Team review: Northland Pines co-op girls’ hockey

A young Northland Pines girls’ hockey co-op saved its best for last in a season full of learning and growth.

The Eagles, comprised of schools Northland Pines, Lakeland Union, Rhinelander, Three Lakes, Antigo, Hurley and Norway (Mich.), finished the season with a record of 8-14-2. They ranked fourth out of five teams in the Wisconsin Valley Conference at 2-7-0.

Here are five storylines from the season.

Postseason run

Northland Pines came into the WIAA playoffs as the No. 5 seed in their bracket. They came up one game short of state.

First, Northland Pines upset fourth-seeded Wisconsin Valley Union 4-3 in overtime in a regional final game Feb. 19. Freshman Mya Renkes scored the game-winning goal with the assist going to sister Avery, a junior.

“So proud of the kids,” Northland Pines coach Jeff Stebbeds said after the game. “Valley Union beat us three times during the regular season between tournaments and just regular-season conference games, and they have a senior-stacked, junior-stacked team, and with us being so young, we’ve been slowly improving all season long and finally are starting to peak at the right time, and the kids are really starting to come together as a team, and it’s just cool to see and how hard they work is literally shift by shift. They played that game and won it.”

The next upset came Feb. 24 in Wausau. Northland Pines took down top-seeded Central Wisconsin 2-1 in a sectional semifinal contest. It was Northland Pines’ first win over the Storm in at least 15 years. In the upset win, Northland Pines sophomore goalie Lucy Nowak put on a show with 50 saves on 51 shots on goal, a percentage of .980 — both season highs.

“I couldn’t have been prouder,” Stebbeds said following the upset. “Like usual, Lucy Nowak was awesome in net for us. They just were constantly, literally in their face all night long. It was just a total team effort. This team plays their tails off for us every game day in and day out.”

Wisconsin Valley Union and Central Wisconsin were a combined 5-0 over Northland Pines in the regular season.

The sectional final game took place Feb. 28 in Hayward. Northland Pines looked for one more upset, taking on No. 2 Superior for the right to go to state. The Spartans scored a late goal in the first period and never looked back, winning 7-0 to advance to the state tournament.

“It didn’t go the way we wanted, just couldn’t get any offense generated,” Stebbeds said in an interview Feb. 28. “That was a fast team. They were moving out there today, and they were winning all the battles, the pucks, and just … they’re a well-oiled machine. It was a solid team.”

All-conference

Five Northland Pines skaters were voted Wisconsin Valley all-conference at the end of the season, three of them freshmen. 

Lucy Nowak was named a second team goalie. She made 654 saves on 717 shots on goal, a save percentage of .912. She had a goals against average of 2.93. 

“She puts hours in. She puts the time in away from our practices in the offseason,” Stebbeds said in an interview Feb. 25. “If you want to achieve some- thing, you got to put the hours in when there aren’t people in the stands cheering for you, and she does that, just that for us, and it translates onto the ice when we get into these games. She’s huge for us every day.” 

All stats are from the regular season.

Freshman Ayla Shepherdson garnered second team all-conference honors at forward. She was a playmaker for the Eagles and led the team with nine goals, eight assists and 17 points.

Junior Lilly Beitler was voted honorable mention all-conference as a defenseman. She totaled three points.

Lakeland freshman Laine Jelinski also got honorable mention at defense. She finished the regular season with two goals, three assists and five points in her first year of high school hockey.

“(Laine’s) a smart player,” Stebbeds said in an interview on Dec. 16, 2025. “We enjoy having her on the team this year as a freshman. She’s got four big years coming up here on the team. She got her first goal ... and we’re proud of her. She always comes to work every day in practice, and it’s just nice to see something come together for her in a game.”

Forward Mya Renkes earned honorable mention all-conference honors. She scored six goals, assisted five more and ended up with 11 points, tied for third on the team.

Three of the four freshmen that were voted all-Wisconsin Valley Conference came from the Pines co-op.

Rhinelander skaters

    In this Jan. 3, 2026 file photo, Lena Chiamulera fires a shot toward the net during the second period of a high school girls’ hockey game between the Northland Pines co-op and the Viroqua co-op at the Lakeland Ice Arena.(Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Two Rhinelander High School student-athletes took part in the co-op this season — junior Reese Retallick and freshman Lena Chiamulera.

Retallick had two goals and assists and four points while Chiamulera finished with two goals, an assist and three points.

The team

Avery Renkes tied for second on Northland Pines with eight goals and finished second solo with 12 points, adding four assists. 

Senior Bella Nowak contributed 11 points for the Eagles and finished second on the team with seven assists.

Sophomore Lilly Tomlanovich came in clutch for the Eagles. She had a team-high two game-winning goals and tied for second with eight goals.

Freshman Lexi Veriha scored her first-career high school goal in the playoff game against Central Wisconsin. Her goal was the eventual game winner. In the regular season, she totaled four assists.

Next year

The future is bright for the Eagles. The co-op will graduate just four skaters from this year’s team and can return all five all-conference players.

Top point-getter Shepherdson leads an offensive attack that also includes the sister duo of Avery and Mya Renkes. Defensemen Beitler and Jelinski gives Northland Pines a strong foundation on defense with Lucy Nowak back in net.

This year’s postseason run could be the springboard the Northland Pines co-op uses heading into the 2026-27 season.

“Being such a young team like that, and then to go and upset the (Central Wisconsin) Storm, both teams, both games back to back on the road like that,” Stebbeds said in an interview Feb. 28. “It was fun. It’s a great learning experience for them and something to build off of for next year and hopefully come out confident when they see those teams in the regular season and may perhaps get splits or beat them in the regular season and get higher seeds out of it when it comes to playoffs next year.”

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].