Prep girls hockey: Schemenauer's OT goal lifts CFM to 1st state title

Feb. 21—WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Chippewa Falls/Menomonie has built its season out of overcoming the odds.

What's one more comeback on Wisconsin's biggest stage?

Joey Schemenauer took a pass from Brianna Buonincontro and tapped it past the diving University School of Milwaukee goalie three minutes into overtime, lifting the Sabers to a 3-2 win and the program's first ever state championship Saturday in Wisconsin Rapids.

The game winner, which will forever be etched in the program's lore, completes CFM's miraculous rise to the top. A team which won just six games overall and none in the Big Rivers three years ago skated off the ice with hardware in hand.

"It's amazing," Schemenauer said. "All I thought was, 'Don't miss,' because that would not have been good. Thank Brianna for the perfect pass she gave me. It was amazing to be able to put that puck in the net for our community, for our team, for our coaches who worked so hard for this."

The Sabers made the most of their crowning moment. Equipment littered the ice as teammates frantically skated to pile on Schemenauer. Goalie Caroline O'Dell flopped out of her crease in celebration before joining her fellow state champions. Coach Tony Menard was doused with water bottles while doing a postgame interview for the TV broadcast.

"It's indescribable," senior captain Sidney Polzin said. "To finally be here, rush out and cheer for everybody, to pile on each other, it's still not real."

The Sabers needed two equalizers to force the extra frame. Both came in the third period, and from the team's top two scorers, Ella Ausman and Polzin.

That wasn't an unfamiliar place for this team to be. The Sabers have dealt with adversity for the entirety of the playoffs, starting with a sectional run played primarily on the road. In the state semifinals Wednesday, CFM needed four go-ahead goals, including one in overtime.

"When you look at all we had to get here," Menard said, "had to go through Hayward, Western Wisconsin, the Fusion, Central Wisconsin, and now USM. Honestly, it's probably the toughest route in the whole state in girls hockey to try to win a state championship. These girls were so determined to put the hard work in day in and day out because they knew at the start of the season this is something that they wanted."

CFM dominated possession in the first period, not allowing the Wildcats to get a shot on goal until the final ten seconds despite a pair of power play opportunities. Unfortunately for the Sabers, that one shot turned into a University School goal. Emily Mueller intercepted the puck in the CFM zone, deked out the last defender to beat and put a shot backhand past O'Dell.

"We got in the locker room when we were down 1-0," Schemenauer said. "Coach just said, 'We've came back before. Just Wednesday we came back in OT.' He just told us to keep our head up high no matter what the outcome was. Keep our head high because we got as far as you can come."

After a scoreless second period, Ausman changed the CFM vibe with the team's first goal of the afternoon less than a minute into the third. She tapped in a rebound off a Polzin point shot that barely made it past the goal line, a tally so close that the referees had to turn to instant replay. After a couple of minutes of deliberation, the goal stood.

"Thank God for instant replay," Polzin said.

Ausman was fired up, skating across the ice to celebrate with the student section after the initial play. Once the goal was confirmed, she was expressive again and this time went back to give her goalie O'Dell a hug of support. CFM had a new jump in its step.

"That was a big momentum changer," Polzin said.

The rest of the way wasn't without roadblocks, though, most notably Jordan Bonk's goal to put the Wildcats back up. She was able to tap a rebound past O'Dell on the powerplay with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

But Polzin lived up to her selection as Wisconsin's Ms. Hockey, coming up clutch for the Sabers when they needed it most. She took a wicked shot from the top of the right circle on the powerplay with 7:20 on the clock that pinged off the post and in to force OT.

"I told Sid before the game, 'Be Ms. Hockey,'" Menard said. "'You've got to go have your moment today. You've got to show the state why you were Ms. Hockey.' To get that goal to tie it up in that moment was huge."

University School put the pressure on at the start of overtime, but Schemenauer finished on CFM's first shot of the frame. The Sabers got a 3-on-1 opportunity with two Wildcat defenders a step behind, allowing Buonincontro to slide the puck from the left side of the net to Schemenauer on the right. All she needed to do was tap it in past USM's impressive freshman goalie Molly Jex, who did all she could to keep the contest going.

"To go out there and have a sophomore group get that goal, it feels really good," Menard said. "They wanted this for their seniors. ... To see Brianna and Joey go out there and finish it, it's so surreal."

The goal was Schemenauer's seventh of the year, and one this team will remember for a long time.

"I can't even explain, I've never been so nervous in my life," Schemenauer said. "In the third period when we had 2-2, I was like, 'Please, someone just score so we can not go into OT again.' We've been into OT too much this season. But it was probably the best story you could come up with."

This week marked the Sabers' first trip to the state tournament in its current construction. Chippewa Falls/McDonell made it to Madison in 2007 and 2008, but a runner-up finish was the high-water mark.

This year's senior group won six games as freshmen, seven as sophomores and ten as juniors. They've helped lead the program's year-over-year growth, culminating in the ultimate prize.

"Coming from a losing background and then taking it all the way to a state championship is just amazing," Polzin said. "I think it has to do a lot with our culture. This group of girls is amazing. To finally do it, to hang our banner at home, is amazing."

"It means a lot for the coaches and the team," Schemenauer said. "I've only been on the team two years, but they've been working so hard for this since 2007. It's amazing for them to get this accomplishment and I'm glad I was a part of it."

Chippewa Falls/Menomonie 3, University School 2 (OT)

USM 1 0 1 0 — 2

CFM 0 0 2 1 — 3

First period: 1, USM, Emily Mueller (Jordan Bonk), 16:50. Third period: 2, CFM, Ella Ausman (Sidney Polzin), 1:40; 3, USM, Bonk (Maddie Wagner, Eileen Carey), 6:52 (pp); 4, CFM, Polzin (Ausman, Emme Bergh), 9:40 (pp). Overtime: 5, CFM, Joey Schemenauer (Brianna Buonincontro), 3:20.

Shots on goal: USM 1-5-7-4-17, CFM 6-12-10-1-28. Penalties: USM 3 for 6 mins, CFM 5 for 10 mins. Goalies: University School: Molly Jex (28 shots, 25 saves); CFM: Caroline O'Dell (17 shots, 15 saves).