The Northland Pines girls hockey team wasn’t ready to hang up their skates just yet, and all of their hard work and determination paid off. The Eagles won the sectional semi-final 5-2 over the Northern Edge, earning them a trip to the Sectional Final.

Sallie Spencer had a big shot to open the game, but it was Cali Sanborn who scored the first goal against the Northern Edge unassisted. 36 seconds later, Allyson Sima and Allison Sauvola teamed up for the second goal of the night with Sima putting the puck past Shea Petersen on a big breakaway.

After only five minutes had elapsed from the initial puck drop, Kali Ebert put a third goal up on the scoreboard. Emily Saltenberger and Allyson Sima were credited with assists on the play.

Katie Detert passed the puck to Kourtney Carrico in front of the net and it appeared that Jenna Paez saved the shot, but it slipped from her and went in. It was Northern Edge’s first goal of the night.

Mikala Rubo blocked Detert’s slapshot from the circles and Taylor Trachte tried to stuff the puck against Paez but Trachte was unsuccessful. Caroline Riley was sent to the penalty box for tripping and Christina Ives, Lindsey Steger, and Carrico all made shots on the goal, but Paez denied them of the power play scoring opportunities.

Kali Ebert received a body checking penalty and Gabrielle Millot received a penalty for tripping but both teams were able to successfully kill of the penalties. Northern Edge was outshooting Northland Pines 12-5 after the first period.

Lauren Smith fired the puck at Jenna Paez to start the period before getting sent to the penalty box for cross checking. The puck was flying back and forth for the next seven minutes before Kali Ebert went down on Shea Petersen and scored on the empty side of the net. Caroline Riley and Mariah Miller picked up assists on the goal.

Katie Detert stormed down to the Eagles’ zone on a breakaway but Paez was like a brick wall in the net and saved the shot. A series of penalties finished out the period. Northern Edge still held the shot advantage 18-10 going into the third and final period. Northland Pines was leading the game 4-1.

The Eagles found themselves on the penalty kill at the start of the period after Emily Saltenberger was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Sallie Spencer blocked a shot from Katie Detert and it bounced up and hit the safety net, sounding the referee’s whistle.

Northern Edge used the one man advantage to go and score a power play goal and cut the Eagles’ lead 4-2. Lauren Smith won the faceoff and passed the puck back to Katie Detert at the top of the circles. Detert was too quick for Paez and fired the puck top shelf.

Penalties against Lindsey Steger and Marie Sandstrom gave Pines a 5 on 3 advantage but they weren’t able to get a goal during the power play. Kali Ebert was later called for hooking.

Lauren Smith kept the Pines players on their toes with one of her shots going wide, Sallie Spencer picking up a block, and Jenna Paez making a save.

In the middle of the period, Gabrielle Millot sat her third penalty of the night and Christine John rushed the puck into the offensive zone for the Eagles. With only 4:04 left on the clock, Allison Sauvola scored an unassisted goal to bring her team’s lead to 5-2.

Northern Edge called a timeout to try and regroup and create a scoring opportunity, but it wasn’t enough. They spent the last minutes of the game with a player deficit due to penalties against Lindsey Steger and Lauren Smith. Northern Edge held the shot advantage the entire game, outshooting Northland Pines 33-16 overall. 

With the sectional semi-final win over Northern Edge, the Northland Pines Eagles advance to the Sectional Final versus the Central Wisconsin Storm, one of their biggest rivals. The game will take place on Saturday at 3:00 pm at the Greenheck Field House. The winner will make a trip down to Madison for the State Hockey Tournament.