BY PRESS TIMES SPORTS
For the first time since 2017, the Bay Area Ice Bears girls’ hockey team is headed to the WIAA state championship game.
The Ice Bears built a two-goal lead in the second period and downed the Middleton Co-op 4-1 in a state semifinal on Thursday afternoon at Bob Suter’s Capitol Ice Arena in Middleton.
The Ice Bears’ Faye Brunke opened the scoring at 2:42 of the first period with assists going to Kristina Kruse and Julianna Bradford.
Top-seeded Bay Area (25-3) added to its lead at 9:32 of the second on a goal by Rachel Beeck with assists from Addy Gady and Hannah Von Haden. No. 4-seeded Middleton (19-8) answered five minutes later to cut its deficit to one goal.
Emily Bill gave the Ice Bears a little cushion at 8:05 of the third period with a helper from Bradford.
Bay Area sealed its victory with a power-play tally with just 2:31 remaining. Bradford got the goal — giving her three points for the game — with assists going to Kruse and Claire Bradford (who was named first-team All-State).
Anna Byczek made 10 saves in between the pipes for the Ice Bears.
Bay Area had 36 shots on goal for the game, outshooting Middleton 14-1 in the final period.
The Ice Bears will now take on Superior/Northwestern (21-5) in the state title game on Saturday. The puck is scheduled to drop at approximately 12:10 p.m., 30 minutes after the Division 2 boys’ state title game.