Girls’ hockey: Northland Pines co-op wins opener in OT

Avery Renkes scored 3:09 into overtime as the Northland Pines girls’ hockey co-op rallied from behind to defeat Medford in its season-opening game Tuesday, Nov. 26 at the Eagle River Sports Arena.

The Eagles co-op, which includes six skaters from Rhinelander, trailed 3-1 entering the third period. Rhinelander senior Mia Tulowitzky scored 3:45 into the third to bring the Eagles within one and Antigo sophomore Ella Koca tied it with 11:53 to play in regulation.

Renkes, a sophomore from Northland Pines, ended it with a power play tally in the extra session.

“We couldn't finish it in regulation, and went into overtime and got a turn over and luckily capitalized and scored,” said new Pines head coach Jeff Stebbeds, who won his coaching debut for the Eagles. “I kept telling the girls to keep working, and things went our way in the end.”

Rhinelander sophomore Reese Retallick opened the scoring midway through the first period for the Eagles, but Medford answered with two goals in the final seven minutes of the first period and added another goal 6:16 into the second. Megan Schaefer scored twice for the Raiders, who also got a goal from Victoria Konieczny.

The Eagles won despite getting outshot 35-16 in the contest. Northland Pines freshman Lucy Nowak stopped 32 pucks in the victory. 

The Northland Pines co-op is a young squad that graduated its two top scorers from a year ago in Taylor Heleniak (Lakeland) and Mallory Schmidt (Northland Pines). This year’s team features 24 players — 12 from Northland Pines, six from Rhinelander, three from Antigo and one each from Lakeland, Hurley and Bessemer (Mich.). 

“We have a young team this season, and it showed in the first two periods,” Stebbeds noted. “The season is a marathon, and we will improve every game. We needed to get this first game under our belts to see everything we needed to fix. We will have a busy couple practices before our next game, and lots of adjustments will be made.”

The Eagles will return to action Friday, Dec. 6 at Houghton-Hancock, Mich. and will return home Saturday, Dec. 7 to face Chippewa Falls/Menomonie. The Eagles will play the majority of their home games at the Eagle River Sports Arena this season. The exceptions are Dec. 19 when the team will play the Fox Cities Stars in Rhinelander and Feb. 8 when it will take on Beaver Dam in Antigo.