The Wisconsin Selects opened their defense of their 2024 National Championship with for wins at the Wisconsin Elite Hockey Leaugue Showcase held at Baldwin and Chippewa Falls this past weekend. Wisconsin posted four wins allowing just five goals on the weekend.

Friday night the Selects opened their season with a tightly played 2-1 win over South Dakota. A pair of shorthanded goals by Baylie Schuh and Rhylee Buesgen led Wisconsin to the victory. Greta Woelber stopped 14 shots, including 8 in the third period as Wisconsin was forced to kill off four penalties. A late South Dakota powerplay goal by Harper Hendricks ended Woelber’s shutout bid. The Selects finished with a 30-15 shots on goal advantage.

Wisconsin ran into a pair of hot goaltenders on Saturday as WEHL Western’s Evelyn Pritzl and Amelia Thul combined for 41 saves in a 3-1 loss. After a scoreless first period Kayla Dogs put the Selects up 1-0. Abby Elliot made it 2-0, but Western’s Jane Volgren closed the gap to 2-1 late in the second period. Thul stopped 17 of 18 third period shots with Gabi Heuser scoring the last goal in a 3-1 Selects win. The game marked the return of Makenna Hutchison in goal for the Selects. She turned away 13 shots in her first game since tearing her ACL a year ago.

“It was great to see Makeena back on the ice,” said Head Coach Emily Bauer, “we were all so happy for her healthy return.”

Game three saw the Selects offense come to life scoring five first period goals as they cruised to an 8-0 win over WEHL North Central/North East. Kayla Dogs, Baylie Schuh and Rachael Beeck each scored a pair of goals, with Addison Gruhlke and Gabi Heuser chipping in a goal each. Reese Sheehan had three assists. Woelber was called on to make just 8 saves. Wisconsin finished with 46 shots.

In the weekend finale on Sunday, the Selects scoring attack continued with a 10-3 win over WEHL South- Central. Reese Sheehan erased an early South-Central goal to tie the game with just over three minutes remaining in period one. It was a wild finish to the period with three goals in the final two minutes. Schuh put Selects up 2-1 at 2:06, Reese Olson would tie it just 13 seconds later before Addisyn Buesgen put Selects back up 3-2 with a goal at 59 seconds.

Wisconsin Selects would score four unanswered in the second period, Sheehan’s second of the game, a pair by Reese Duncan and another by defenseman Ashley Slupe. Sheehan completed her hat trick in the third period with Payton Dykstra and Rachael Beeck closing out the scoring. Olivia Dull scored for South-Central. Final shots were 47-15. Hutchison picked up the win for the Selects.

Head Coach Emily Bauer was pleased with the teams’ first weekend together. “We appreciate the invitation to be a part of this Showcase,” said Bauer. “It is as a way to get our season underway close to home,” she added. “It is a great opportunity for the players to get to know each other, gain some confidence and for the coaching staff to get our first long look at our team in game situations.”

The Selects will travel to Beaver Dam next Saturday to play a pair of games against the North Shore Warhawks from Chicago.

Dan Bauer is a free-lance writer, retired teacher & hockey coach in Wausau, WI. You can contact him at drbauer13@gmail.com.