November 24, 2017 at 12:27 p.m.
Edged out in opener
Lakeland/Tomahawk scores four unanswered to defeat Northern Edge 4-3
Edged out in opener
Lakeland/Tomahawk scored four unanswered goals between the second and third periods and defeated the Northern Edge 4-3 Tuesday night in a non-conference contest at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
The Edge jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, but Lakeland rallied as the Edge eventually wore down.
"I think when you look at numbers and inexperience and those kinds of things, we need to start doing a lot more work as far as physical shape," Northern Edge coach Kevin Sandstorm said. "The second period it was obvious who was more tired and who had more jump."
Still for an Edge team that went 4-15-0 last year - and scored only four goals total in those 15 losses - Tuesday's game was a step in the right direction.
"It's a fun first game. You can take plenty of positives out of it, but you can also understand deep down, there's a whole lot more work for us to do," Sandstrom said.
Antigo freshman Evelyn LeVeque made an immediate impact for her new team, poking home a rebound from Jade Forster 2:01 into the game. Alicia Turunen gave the Edge a 2-0 lead at the 7:53 mark off a pass through the crease by sophomore Madi Losch, who was also making her Edge debut.
Lakeland, playing without three of its top skaters Maggie Wohlleber, Auscena Boyer and Brianna Carlin, answered quickly in the second period with unassisted goals by Makayla Fultz and Kate Vizanko 15 seconds apart and took the lead on a Kailey Godfrey goal in front of the net at the 13:38 mark.
"I think if you look at all three goals, they were scored in a close proximity to the net," Sandstrom said. "We need to do a better job of getting the puck to the corner and out of the high danger zone, and then trying to get it out of our zone and up the ice."
Ally Pairolero scored from the point 4:13 into the third to give the T-Birds a two-goal lead. Turunen scored short-handed at the 6:47 mark to cut the lead to one, but the Edge never got the equalizer.
The best chance to tie the game came with about five minutes remaining when Kourtney Carrico was unable to get an open look in the slot off cleanly, turning into an easy save for Lakeland netminder Mariah Lear.
The Edge started senior Gracie Lenzner in net over freshman Nevaeh Forster. Sandstrom noted Lenzner earned the starting nod with her performance in practice over the first two weeks of the season. Lenzner stopped five of the eight shots she faces in the first two periods. Forster played the third making nine saves on 10 chances.
"We had a plan going into tonight that we were going to see both goalies and what each of them had," Sandstrom said "I thought Nevaeh did a nice job in the third period. She made a couple of big, giant saves to keep us in it."
Sandstrom said Tuesday night he would not commit to a starting goaltender for Saturday's doubleheader against Marquette, Mich.
Lakeland/Tomahawk outshot Rhinelander/Antigo 18-15 for the game. Half of the Northern Edge's shots came in the opening period. With a number of returning players, Sandstrom said he could make a case for the T-Birds as the Great Northern Conference favorite entering the season. The Edge will play Lakeland three more times later in the season, all of which will count toward the GNC standings.
"We don't get to see them for two more months," he said. "We do see them in January, I hope they're fully healthy. I hope we are, too. With two more months of work and solid dryland (training), this is going to be an awesome game and an awesome series all year long."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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