For the third time in four years, the SPASH Panthers have ended the Northland Pines Eagles’ season in the playoffs, taking an 8-1 victory in the regional final. SPASH, the third seed in the sectional bracket, advances to play second seeded Antigo on Tuesday, February 23rd, in Antigo. 

Sam Medo started the stream of SPASH goals two minutes into the game with a backdoor goal assisted by Jarett Jones. Right after Carter Smigaj’s high sticking penalty expired, Max Bancker was sent to the box for head contact.

 Pines and SPASH had 1:04 of 4 on 4 play due to a bench minor against Pines for having too many men on the ice. After their penalty expired and they were back on the power play, Sam Medo capitalized on the advantage and netted his second of the night off of a rebound. 

Colton Raymond sacrificed his body to try and stop the puck from Treyton Zinda but it went just above his body and over Ethan Polich’s shoulder, giving the Panthers a 3-0 lead. Cole Caufield notched his first goal of the night shorthanded with Chase Miller in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Pines had several good scoring opportunities that could have been game changers if they went in, including shots from Colton Raymond, Ryon Ritzer and Jack Rhode but Phil Trzebiatowski stayed solid in the net, posting 11 saves in the period. 

Sammy Spencer was sent to Pines’ penalty box for high sticking less than a minute into the period and with only ten seconds remaining on the power play, Brock Caufield fired the puck at the open side of the Eagles’ net, taking a 5-0 lead. Jacob Beilke added a goal from the back corner to send the game into running time. 

Ethan Polich had a big save, burying the puck into his pads off of a shot from Cole Caufield. Lochlan Siegmeier and Ryon Ritzer made a big hit on Jarett Jones that warranted the athletic trainer coming to the ice but was deemed alright to play and the game continued on. 

Pines finally got on the scoreboard after Tyler Hunt was set up by Sammy Spencer and Tucker Wittkopf at the blue line, ending the running time with a 1-6 score in favor of the Panthers to close out the second period. 

Cole Caufield, the freshman standout committed to Ohio State, added two goals in the third period for a hat trick against Northland Pines. SPASH won the game 8-1 and continues on their six game win streak as they face off against Antigo on Tuesday. Northland Pines finished their 2015-2016 with a 15-10-0 record and second place in the Great Northern Conference, behind Antigo.