January 14, 2021 at 7:52 a.m.
Edge loses two following COVID break
Edge loses two following COVID break
The Edge lost a pair of home games, 6-0 Monday in Rhinelander to Northland Pines and 9-1 Tuesday in Minocqua to Hayward.
The games were the first since a 4-1 loss Dec. 19 for the Edge at Hayward. The team was forced to pause shortly thereafter due to a positive COVID-19 case. Full practice resumed Jan. 3 for the team during a week where it had no games scheduled.
"We shoved quite a few practices in, a little more on-ice (time), Edge coach Tom Roeser said. "Normally we have two days off in a week, but we got a couple extra days of skating in. It was nice."
Yet Roeser said he missed competition after the Edge went 22 days without a game.
"The way they came out, I think they missed it too. I was pretty happy with the way they came out," he said following Monday night's game.
Northland Pines 6, Northern Edge 0
Monday night's contest in Rhinelander was much closer than the final score indicated. The Edge actually outshot Northland Pines 26-25, but gave up a few goals late in the third period to fall to the Eagles, 6-0.
After a scoreless first period, Northland Pines scored twice in the second, but even that was deceiving as the Edge outshot the Eagles 14-3 in the frame.
"And it felt like that," Roeser said. "It felt like we controlled the zone quite a bit. Our defensemen were stellar at stepping, holding the boards and our wings were doing a great job covering for them."
Grace Wittkopf scored twice for the Eagles, including the opening goal 2:32 into the second. Cassidy Sternhagen added a power play goal to give Pines a 2-0 lead.
Wittkopf scored again 4:25 into the third and then the Eagles tacked on three more goals in the final 7:04 of the game with tallies by Mallory Schmidt, Kasia Olszewska and Madison Stebbeds. The Stebbeds goal came with 1.8 seconds remaining and Pines' top line on the ice.
Ellie Stank, in her first game since Dec. 7, made 19 saves in defeat.
"They popped a couple in garbage time at the end. There's a couple Ellie would like back, but she also made some really good saves," Roeser said. "She's hard on herself about it and that's why she's going to continue to get better. We didn't help her on a few of them. We let people walk around in front of our net."
Though the Edge outshot the Eagles, Ashlynn Boxrucker recorded a 26-save shutout and Roeser said the Edge needed to create more quality chances.
"It wouldn't have mattered if they scored one or six. We've got to put pucks in the net," he said. "That second period we had a lot of opportunities. They were leaving our points open, so we started feeding out points, using them more. We were doing some good screening, but we weren't turning to get the rebounds, which is the main reason why we do that, the screen-tip."
Hayward 9, Northern Edge 1
The second of back-to-back games did not pan out as well for the Northern Edge, which allowed five goals in the first period and fell to the Hurricanes 9-1 Tuesday night at the Lakeland Ice Arena.
"We came out pretty flat, like we were tired," Roeser said. "I don't know. We didn't play real strong with the puck, got outmuscled and it was kind of everything that could go wrong did."
Both Riley and Kennedy Sprenger recorded three goals for Hayward as the Hurricanes outshot the Edge 39-17. Callie Johnson scored the Edge's lone goal late in the first period, off an assist by Kate Vizanko.
The Hurricanes tacked on two goals each in the second and third periods. Stank made 30 saves in defeat for the Edge.
Up next
The Edge have added to their schedule, picking up a game against Wisconsin Valley Union tonight in Stevens Point. The Edge fell to Valley Union 10-0 when the teams played in Stevens Point last month.
A string of tough games for the Edge continues Monday night as they host third-ranked Central Wisconsin at the Lakeland Ice Arena. That will be followed by a game against No. 1 Fox Cities next Friday at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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