January 19, 2022 at 1:22 p.m.
Edge falls to Northland Pines 2-1
Edge falls to Northland Pines 2-1
Grace Wittkopf scored on a 3-on-1 breakaway late in the second period, which proved to be the game-winner as the Eagles got by the Northern Edge 2-1 at the Rhinelander Ice Arena.
A slow start for the Edge - the co-op of Rhinelander, Antigo, Lakeland and Wabeno high schools - led to a short-handed goal early in the first period for the Eagles. Otherwise the two sides played virtually even the entire way. It was a far different story compared to the Edge's season opener when they were outshot 39-19 in a 5-1 loss to Pines in Eagle River.
"We came out pretty slow and that's kind of what we just talked about in the locker room, but I was real happy with the second and third period," Edge coach Tom Roeser said. "They came out, worked hard, blocked shots."
Wittkopf, Northland Pines' leading scorer, was held in check much of the night but got free late in the second period after the Eagles (7-6-0) took the puck and neutral ice. Cassidy Sternhagen led the breakaway into the Edge zone and dished the puck to Wittkopf on the back side of the play, who snuck it inside the left post, just before goalie Ellie Stank could get a leg pad on it.
"When that happens, it's trouble with any girl, but especially her," Roeser said. "She's a goal scorer. She's got a hard shot and can put it just about anywhere she wants. I thought we took care of her stick pretty well tonight. A lot of the shots she took were challenged, tipped or completely blocked. But, her on a 3-on-1 is trouble."
Taylor Heleniak had the Edge's lone goal, giving her a team-best seven goals on the season. She scored 6:06 into the second on the power play as she stuffed the puck in through traffic in front of the net. Heleniak was fractions of an inch away from a second goal, which loomed large in the contest.
Late in the first period Heleniak came into the zone on a breakaway and beat Pines goalie Ashlynn Boxrucker stick-side, but Heleniak's back-handed attempt first hit the left post, and then the crossbar, before caroming away from the crease.
"I think it rung all three pipes on that. I think she was on her backhand for that. That's all she had and she put it in a really good spot, but not our bounce," Roeser said.
That was the Edge's first strong scoring chance of the night following a slow start. Halle Kerner scored short-handed for Northland Pines 5:18 into the game after Madison Stebbeds created a turnover in the Northern Edge zone.
The Eagles, a co-op of Northland Pines, Hurley, Ironwood (Mich.) and Wakefield/Marenisco (Mich.), outshot the Edge 9-4 in the first period. Roeser said it was a matter of his team being a bit hesitant in the offensive zone.
"We crossed the slot with the puck a few times in that first period and didn't pull the trigger, skated it to the back of the net and lost it," he said. "(Boxrucker is) a good goaltender and does a good job for them. The more pucks we can put on her, the better."
The Edge had opportunities to tie the game in the third period. Kristina Kunelius missed wide on a 2-on-1 chance with Heleniak roughly 5 1/2 minutes into the period. The Edge also sustained pressure on a power play with under six minutes remaining, Boxrucker stopped a couple of chances inside the circles and the Eagles caught a break when a shot by Mackenzie Wissbroecker from the high slot caromed off a defender and bounded wide left of the goal.
"They generated two really quality shots and one misdirect that I thought was going in, but that's the way the puck bounces some times," Roeser said.
Boxrucker denied Wyndi Saari on a 2-on-1 chance with 2:20 remaining. The Edge pulled Stank with 1:40 to play, but was not able to do much with the extra attacker. The comeback hopes were effectively squashed when Kassidee Linssen took a roughing penalty following a collision with Northland Pines' Mallory Schmidt while both were racing for a loose puck near the Eagles' blue line with 9.9 seconds remaining.
Shots were even in both the second and third periods with Northland Pines holding a 25-20 advantage overall. Stank made 23 saves in defeat for the Edge.
"She's doing her job. We tell her we expect her to be a .900 (save percentage) goalie and she was," Roeser said. "She made some quality saves. We're happy with Ellie."
The Edge (1-6-0) will now get another chance to measure its improvement from the start of the season when it skates at Hayward this coming Thursday, Jan. 27. The Edge fell to the Hurricanes 7-2 in Rhinelander back on Dec. 18.
"They're another strong team, good shooters," Roeser said. "We're going to do some competition drills in practice. We've still got to work on that puck bouncing off our stick on the breakouts. We're turning the puck over in the D zone quite a bit. We've got to work on handling that pass, making sure we're chipping it out of the zone."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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