February 3, 2017 at 4:09 p.m.
Edge mauls Medford again
RHS/Antigo completes 3-game sweep of Raiders with 7-1 win
Edge mauls Medford again
The Northern Edge jumped on the Raiders for four goals in the first period Thursday night and cruised to a 7-1 win at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
The teams met Tuesday in a non-conference game at the Simek Center, won by the Northern Edge 9-2. A week earlier, in a GNC matchup the Edge took a 6-4 victory at Medford.
"I think we carried over everything from Tuesday onto the ice at the start of the game," Northern Edge head coach Kevin Sandstrom said. "I think the first period was fantastic. I think you look at us outshooting them in the first period something near 17-2. We put up four goals. We allowed zero, allowing two shots on goal. It's a heck of a period."
Alicia Turunen had a hat trick for the Edge (4-10-0, 2-3-0 Great Northern) and two players - Ashley Adams and Claire Arbuckle - scored their first career varsity goals. Something about the Raiders brings out the best in the Rhinelander/Antigo offense, which scored 22 goals in the three-game sweep of their conference foes. The Northern Edge has scored only seven times in its other 11 games combined.
The Edge got on the board 2:28 into the contest as Adams poked home a rebound off a Kourtney Carrico shot. The floodgates opened as the Edge scored three times in the final 3:24 of the period. First Chelsea Newby scored her second career goal - the first came in Tuesday's win at Medford - then Turunen scored on a power play, and Arbuckle tapped home a backdoor rebound with 0.1 seconds left in the period.
Sandstrom joked the team almost "ran out of pucks," after taking the ones used by Adams and Arbuckle to score their goals out of play to give to the two as souvenirs. He said the Arbuckle goal was particularly special after she nearly cashed in for a goal in Tuesday night's game.
"It was a straight drawn up play, throw it to the net, crash hard and your stick's got to be there and she was able to get one home there," he said. "It was such awesome moment across the bench. I think you look at that as the high point of the game."
Turunen scored on the power play 1:56 into the second and scored again 53 seconds into the third to finish off her first career hat trick. A goalie by trade, the Edge has put the freshman's skating abilities to good us so far this season, but she didn't find the back of the net until The Edge's win Jan. 27 at Stoughton. She now has five goals in the team's last four games.
"To get her first one last Friday and then to follow that up with a goal and two assists on Tuesday and then come in tonight and have a hat trick, she's really finding the net," Sandstrom said. "It was real nice to see that her unluckiness has seemingly come to and end and, hopefully, she can keep putting the puck in the net for us."
Carrico knocked in the last goal for the Edge, getting her stick on a loose puck during a scrum in front of the net with 2:29 to go. After assisting on Adams' and Arbuckle's goals, the Edge's leading scorer got one of her own.
"Kourtney Carrico had an outstanding game tonight working with those two and facilitating. At the end, it was nice for her to get her own as well," Sandstrom said.
Though the final score was not as lopsided as Tuesday night's game, the shots on goal heavily favored the Edge, at 45-9. The Raiders' lone score came at the 4:25 mark of the second when Joelle Zenner got in front of the net and sent a bouncing shot past Rhinelander/Antigo goalie Shea Petersen.
"That was a big talking point at the end, that we didn't allow 10 shots on goal," Sandstrom said. "I think for the first time all year we did what a lot of teams have done for us as far as shots on net. I think that came from a full team effort. We had shots coming from everywhere and they blocked a lot of shots, but we dominated play, I think, from start of finish."
Yet Sandstrom said the team was still not satisfied with how it played in all three periods Thursday. He said Medford began to "annoy" the Edge players with some chippiness in the second and third. Raider freshman Emily Schafer had to leave the game early after picking up her fourth penalty of the night with 5:38 remaining. Overall, the Raiders committed seven penalties in the contest.
"We have a desire for more," Sandstrom said. "We have a desire to improve. We felt we could have played better. I think a lot of faces in that room felt it could have improved. Looking at Saturday's contest, having that mindset at the end of this game, if we come out like we did in the first period, I feel like we can compete with anybody, but we've got to string it together for all three (periods)."
The Edge hosts Lakeland/Tomahawk at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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