February 7, 2022 at 12:43 p.m.
Northern Edge falls in wild finish 10-5 to Onalaska
Northern Edge falls in wild finish 10-5 to Onalaska
The two teams traded six goals in the final 4 minutes, 7 seconds of regulation as the Hilltoppers held on for a 10-5 victory over the Northern Edge at the Langlade County Multi-Purpose Building in Antigo.
The Edge trailed 7-3 midway through the third, but got a power play goal from Kassidee Linssen to start the rally. Then goals 13 seconds apart from Taylor Heleniak and Maria Gironella suddenly cut the lead to two with 1:47 remaining. Onalaska answered with a pair of empty-net goals and tacked on one more with 22 seconds left to account for the final margin.
"It was a really fun third period," Northern Edge coach Tom Roeser said. "After that first period it was a really fun game to coach and I think the girls had a lot of fun playing."
The Edge started slow in the contest, outshot 19-5 in the opening period as they fell behind 2-0. Though shots were more even in the second, the Hilltoppers buried four more goals to take a 6-1 lead through two periods.
McKenna LaFleur got Onalaska started with a short-handed tally at the 10:31 mark of the first period and Anna Szymanski added another score with 13 seconds remaining as the Hilltoppers took a two-goal lead to the first intermission.
Kiya Bronston scored her first of three goals 1:31 into the second period before the Edge got on the board courtesy of a pair of Lakeland players. Gironella scored on the power play from Heleniak to cut the lead to two.
Onalaska answered less than a minute later sixth Szymanski's second goal of the contest. Lydia Walz scored at the 6-minute mark and then Bronston added a power play goal to put the Hilltoppers up five.
"We got outplayed in the first period," Roeser said. "The second period we started generating more quality shots. We didn't generate a ton of shots, but they were more quality shots. We killed of some penalties, killed off a 5-on-3."
Heleniak scored short-handed for the Edge 2:12 into the third to give the team some life. Bronston answered by finishing her hat trick at the 8:41 mark before the late-game scoring fireworks erupted.
After the Edge trimmed the lead to two, Jaden Hammes scored on an empty net with 1:21 to play. Payton Sawyer added another empty netter with 32 seconds to play. Adeline Lee capped off the scoring with a tally off the ensuing faceoff.
Onalaska outshot the Edge 56-26 in the contest. Ellie Stank stopped 46 pucks in 54 chances in defeat.
The Edge finished the night a season-best 2-for-5 on the power play.
"Our power play was working a lot better than it typically does, which is odd for us because they were playing really aggressive, chasing and our girls showed a lot more patience and started walking to the net when they could and it paid off for them," Roeser said.
The Edge (1-10) has a busy final week of the regular season, with three home games in three different locations. It began last night in Rhinelander against Medford, in a game that concluded after deadline. The Edge hosts Wisconsin Valley Union in Minocqua tonight and closes out the week against Arrowhead in Antigo on Friday night.
The Edge's lone win of the season came back in December against Medford, and the team lost 5-2 at Arrowhead Jan. 8 in a game in which the Edge was tied after two periods.
Roeser said he was hopeful that Friday's competitive contest will build positive momentum for the Edge's stretch run.
"I think this was a good builder for this week," he said. "I never discredit Medford, they're always a hard-working team and we really struggle scoring goals against them, even though we put a lot of shots on them. I'm hoping we generate a lot better quality shots Monday night and keep them from scoring. Valley Union, I think that should be a great contest. I think we're fairly evenly matched, but it all depends on which Northern Edge team comes out to play, too."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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