On a snowy, slippery late January evening at the Ice Hawks Arena, the Point-Rapids Red Panthers honored their seven upperclassmen on Senior Night.

Then they went out and took care of business, defeating visiting Lakeland 4-0 Thursday night in Stevens Point.

The septet included Rachel Metz, Taylor Gregorich, Amanda Milanowski, Rachel Nolan, Kiana Coombs, Vanessa Falke, and super-manager Bailee Sterling.

The home team got on the board a few minutes into the contest after Metz won a face-off to the right of the Lakeland goalie. The puck was sent back to the high slot, where defenseman Megan Nolan snapped a hard shot that beat Megan Hudy to give the Red Panthers a 1-0 lead. Metz earned an assist on the play.

That's how the period ended, with the hosts holding an 11-9 shot edge.

Metz increased the lead to 2-0 while the Red Panthers were on the penalty kill. The senior forward got the puck deep in the Thunderbird zone and slipped a shot into the net for her third short-handed goal of the year at the 3:47 mark.

It appeared the guests cut into the lead shortly after, but the officials blew their whistles before a puck slipped from the grasp of Red Panther goalie Emily Bubla and into the net. Although Lakeland was celebrating its tally, the outstretched arms of the ref behind the net over-ruled and the score remained 2-0.

The teams skated towards the second intermission with that 2-0 score, with Point-Rapids putting one extra shot on net, 12-11, in the period.

Just three minutes into the final stanza, Hannah Beilke grabbed a loose biscuit near center ice, motored down the left side before launching a shot from the left circle that beat the goalie high on the blocker side at the 3:23 mark to give the home team a three-goal advantage.

The final score came over six minutes later when Metz went coast-to-coast before deking the goalie and flipping in a back-hander over the right goalie pad to account for the final score. Katrina Hassig earned a helper on the play. Shots were 12-1 in the period, in favor of Point-Rapids.

Bubla earned her first shutout of the year with a 21 save performance, while Hudy performed well for the T-Birds, stopping 31 pucks on her end.

The Red Panthers improved to 9-6-2 (8-1 Great Northern) and Lakeland dropped to 4-13 (1-9 GNC). The Red Panthers host Northland Pines Friday evening in a match-up that could have conference title implications.