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Eagles skate to 2-1 record during busy week

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After opening its new season with a road loss to D.C. Everest on Nov. 26, the Northland Pines boys hockey team bounced back with a big 8-1 win at Shawano on Tuesday of last week, while falling at Mosinee Nov. 5, and a 1-0 home win against Amery.
It’s always nice to get that first win,” said new Pines head coach Zach Otto after the Shawano win. “We had a slow start in making the simple plays to get the puck down the ice, but came around and played well.”
Shawano scored 47 seconds into the game, but after that it was all Pines.
The Eagles’ Josh Graves had two goals in the first period and scored again in the third for the hat trick. He also had an assist to lead the Pines offense.
Other goals were scored by Peter Anderson, Nicholas Hahn, Anderson Kielty, Sam Shrock and Ryder Will.
“Having eight goals scored by six different players is a good sign,” noted coach Otto.
The defense played lights out as goalie Evrett Leslie stopped seven of just eight shots on goal.
Next up for the Pines boys was a Great Northern Conference (GNC) game at longtime rival Mosinee.
The Indians beat the Eagles soundly three times last season, including in their post-season playoff opener.
Pines opened the scoring on a goal by Hahn with 10:42 left in the first period, but Mosinee tied it at the 8:01 mark.
It looked like the Eagles were going to exercise some payback when Josh Graves scored the only two goals of the second period, both from Michael Schmidt, to take a 3-1 lead.
“It was good for us to get that lead as we continued to improve on finishing chances,” said coach Otto.
Mosinee stormed back from two goals down, scoring at 9:09 and 15:37 in the third, as the two sides went to overtime tied at three apiece.
The game finished just 5:28 into the extra period as Mosinee lit the lamp to capture a 4-3 win over the Eagles. The Indians outshot Pines 43-23.
“The third period hurt us, and we couldn’t come back,” stated coach Otto. “The boys showed great effort all game long. Overtime is a tough loss, but this team will keep learning and getting better.”
Things wouldn’t get any easier as Pines closed the week with a Saturday home game against Amery.
The visiting Warriors were Middle Border Conference champions the past two seasons. The Eagles faced and hung a big, strong and fast team.
They attacked the Eagles from the opening faceoff, but a tenacious defense led by goalie Evrett Leslie (31 saves) shut out Amery.
The only goal came at 15:44 of period two as Michael Schmidt sent a perfect lead pass to Josh Graves behind the Amery defense and Graves put the puck behind the Warriors goalie.
A big home crowd nearly raised the Dome roof, and the Eagles made the goal stand up for the 1-0 win.
“Evrett made the saves and gave us a chance to get that game-winning goal,” stated Otto. “If this team does the things we know it can do, we can compete with any team we play.”
The Eagles are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the GNC. and were scheduled to play at Stevens Point Pacelli at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. They will also be on the road at Waupaca Friday, Dec. 13, and at Waupun the following day at 1 p.m.

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