February 8, 2017 at 1:56 p.m.
Eagles blank Northern Edge 6-0, clinch GNC share
Eagles blank Northern Edge 6-0, clinch GNC share
Petersen, making her final home start, recorded 42 saves on a night when the Edge goal was under constant barrage. Linemates Amanda Sergent, Gabby Herfindahl and McKenzie Ebert each scored two goals, and the Eagles put things away with a three-goal third period.
"I think we got a little tired," Northern Edge coach Kevin Sandstrom said. "We had a couple girls go down during the game to injury. We had to juggle some things up. We were stretched pretty thin. I think it kind of wore on us toward the end of the game. You see they scored two goals in the last three minutes."
Herfindahl put the Eagles (12-9-0, 6-1-0 Great Northern) on the board 4:35 the contest with a short-handed goal and Northland Pines never looked back. Sergent recorded three assists and Herfindahl added a helper as the Eagles' top line combined for 10 of the team's 11 total points on the night.
Sergent won a faceoff to Herfindahl in the slot for a one-timer on the Eagles' first goal. The same two hooked up at the 9:48 mark of the first as Sergent made a pass from behind the end line to Herfindahl in the slot for another quick blast.
Ebert made it 3-0 10:54 into the second as she stationed herself right in front of Petersen at the top of the crease and tipped in an Anna Hartwig shot from the top of the right faceoff circle.
Sergent, who now has 40 goals on the season for Northland Pines, beat Petersen pipe to pipe on a breakaway 3:49 into the third. Ebert poked home a rebound from Herfindahl with 2:35 remaining and Sergent tacked on one more for good measure with just under a minute to play.
The score could have, and perhaps should have, been more lopsided the way Northland Pines controlled possession, but Petersen stopped a number of point-blank chances throughout the night to keep the score respectable until late in the contest.
"A phenomenal game, much like its been all season long," Sandstrom said. "Again, she wears it way too hard on herself, thinking she maybe could have made two or three more (saves) and I'm sure there's two or three Pines was looking to hit the back of the net and there was Shea making an incredible save. Time and time again, all year long, (she's) making incredible save after incredible save, especially here tonight."
The Northern Edge (4-12-0, 2-5-0 Great Northern) had no offense to speak of on the night, generating only five shots on goal. The Edge had to play 10 minutes without leading scorer Kourtney Carrico for a mouthguard violation between the first and second period, Gwen Frederickson was briefly shaken up after getting elbowed in the head by Northland Pines' Cameron Ramesh in the second and Lauren Kefalinos was helped off the ice at the end of the second with what Sandstrom described as a "lower body injury." She did not return to the contest.
"Definitely a struggle," Sandstrom said of his offense. "They're fast. They depth is alarming with how their seemingly able to, it doesn't matter who's on the ice, have a certain skill level.
"As far as what more we could do, we'd like to spread the ice a little bit more. Instead of the two feet in front of us, or maybe the same side, we rotate it, switch it over. I think they did a really good job, teams have done a good job against us as far as spreading the ice and I think it's something we can really focus on improving here over the last week of the season."
Northland Pines completed the season sweep of the Edge with the win. They defeated Rhinelander/Antigo 7-0 last month in Eagle River. Pines also locked up a share of the conference title, which they can win outright with a win or tie at last-place Medford Thursday night.
The Edge travels to Tomahawk Friday night to wrap up GNC play against Lakeland/Tomahawk and will close out the regular season Saturday night at Appleton United.
Edge gets Point/Rapids in tournament
Once the regular season concludes, the Northern Edge will get set to take on the Point/Rapids/Marshfield co-op in a WIAA regional final game at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at KB Willett Arena in Stevens Point.
The Edge earned the seventh seed in the eight-team sectional. Point/Rapids drew the second seed behind perennial powerhouse Central Wisconsin.
"Point/Rapids, looking at all of the records, they were 7-1 against out section, with the one loss being against the Storm," Sandstrom said. "I think it was pretty clear that once each coach presented their case that 1 and 2 would be Central Wisconsin and Point/Rapids and 7 and 8 would be us and Medford."
The Edge played Point/Rapids twice this season, bookending a 30-day break from competition in the midst of the pertussis outbreak. The Edge lost 8-1 to Point/Rapids Dec. 13 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena and 6-1 Jan. 12 in Wisconsin Rapids.
"Real pleased with the second effort we had against them, coming off that whooping cough break," Sandstrom said. "Really, it was 3-1 with about seven minutes to go. I think it will take a large effort out of us. I think we'll need to play a very solid, composed game, but I don't think it's a game we're looking at by any means that it's not possible."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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