The Point-Rapids Red Panthers won their fifth straight game and stayed in contention for the Great Northern Conference crown with an 8-3 victory over Waupaca Area Monday night at the South Wood County Rec Center.

The hosts got on the board four times in the first period to set the tone for the contest.

Freshman Megan Nolan scored her first varsity goal to give the Red Panthers a 1-0 lead in the early going. Her shot from the slot area snuck past the blocker of Waupaca Area goalie Cassie Rasmussen at 3:58 for the unassisted goal.

A couple minutes later, Katrina Hassig tapped in a rebound to make the score 2-0, with an assist to Nolan.

Waupaca Area cut the lead in half ten minutes into the period when a Brianne Huettner shot from the point bounced off the skate of Macy Carlson, who was given credit for the goal. Kat Otter also received an assist on the play.

Carolyn Storch gave the Red Panthers a 3-1 lead with her goal from the slot area. Kaylee Bruneau earned an assist on the play at 11:45.

Rachel Metz finished off the scoring in the period with a rebound goal with just 20 seconds left in the first, with assists to Hassig and Hannah Beilke.

The Red Panthers held a 13-7 shot edge in the stanza.

Mandy Tomlinson cut the lead to 4-2 for Waupaca Area with her 'third effort' goal. She had the puck below the goal line and tried to jam the biscuit between the post and the right pad of Red Panther goalie Emily Bubla. The shot bounced out, where Tomlinson tried again but did not find success until her third try, when the puck rolled up the shoulder of the goalie and into the net. Carlson was given an assist on the play.

The Red Panthers (8-5-2, 7-1 GNC) answered just over a minute later when Beilke gathered a 'D to D' pass from Rachel Nolan, skated to her right to find an opening and fired a shot through some traffic that beat the goalie for a 5-2 lead.

After ten minutes in the middle of the period without a score, Metz and Beilke went in as part of a 3-on-2. Beilke skated in deep on the right side and slipped a pass back to Metz, who zipped a shot from the slot that made the score 6-2.

The Red Panthers were called for two penalties, giving Waupaca Area one second's worth of a 5-on-3. The first infraction expired leaving the home team one skater down, and just over a half-minute later, Metz and Bryar Brooks combined for a short-handed goal, with Brooks scoring the goal and Metz the assist.

The period ended with the Red Panthers leading 7-2. Shots were 10-8 in favor of the hosts.

Beilke scored her second goal when she skated in from the right point and beat the goalie on the blocker side at 7:35 of the third. Rachel Nolan earned her second assist.

Four minutes later, Tomlinson closed out the scoring when she grabbed a loose puck at the blue line and beat a Point-Rapids defender before ripping a shot the beat the goalie on the blocker side to make the final 8-3.

Shots were 8-6 in favor of the hosts in the final period.

Bubla made 18 saves in earning the win, while Rasmussen stopped 23 shots for Waupaca Area (2-13-1, 2-5-1 GNC).

The Red Panthers hold on to second place in the conference with 14 points, two points behind Northland Pines, who have won all eight GNC contests for 16 points. The two teams meet twice in a seven-day span at the end of the month.