EAST LANSING, Mich. — The Wisconsin Selects (WI) and East Coast Wizards (MA) faced off in the 2A title game of the 2024 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 19U National Championships at Munn Ice Arena on Sunday morning. 

A shutout performance from goalie Sydney Magnuson secured a 3-0 win and a national title for the Selects.

“I just knew I had to keep my team in it,” Magnuson said. “I knew it was going to be a really close game. So any goal was important, and I just knew I had to keep the right mindset and keep our defense. And, if we had like a bad play or something, keep the positivity going on the ice and just keep our team in.”

Right from puck drop, both teams had some good looks on net, but the defensive efforts in the first frame kept the championship game in a 0-0 deadlock early. The defenses on both sides of the ice did a great job of intercepting passes and picking the pockets of their opponents.

With 6:33 left in the first period, Wizards’ forward Kiersten Pinky Rasmussen found herself in the penalty box after getting whistled on a cross check, and the Wisconsin Selects found themselves with a prime opportunity to go ahead.

The Wizards started the penalty kill defensively sound, keeping their opponents away from their netminder. Forward Sophie Rousell even intercepted a pass and made her way down the ice for a short-handed attempt, but the Selects kept the pressure up on the power play. 

A minute into the advantage, forward Kayla Dogs notched the first goal of the morning after her shot trickled past Wizard’s goaltender Lily Prendergast off an assist from forward Adelyn Milota.

That first goal set the tone for the game, and the Selects never relented. 

“It gives you that energy,” Milota said after the game. “Like, we want another one and another one. We just want to keep going.” 

With 5:52 left in the second period, the Wisconsin Selects got another one past Lily Prendergast.

Addisyn Buesgen’s shot from just outside the crease off an assist from Reese Duncan ricocheted off of Prendergast before finding its home in the back of the net to put the Selects up 2-0.

For the second time in a row, the Wizards closed out the period on the power play desperately looking for a goal to start closing the gap to their opponents.

Once again, the Wizards were unable to capitalize on the power play, but just a few short minutes later, they got another opportunity to close the gap on the advantage.

As soon as the Selects were back at full strength, they had a huge breakaway that looked promising for another goal, but Wizard Gabriella Woods stopped the scoring chance with a cross-checking penalty. 

The Selects went to work in their offensive zone on the advantage, but as the seconds wound down on the power play, Wizards’ defenseman Alexis Dangelo checked Tiana Stindt into the boards from behind and ended up with a two-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct. 

The Wizards fended off the penalties to keep their chances alive. But Milota sealed the 3-0 win for the Selects with an empty-net goal. 

Following the game, Selects head coach Emily Bauer described what watching Milota’s empty net goal from the bench was like. 

“I was getting emotional already, because I knew it was over at that point,” Bauer said. “And, I was just so, so happy and so proud of that group for what they accomplished.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.