Northland Pines was up against Rochester John Marshall, battling for 3rd place in the Rochester Kiwanis & Home Federal Hockey Festival today, December 31. Pines had fallen short of defending their Champion title, and ended in fourth place in the tournament. 

Nothing exciting happened in the beginning of the game, just lots of end to end action and very few shots. Pines led the period in shots on goal with 12, while John Marshall had 10. 

Twelve and a half minutes into the game, Colton Raymond and Newey Spencer drove the puck to the net, with Newey Spencer slipping the puck past the goalie’s left side to take the lead of the game. Rochester John Marshall came back 17 seconds later with a goal to tie it up.  

With exactly 3:00 left on the clock, Newey Spencer streaked down the ice, dangling through multiple John Marshall players to send the puck flying into the back of the net. An interference penalty against John Marshall finished out the first period. 

Rochester John Marshall came out ready to tie up the game again, and they succeeded early in the second period. Newey Spencer was sent to the box for interference 5 minutes into the game, which allowed John Marshall the power play opportunity.  Corey Cheeco used the opportunity to his advantage and scored a goal only 8 seconds into the penalty. 

Newey Spencer and Colton Raymond took the puck deep into the Rochester zone, but Austin Cheeco denied their opportunities at the end of the period. John Marshall outshot Pines 9-6 throughout the period. 

Only 19 seconds elapsed in the third period before a penalty was called; coincidental roughing minors assessed to Nick Dean and Giuseppe Curry. 

Halfway through the 3rd period, the puck was shot into Pines’ zone and Gabe Hartwig came out of the net to try and deflect the puck, instead passing it right to the puck of Corey Cheeco. Cheeco went behind Hartwig to shoot the puck into the net, allowing John Marshall to take the lead of the game. 

Just 33 seconds later, John Marshall was celebrating their 4th goal of the night. After a scuffle at the net involving multiple players from both teams, Rochester was able to put another goal up on the board, their fifth and final goal of the night.

Nick Dean was called for cross checking with barely under 2 minutes left in the period, leaving Pines down a man for the remainder of the game. Pines couldn’t get another shot past Cheeco, resulting in a 2-5 loss and a 4th place finish in the tournament. 

Several players from Pines stepped up their game tonight, including freshman Sammy Spencer. Spencer had multiple key defensive plays in front of the net and blocked five shots from Rochester John Marshall. Colton Raymond and Nick Dean led the team with 7 shots apiece throughout the game. ‘’’

Pines is on the road again on January 6 vs Medford and home against school rival Lakeland on the 8th. They will play host Fond du lac Springs on Saturday, January 10.