second period to make it 3-0. Fifty-nine seconds into the third period, the Sabers' Avery Lindstrom lit the lamp for a 4-0 lead.

The four-goal lead didn't feel quite safe enough for Coach Hogan heading into the locker room. Fifteen years ago in 2009, Hogan played for CFM and they led the Fusion 3-0 with less than three minutes in the game. St. Croix Valley rallied with four straight goals for the win.

"I'm not going to lie to you, that was definitely on my mind," said Hogan. "That's why we were hampering on our girls in the third to stay disciplined. That game sticks in my mind to this day. That's the kind of game you have nightmares about."

The Fusion's Morgan "Mojo" Kivel had a picturesque wrister at the 5:43 mark to put St. Croix Valley on the board, but it would be an easy night’s sleep for Hogan and the Sabers. CFM won the game 4-1.

"The Fusion like to get up on you early and then dump the puck in and play defense," said Hogan, "but we made them play our game tonight. We came out flying."

CFM junior goalie Aubrey Dowd recorded 27 saves on the night. Cranston said she was the difference in the game: "We threw a lot of great shots at her (Dowd). Their goalie was out of her head tonight, but we've been playing sluggish against the teams we should beat."

"We can beat anybody in the state," said Kivel, who along with Jane Volgren leads the Fusion in points on the season (18). "It's our energy. When we want to go 110% in the corners, then we show it. When we're all down and everybody's mellow, then we lose games. We keep playing to the level of our opponents. I just don’t know how to fix that."

The Fusion fell to 8-7 on the season. They will travel to Black River Falls on Thursday, Jan. 23, when the puck drops at 7 p.m. The Fusion will host the USM Wildcats in Baldwin at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.