The River Falls Wildcat boys hockey squad is on a roll, moving to 10-5 on the year after winning seven of eight games. River Falls scored six-plus goals in six of those eight games.

The Wildcats’ previous four wins were all in Big Rivers Conference play, beating New Richmond 7-5, Rice Lake 4-1, Eau Claire North 6-4 and Menomonie 6-2 to improve to a 5-2 conference record (behind only 7-0 Hudson).

River Falls took its share of hits early in the year, losing four in a row at one point to fall to 3-4, but they used it as a lesson rather than a defining stretch.

“It all starts in the locker room. We’ve had some ups and downs toward the beginning of the year, and the team really bonded together, really starting to trust in each other and starting to play the way that the coaching staff was looking for them to play,” Head Coach Tim Beres said.

Captains Jaxon Flanagan and Chase Rudolph have played a huge role in the strong previous eight games. In 15 games, Flanagan has video game numbers at 22 goals and 24 assists, while Rudolph is holding his own with six goals and 22 assists.

“It’s our leadership core, really, between Jaxon Flanagan and Chase Rudolph, they’ve really stepped up in a key role for us. They’re really starting to lead this team and be the leaders that I knew that they could be,” Beres said. “A lot of these big runs start with those guys.”

In the win over Menomonie, River Falls got a hat trick from Calvin Vezina and a hat trick from Flanagan, who reached 50 career goals. Jace Dougherty and Nolan Hoepfl are also each having solid seasons with 18 and 15 points, respectively.

The schedule does not lighten up in the coming weeks, matching up against the conference leader in Hudson as well as Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire North teams that have taken down the Wildcats once this season.

“Every game is important,” Beres said. “It’s just a matter of executing and really trying to win the paint [in front of the net].”

Fusion

The St. Croix Valley Fusion have taken care of business with ease against the teams they should beat in recent weeks, but juggernauts Black River Falls and Western Wisconsin got the best of them this time around.

“We have a pretty tough schedule. Other than this last weekend, our strength of schedule is pretty intense, but that’s how you do it,” Head Coach Matt Cranston said.

The Fusion are 11-4 on the year with a 3-1 conference record, behind only 3-0 Western Wisconsin. Cranston eclipsed 350 career wins coming out of the break, and St. Croix Valley is finding its footing on the power play as the season heats up.

The Fusion split regular season matchups with Black River Falls with a 4-2 win and a 1-0 loss, losing 3-2 against Western Wisconsin with a rematch set for Jan. 20. Cranston said the two teams are both talented but play extremely differently.

“Those are two totally different teams,” Cranston said. “Black River is like the old-fashioned NHL, you win with defense… Western Wisconsin, they’re a lot deeper, but they’ve got skill all over the place.”

Cranston said almost every game Black River Falls plays is a one-goal game. With some of the most talented players being defensemen, it is tough to sneak goals in. For Western Wisconsin, they do not make life easy for anyone on either end of the ice for all three periods. Both teams have good goalie play, and so do the Fusion with Katelyn Gustafson boasting 1.59 goals against per game with a 92.9% save percentage. Cranston mentioned there is a lot of great goalie play around the area this year, making for some exciting matchups.

The Fusion have become a threat for their usage of three lines and five defensemen.

“We play more players than a lot of other teams because we have depth, so we try to wear them down a little bit,” Cranston said. “

This depth has carried to the scoring department, with the Fusion’s four leading goal scorers landing between eight and 12 goals. Jane Volgren leads the way with 12 goals, followed by Morgan Kivel and Lily Mittl at 10 and Jenna Volgren at eight.

“It helps us because we’re never weak,” Cranston said. “You’re playing the whole game where you’re never nervous if one of your lines are out there.”

Cranston said they have two first liners and two second liners that are arguably in the state’s top 12 on the attack.