This afternoon, the Northland Pines boys hockey team hosted Appleton United for a non-conference matchup. The Eagles were coming off of a 1-1 tie vs Waupaca and hoped to add another win in the wins column.

Pines’ forward Joe Roach played in his second game back from having wrist surgery and rifled the puck within the first thirty seconds of the game but heard the clink of the pipe instead of the swish of the net. 

A minute and a half later, Newey Spencer skated the length of the ice and put the puck past Dylan Phinney unassisted to put the Eagles up 1-0. Pines held the upper hand of the shot count 11-4 going into the second period of the game. 

Colton Raymond shot the puck twice but was denied both times by the Appleton United goalie’s pads early in the second period. Connor Cox shot from the circles with the puck hitting the cross bar and dropping down behind Phinney to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. 

Appleton United went and scored on the right side of Gabe Hartwig, cutting the home team’s lead 2-1. Colton Raymond was sent to the Eagle’s penalty box for kneeing after a holdup at the net. 

Pines’ net minder found himself without a stick and an Appleton penalty was being called so Hartwig skated to the bench in the midst of his teammates, an odd sight for the crowd. Shortly after, Appleton United was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, giving Pines a 5 on 3 advantage. 

Jake Jantzen was sent to the box for roughing as only 35 seconds were left on the clock, leaving Pines down a man starting the third period. Michael Alfaro used the one man advantage to his power and scored 19 seconds into the third period, unassisted, to tie up the game with two goals each. 

Neither team was able to score in the remaining time and the game went into overtime. Less than a minute into the bonus period, Cody Jantzen shot from the blue line and Colton Raymond tipped the puck into the back of the net, giving Pines the 3-2 win. 

The Eagles will travel to Antigo on Tuesday to take on their conference rival and will host Medford on Thursday for the Eagles’ senior night celebration.