Eagles co-op gets back on track with road win

Despite goals being hard to come by for the Northland Pines girls co-op hockey team, the Lady Eagles overcame that problem on the road in a 7-4 win at Medford Dec. 17. Pines was supposed to play a home game Dec. 19 in Rhinelander, but that game got postponed due to weather conditions.
In a high-scoring battle, the Eagles kept the Raiders winless this season with its second win of the year against them.
“It was a much-needed win for our team,” noted Pines coach Jeff Stebbeds. “I was proud of the way the girls worked together and played as a team. We’ve been struggling to put the puck in the net and tonight we had some beautiful goals.”
Those Pine goals came early and often, with three of them unanswered in the first period.
Sarah Nordine scored from Ally Fuller, Larken Paff tallied one unassisted, and Bella Nowak had a helper from Ruby Kasper for the 3-0 lead.
Medford finally answered at 6:31 of the middle period before Pines rattled in three more goals to make it a 6-1 game.
Reese Retallick and Olivia Peterson scored, and Nowak got her second of the game.
The Raiders had a big third period with three goals, but Lilly Beitler scored from Paff as Pines secured the 7-4 win.
The Eagles opened the season with a 4-3 overtime win at home against the Medford Raiders.
Since then, Pines had been shut out in four straight times going into last Tuesday’s win at the Raiders.
Pines improved to 2-4 on the season, and recently played Black River Falls Dec. 20 at the Dome in Eagle River. The team will also play in games over the holiday break, with games scheduled Friday, Dec. 27, against the Badger Lightning in Baraboo and Saturday, Dec. 28, versus the Icebergs in Stoughton. Games are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m., respectively.