Rock County’s Tabitha Utzig, left, and Emma Kligora, right, try to gain control of the puck during Monday night’s game against the Cap City Cougars at Edwards Ice Arena in Beloit. The Fury won 2-1.
Lily Campbell of the Rock County Fury, right, battles for the puck with Cap City’s Leah Greiber Monday night at Edwards Ice Arena in Beloit. The Fury won 2-1.
Rock County’s Tabitha Utzig, left, and Emma Kligora, right, try to gain control of the puck during Monday night’s game against the Cap City Cougars at Edwards Ice Arena in Beloit. The Fury won 2-1.
Lily Campbell of the Rock County Fury, right, battles for the puck with Cap City’s Leah Greiber Monday night at Edwards Ice Arena in Beloit. The Fury won 2-1.
BELOIT—Monday night’s showdown between the Rock County Fury and the Cap City Cougars quickly turned into a defensive battle with solid shots on goal from both teams few and far between.
So it was only fitting that the big offensive of the play of the night came from a defender.
With four minutes left in the second period, sophomore Maizy Fonseca grabbed the puck off of the boards, sprinted toward the net and fired it in to break the scoreless tie as the Fury (4-1) went on to win 2-1 at Edwards Ice Arena.
“That was a huge momentum shift for us,” head coach Luke Steurer said. “We were struggling to get a lot of good shots, and Maizy wristed it right over the goalie’s shoulder. She did a great job coming off the wall and shooting that puck.”
The unassisted goal was Fonseca’s first one of the season.
“It felt really good,” Fonseca said. “I really just went hard down the boards, brought it in and just took a shot.”
Fury goalie Jillian Traver of Beloit Memorial High was busy for much of the night as she combined for 17 saves in the first two periods alone.
The Cougars attacked the net several times, but they couldn’t manage to get a clean shot off as a combination of Traver and solid defenders prevented good looks.
“We got off to a slow start,” Steurer said. “We weren’t pressuring the puck, we couldn’t catch many passes for a while. We’ve been working with our defense to have them pinch earlier and to step up earlier in our defensive zone. They did a great job of that.”
Fonseca hailed Beloit Memorial’s Amery Stuckey as being a big factor in the dominant defense.
“She does a really good job at blocking shots,” she said. “She’s almost like a second goalie. And she has a really good slap shot.”
Fonseca’s goal truly seemed to shift momentum over to the Fury as they maintained possession of the puck for much of the rest of the game while also finding more space for more shots on goal.
“We were spreading the puck and our players out more,” Steurer said. “Early on, we were all bunched up on the same side so we couldn’t get a lot of momentum going for us. Our girls adjusted very well towards the end.”
Senior forward Claudia Boehlke fired in the Fury’s second goal late in the third period, but the Cougars wouldn’t go down easy, turning up the aggression as Lilly Wagner managed to sneak the puck into the right corner of the net with just a minute left.
Rock County held the Cougars out for the last 60 seconds to seal the win.
Traver ended the game with 20 saves and made several nice grabs to prevent a strong comeback attempt.
“It’s been great having Jillian here this year,” Steurer said. “She’s backstopped us and is a tough goalie to score on. I really can’t say enough good things about her. She makes stops and keeps us in those close games.”
ROCK COUNTY 2, CAP CITY 1
Cap City 0 0 1—1
Rock County 0 1 1—2
Second period
RC—Fonseca, 12:59, pp.
Third period
RC—Boehlke, 14:12, pp.
CC—Wagner (Ayres), 1:09.
Saves—Hahn (CC) 19, Traver (RC) 20.
Sign up for our Sports Update email newsletter!
Get the latest sports news delivered right to your inbox six days a week.
