The first two contests played between the Northern Edge and the Point-Rapids Red Panthers resulted in a 2-0 win for the Red Panthers on December 7 and a 1-1 deadlock six weeks later.

Thursday night at Rhinelander Ice Arena, the two teams met with a little more on the line: advancement to the second round of the Sectional 2 playoffs.

The game was all it was advertised to be, with the Edge scoring a late third period goal to skate off with a 2-1 victory.

The first period was scoreless, as Edge goalie Sophie Schmidt and Red Panthers goalie Emily Bubla each stopped all five shots tossed at them in the initial 17 minutes.

The guests drew first blood on a power play that began late in the first period. Rachel Nolan passed across to Sarah Peplinski, who was motoring down the right side. She skated in on Schmidt and released a shot from the right circle that snuck between the goalie and her blocker at the 1:42 mark of the middle period.

The hosts evened the score less than two minutes later while on the power play.

Freshman phenom Katie Detert worked the give-and-go with a linemate, grabbing the return pass and putting a shot on net from the low left side. The shot bounced off Bubla and Detert was able to grab the rebound and shove it past the netminder to tie the game at one at the 3:02 mark.

On the ensuing face-off, the Red Panthers nearly got a lucky bounce when a shot from the left circle bounced off the back wall and to the left side of the net where Rachel Metz was waiting. She didn't get a shot off, even though Schmidt had turned the wrong way and was on the opposite post. An alert defender kept the puck from being shot into the mostly-empty net.

Each team failed on a man-advantage late in the period to set up a doozy of a finish. The home team held a 12-4 shot advantage in the period.

Midway through the period, a CFB was called on the Red Panthers Kiana Coombs. The guests played the early part of the PK to perfection, but then the wheels fell off.