For the fifth consecutive year, the Northland Pines Girls Hockey team has advanced to the Sectional Final against the Central Wisconsin Storm Co-op. Pines, seeded second in the playoff bracket, is one of the last single-school teams in the state and is coming off of an 8-0 win over Medford and a 5-2 win against the Northern Edge Co-op. The Storm took the first seed in the sectional and cruised through to the sectional final with a 12-0 shutout against Tomahawk and a 6-1 victory over the Point-Rapids Co-op. 

Northland Pines picked up a sectional semi-final win against the Northern Edge Co-op to earn a spot in the Sectional Final, held in their home rink, the historic ERRA Dome. Northland Pines won 5-2 over their Great Northern Conference opponent. 

Donning their blue jerseys, the Eagles took to the ice eager with anticipation but nerves were evident. Head Coach Patrick Schmidt remarked after the game, “the first period the girls were extremely nervous, and were off their game. They changed from their very aggressive play to defensive play.” Lindsey Steger got the Edge up on the scoreboard first as the puck bounced to the back of the net past Jenna Paez. 

Amanda Sergent tied the game back up on a power play after a flurry of shots at the net along with Allison Sauvola. Katie Detert worked her way through the Pines ladies on the ice, shooting from the circles to give the Northern Edge a 2-1 lead going into the second period. 

Eleven seconds into Mikala Rubo’s penalty for kneeing, Amanda Sergent tallied a short handed goal to even out the score. Allison Sauvola skated the puck right past the home bench before passing the puck back to a waiting Sergent to fire the puck from the top of the circles, knotting the score at 2-2. 

Cameron Ramesh shot the puck through Shea Petersen’s legs with assists going to Amanda Sergent and Allison Sauvola, giving the Eagles an advantage and restoring their confidence. Sauvola, Gabby Herfindahl, Anna Hartwig and Sallie Spencer kept the pressure on Petersen but couldn’t get the puck to the back of the net until the third period. Pines led the shot count 21-12 after two periods. 

Jenna Paez had several big saves for Pines, including a huge grab of the puck with her glove to open the third period. Gabby Herfindahl added a goal in the early minutes of period and as time was winding down, Sallie Spencer ripped the puck from the blue line with a slapshot past Petersen. 

The crowd roared with excitement over the goal as well as cheering from the bench as Northland Pines won the game 5-2 and advances to the Sectional Final. Northland Pines and the Central Wisconsin Storm will play at 6:00 on Friday in Eagle River.