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Central District Girls Notebook: Wisconsin Selects Are Back For More at 19U

By Tom Robinson, 03/26/19, 1:15PM MDT

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The 16U team will also make the trip to Irvine, California, for Girls Tier II Nationals

In their debut season in 2018, the Wisconsin Selects made it all the way to the semifinals at the Girls Tier II 19U National Championship.

After placing third in the nation in 2018, the Selects are back for a second shot. They will compete at the 2019 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II National Championships in Irvine, Calif. April 4-8.

Both Wisconsin Selects teams will be making the trip. Sarah Krebs, who coaches the 19U team, started the 16U team with Megan Bailey.

Bailey has continued coaching the 16U team, which also won the Central District this year, and Krebs started the 19U team.

The Wisconsin teams are formed through tryouts in July.

Girls from all over the state come to a central location for the tryouts, then get together again for a weekend of practices in August. After that, they play a fall showcase schedule before splitting up to play on their high school teams.

The Selects had not played a game together since October when they took the ice for the Central District tournament on March 15 in St. Peters, Missouri.

2019 Nationals Home

The 19U team was undefeated in a four-team, round-robin format, allowing one goal in each game to continue an October winning streak that has now reached seven games with just six total goals allowed.

“Considering these girls don’t really play together during the high school season—they all kind of go off and their coaches all have their own systems and their own way of molding them—it’s amazing to watch how quickly them come together,” Krebs said. “When they’re on, it’s fun to watch.”

While the team was apart, Sara Marvin, Kourtney Koster and Maddy Meyer won a Wisconsin state high school title with the Fox City Stars.

Marvin, who plays both forward and defense, is one of eight returning players from last year’s third-place team.

Forwards Jaidyn Groshek, Maria Griffiths, Zoe Sternberg, Maike Zipp and Autumn Klemencic and defensemen Lizzie Patton and Abby Comar also return.

Sternberg and Comar each had a goal and an assist in last year’s national tournament. The Selects are 16-7-4 this season.

During their 24-game fall season, the Selects got plenty of offense. Sternberg led with 13 goals and Groshek added 12.

Kassidy Oliva, who was on the original Selects 16U team two years ago but was not part of the program last season, had a team-high 18 assists.

Sternberg’s 25 points were also a team best. Oliva (22), Groshek (20) and Maike Zipp (19) are close behind.

Gwen Parker has a 1.08 goals against average and .942 save percentage.

16U Wisconsin Selects Rely On Stingy Defense

The 16U Wisconsin Selects went 22-3-2 in the fall with a dozen shutouts. They head into the Tier II tournament after giving up only one goal in two Central District games.

Including the playoffs, the Selects have held opponents to zero or one goal in 19 of 29 games.

Zephryn Jager is the team’s top scoring threat with team-highs of 20 assists and 31 points. She also has 11 goals to rank second on the team, one behind Shelby Tryba.

2019 USA Hockey Central District Girls Tournament Champions

Tier I

14U: Chicago Young Americans

16U: Chicago Mission

19U: Chicago Mission

Tier II

16U: Wisconsin Selects

19U: Wisconsin Selects

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Chipotle is the title sponsor of the 2019 Chipotle-USA Hockey National Championships.


2019 Tournament News