December 26, 2018 at 12:47 p.m.
Lakeland/Tomahawk starts fast, beats Northern Edge
Lakeland/Tomahawk starts fast, beats Northern Edge
"They took the boards away and just completely shut us down in the first period," Northern Edge coach Tom Roeser said. "We played better in the second and third, which is been kind of a common theme with us, unfortunately. I wish we could play three periods but they earned it. They're a good team."
The Northern Edge played even with the T-Birds in the second period and closed to within 5-3 midway through the third, but Lakeland scored twice in the final five minutes to account for the final margin.
Three different players scored for Lakeland in the opening stanza - Kate Vizanko opened the scoring at the 4:26 mark, Bri Carlin added to the lead at 6:58 and Ally Pairolero added another goal with 1:29 remaining in the first.
"Some of that was us, some of that was them," Roeser said of the Northern Edge's slow start. "They actually surprised me a little bit. They've got good speed and they're very, very physical."
Freshman Taylee Tucker scored her first varsity goal for the Edge 2:19 into the second period, but Lakeland's Callie Johnson answered seven second later, and again at the 3:50 mark to put the T-Birds up 5-1.
The Edge responded on the next shift on a wraparound goal by Jade Forster.
"Jade was winning little battles behind the net and she earned that goal," Roeser said.
The score remained 5-2 Lakeland until the 7:11 mark of the third period when Tucker scored her second goal of the night, poking home a rebound off a Lauren Kefalinos shot. Roeser said it was good for Tucker to be rewarded for her hard work on the ice early in the season.
"Taylee played a really hard third period. She won a lot of battles. That was a little scrum in front of the net and she popped another one home," he said. "You tell them to work hard and seeing that pay off will just kind of solidify that for her. She always works, but having something pay off for her was a big deal."
Pairolero restored Lakeland's three-goal lead at the 12:26 mark and Isabelle Boyer, the cousin of Northern Edge defender Madi Losch, roughed out the scoring at the 15:23 mark. Boyer added three assists on the night for the T-Birds.
Lakeland/Tomahawk outshot Rhinelander/Antigo 57-17 in the contest. Alicia Turunen stopped 50 pucks in defeat for the Northern Edge.
Last Friday's meeting was the first of three on the season for the Edge and the T-Birds. Roeser said there are several things his team will have to do better when the two sides renew acquaintances Jan. 14 in Antigo and Feb. 4 in Rhinelander.
"We've got to get tougher," he said. "They use their bodies and we were falling down a lot when they did. We've got to learn to get stronger on our skates, play lower and shoot the puck. We probably could have had eight or nine more shots had we just let the puck go, but we tried to make one too many moves and take those opportunities away from us."
The Edge will kick off the three-day HodagLand tournament this afternoon against the Lakeshore co-op at the Rhinelander Ice Arena. The Edge will play Marquette, Mich. tomorrow morning and round out the tournament against the MSO (Stoughton co-op) Icebergs Saturday evening.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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