MIDDLETON, Wis. – The St. Croix Valley Fusion ran out of comebacks, or maybe they just ran out of time.
The Fusion, who overcame a three-goal deficit in the semifinals, scored three times over the final 4:21 but came up one goal short in a 5-4 loss to the top-seeded Bay Area Ice Bears on Saturday in the title game of the Wisconsin girls state hockey tournament.
“It was kind of the same game plan, just get a goal, settle down and we kind of did,” said Fusion coach Matt Cranston. “They were just so tough and they didn’t give up. We did it two nights ago and we figured, well, we can do it again. And they did, almost.”
The Fusion trailed 3-0 after one period and were down 5-1 late in the third period before staging a furious rally.
Freshman Emma Larson scored on a rebound for the Fusion to make it 5-2 with 4:21 remaining and Jane Volgren scored on a power play goal from the left circle with just over three minutes left.
The Fusion pulled goalie Emma Gustafson and the extra attacker paid off when Oaklie Holldorf found the net from the left point with 47.4 seconds remaining.
After a faceoff in the Bay Area end with 18 seconds left, the Ice Bears were able to tie the puck up in the corner in the closing seconds for their third title in four seasons.
“I think the switch really flipped at the end,” Volgren said. “We all came together as a team, as we do. Just a strong bond really got us to the end.”
The Ice Bears (26-2) withstood a strong early effort by the Fusion and then answered with three consecutive goals for 3-0 lead after one period. Volgren, who had four goals in St. Croix Valley’s semifinal comeback win over Superior/Northwestern, brought the Fusion within 3-1 with a second-period goal.
The Ice Bears appeared in control with a power play goal by Faye Brunke just 32 seconds into the third period and Brunke capped a hat trick on a rebound from the left side with 8:19 remaining for a 5-1 lead.
“When Faye went out at the beginning of the third and buried that fourth goal, we were in good shape. We felt good,” Bay Area coach Mike Buchan said. “It’s a no-quit team over there. They’re skilled and they’re strong and they can skate well and they proved it. They just kept coming.”
The second-seeded Fusion (24-5) controlled play early with a 6-1 advantage in shots, but failed to capitalize on two power play opportunities and at least one shot off the pipe. Bay Area outshot the Fusion 10-1 the rest of the period.
“What’d we have, a pipe or two? I think we outplayed them that first seven or eight minutes,” Cranston said. “It could have been a different game, maybe, if one of those would have went in.”
The Ice Bears, a De Pere co-op of Green Bay area teams, flipped the momentum and gained control behind a pair of power play goals by Addison Dahl a little over a minute apart.
Volgren was called for slashing and Dahl connected from the top of the left circle 1:01 into the penalty to put the Ice Bears up 1-0 with 6:10 left in the period. The Fusion were whistled again and Dahl connected from the high slot to make it 2-0.
Brunke put the Ice Bears up 3-0 with 43 seconds left in the opening period, capping a rush with a backhander through the five hole.
Volgren, who had four consecutive goals in the semifinal comeback from a 4-1 deficit, got the Fusion on the board with 5:26 left in the second period. Gustafson, who finished with 23 saves, stopped all 11 Ice Bears shots in the period.
“Powerful thing, momentum is. We talked about that two nights ago. It went in our favor, kind of did today, too,” Cranston said. “Too bad the game wasn’t five more minutes.”
The current configuration of the Fusion is a co-op with River Falls/Baldwin-Woodville/St. Croix Central. A previous version of the River Falls co-op that also included other area schools with the current three won three consecutive state titles from 2009-11.
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