In possible playoff preview, 2nd ranked CW Storm shuts down #3 Superior

One day before the girls’ hockey seeding meetings, the Central Wisconsin Storm all but secured a number 1 seed for the upcoming playoffs with a 2-0 win over Superior on Saturday afternoon in a physical battle at Greenheck-Turner Ice Arena in a game broadcast live on 98.9 WXCO.

Game broadcast can be found at https://civicmedia.us/shows/hs-sports/segments/wxco-sports

It didn’t take the Storm long to take the lead. Just 1:46 into the first period, Storm forward Madeline Kelter fed a pass to linemate Ava Whitmore in the left faceoff circle and Whitmore ripped a shot past Superior goalie Kaylie Nault to give Central Wisconsin a 1-0 lead. The Storm continued to carry the play in the first period with an 11-4 shot advantage but Superior nearly got the equalizer on the power play when Aaliyah Haroldson had a shot bang off the post.

The Storm continued to carry the play early in the 2nd period and extended their lead to 2-0 when Gabi Heuser scored her team-record 34th goal of the season with an assist from Jayden Yirkovsky at 3:29. The Storm would threaten to extend their lead but Nault made a pair of big saves to keep it 2-0 after 2.

The Storm continue to dominate the shot charts through the 3rd period but couldn’t extend their lead. Superior had a difficult time producing much offense without their 2nd leading scorer Adalyn Benson. Benson recently suffered a separated shoulder that will keep her out for the rest of the season and the Spartan attack was unable to dent a strong Storm defense. Superior would put four shots on goal in each of the three periods and Storm goalie Cami Flohr would stop all 12 shots in recording the shutout. Nault would make 27 saves in a strong performance for Superior.

With the win, the 2nd ranked Storm improve to 19-3 on the season while the 3rd ranked Spartans fall to 18-4. Both teams will see their playoff road to state Sunday when the section bracket is released. Both teams are Sectional 1, which is the toughest in the state. Along with the #2 and #3 ranked teams in the state, that sectional features #4 Hayward as well. Before the playoffs start, the Storm have regular season games left at Medford on Thursday and at #1 ranked Bay Area Ice Bears next Saturday. Saturday’s 1 vs. 2 matchup and rematch of last year’s state championship game will be broadcast on 98.9 WXCO, online at wxco.fm, mobile devices by searching WXCO and on the Civic Media app with the pregame at 7:20 pm and faceoff at 7:30.