Eagle girls’ hockey co-op falls to Black River Falls, ties Coulee Region

The Northland Pines girls’ hockey co-op saw the ups and downs of a season with two different games last weekend.

First, the Eagles, made up of skaters from Northland Pines, Rhinelander, Lakeland, Antigo, Three Lakes, Hurley and Norway (Mich.) high schools, fell 4-0 to Black River Falls on Friday, Jan. 9 in Tomah. Then, Northland Pines tied Coulee Region 1-1 in double overtime on Saturday in West Salem.

Black River Falls 4, Northland Pines 0

Black River Falls (9-5-1, 4-0-0 Wis. Valley) outshot the Eagles 43-16 in the contest. The Tigers scored at least one goal in each period.

Northland Pines (3-8-2, 1-3-0 Wis. Valley) had a power play opportunity down a goal in the second period. Black River Falls stole all the momentum with a short-handed goal with 1 minute, 48 seconds left in the period. Ally Ritter scored, and Kaia Moore picked up the assist. The Eagles went 0 for 3 on the power play.

Kaia Moore and King added goals in the third period as the Tigers cruised to victory. Black River Falls goalie Alexa Moore saved all 16 shots she saw. It was Northland Pines’ first time being shut out since Dec. 27 against Wisconsin Valley Union.

Northland Pines 1, Coulee Region 1

The Eagles took part in their second overtime game of the season. When the dust settled, the score was identical and the shots nearly the same. The Eagles held a 35-33 shot advantage over the Cyclones.

Avery Renkes got the Eagles on the board in the first period. Ava Carillo was awarded the assist.

Northland Pines goalie Lucy Nowak and the Eagles kept the Cyclones out of the net in the first two periods. Nowak was a perfect 13 for 13 in save opportunities after 34 minutes of play.

It didn’t take long for Coulee Region (2-9-1, 0-2-0 Independent) to tie the game in the third period. Ava Ferguson scored 1:54 into the period with assists to Elly Binsfeld and Brenna Pontius.

Coulee Region outshot the Eagles 11-6 in the overtime periods. The first overtime consisted of an eight-minute period of sudden death 5-on-5. The second overtime was sudden death 3-on-3 for five minutes.

Nowak ended the game making 32 saves on 33 shots on goal, a percentage of .970, tying a season high.

Up next, the Eagles host Central Wisconsin on Monday, Jan. 19 in Eagle River. 

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