Girls hockey: Cardinals focused on Fondy

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By DAVID BOSSICK david.bossick@lee.net
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 1:25 AM CST

Today is the final day the Chippewa Falls/McDonell girls hockey team will practice on its home rink.

It’s something that can be sad.

Then again, the Cardinals are glad that their next practice comes Thursday morning at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison on the grounds of the Alliant Energy Center.

“It’s a little bit bigger ice sheet, . . . which we’ve seen a few times this year,” Cardinals coach Andrew Skelton said. “It makes a bit of a difference and it’s a bit slower of an ice sheet.

“Obviously, having been down there, they know what it’s like.”

That practice is to prepare for the Cardinals bid to win what it attempted to get last season: a state championship. Chi-Hi/McDonell (20-2) faces Fond du Lac/Waupun (17-5) at 11 a.m. Friday in the state semifinals. The winner plays the winner between Northland Pines (10-12)and the Central Wisconsin Storm (15-7) at noon Saturday.

The Cardinals, ranked second in the state by Wisconsin Prep Hockey.net, will face the third-ranked Warbirds. It’s a team Chi-Hi/McDonell faced a week before the tournament began, a 5-2 Cardinals win.

“They’re very confident, but we’re not going to take anything for granted,” Skelton said. “We saw what happened last year.

“It’s good to be confident, but it’s going to be important for them to bring their ‘A’ game Friday.”

Last year, Appleton United deflated the Cardinals in the state final. Chi-Hi/McDonell routed Northland Pines in the state semifinals.

“Iknow they have a little bit of bitterness from last year and that’s kind of carried with them all of this year,” Skelton said.

Fond du Lac/Waupun appears to be a tougher match-up for the Cardinals.

The Warbirds enter the contest with four players scoring in double-figures in goals, led by Amy Knutson’s 25. Katie Fritz has 18 goals and 19 assists as the team’s top point-getter. Lindsey Farmer co-leads the team in assists with 19 and she has five goals.

“We just need to build on what happened against them last time,” Skelton said. “We don’t need to make a whole lot of changes. I just need to make sure we don’t go in overconfident.”

Fond du Lac/Waupun has one goalie, Samantha Lakin. She has a 2.10 goals against average with seven shutouts.

Of the Warbirds five losses, three were to Big Rivers Conference teams. They also lost to the St. Croix Valley Fusion and the Eau Claire Area Stars. Fond du Lac’s other losses were to Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids and to International Falls, Minn.

The Cardinals enter the tournament behind a more balanced scoring punch than last season. Mikayla Hogan again is the team’s leader in goals with 38. However, Megan White, Allie Tanzer and Kendra Bowe each have 20-plus points for the season.

“It’s been a big team effort this year. Iknow Mikayla carried the goals for the team, but this is a great team,” Skelton said. “We have goaltending, we have defensemen and we have a lot of girls that can score.”

Kiara McChesney has a 1.00 goals against average for the Cardinals in the net and has nine shutouts.

Chi-Hi/McDonell needed McChesney and its penalty kill sorely just to get back to the state tournament. The Cardinals defeated the top-ranked Fusion to earn the berth in the state tournament for the second straight year last Saturday. McChesney made 27 saves and the Cardinals killed all 10 Fusion penalties.

“I have a lot of respect for their team. We’re fortunate,” he said. “Our mission is to win state and to win state, you have to beat the best.”

And standing in the way of the Cardinals and the state title is Fond du Lac/Waupun Friday morning.

Reach David Bossick at david.bossick@lee.net.