January 24, 2020 at 12:59 p.m.
Losch's goal carries Edge past WVU 1-0
Losch's goal carries Edge past WVU 1-0
Madi Losch scored on a power play seven seconds into the third period, and Alicia Turunen recorded a 35-save shutout, as the Edge nipped Wisconsin Valley Union 1-0 at the Langlade County Multi-Purpose Building.
The win moved the Northern Edge above .500 (6-5-0) for the first time this season and was the team's first win over the Union since the Point-Rapids, Marshfield and Waupaca co-ops merged to form a large conglomerate in the central part of the state three seasons ago.
"It was a very big win," Edge coach Tom Roeser said. "We got outshot in the first and third by a couple shots. We outshot them in the second. It was a fun game, back and forth. There were times when they controlled it and we had to dig deep at the end to keep it out of our net. Alicia did a great job."
The Edge began the third period with little time remaining on a Cadie Ash tripping penalty that carried over from the second period. Losch went to work quickly after receiving a pass from her cousin, Izzy Boyer.
"We kind of had planned the draw, how we were going to draw the puck. It didn't go quite like we planned, but we only had 20 seconds left in that power play, so we wanted to really rush it and take the zone right away," Roeser said. "They gave Madi a little gap. She walked through the middle and shelved it with a backhand."
The goal was Losch's seventh of the season, tying her with Kate Vizanko for the team lead in that category. That was the only shot to get by either netminder. Pistol Cowden made 29 saves in defeat for the Union (7-6-2). Turunen was up to the task in the Edge goal as she turned in her first shutout of the season.
"It feels good. It's always great playing good teams. We put some shots on that goalie (Cowden) and she did a really nice job too. She's one of the better goalies around," Roeser said. "Tonight could have gone either way, it just turned out we had a little better goalie tonight, and our defensemen and forwards worked hard too."
Turunen has been sharp in her last five starts in the Northern Edge goal - all wins. She's allowed only three goals in those five starts and recorded her second shutout of the season.
"Alicia's angles were great tonight and I think she maybe gave up one rebound tonight that she had to make the save on, but she ate up the puck and didn't give them a chance to bury one," Roeser said.
Union pulled Cowden with less than two minutes remaining in the third period, but was unable to find the equalizer with the extra attacker. Roeser credited his team's point in the late-game situation.
"We tightened up our defense and played a little closer to the net, didn't let them walk," he said. "We decided that we were going to let them take shots from outside. Alicia, she was on her game. All we had to do was clear people out and make sure no one was tipping and screening her. Luckily we didn't give up that many shots in the last few minutes. We did a good job of chipping it out, playing unselfish. We almost had a couple of open netters when they pulled their goalie. We didn't but we played unselfish and took care of the puck."
The Edge returns to action today in the Beaver Dam Invite. The Edge takes on the Golden Beavers at 9 a.m. and then faces the Badger (Baraboo co-op) Lightning at 1:30 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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