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Gruen, Nolan lead Red Panthers to 6-1 victory

By Michael Trzinski, WiPH Staff, 01/12/17, 9:15PM CST

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Hosts hold large 53-10 shot advantage

Leah Gruen and Megan Nolan each scored a pair of goals as the Point-Rapids/Marshfield Red Panthers defeated visiting Northern Edge 6-1 in the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Game of the Week at the South Wood County Rec Center on a frigid Thursday evening.

It was also Parents Night for the Red Panthers, as the players and their parents stepped out on the ice between the first and second periods for pics after the home team grabbed a 2-0 lead.

P-R/M (9-7) drew first blood when Megan Nolan grabbed the puck in her d-zone and took off along the right boards. After getting to the bottom of the right circle, she sent the puck toward the net, but before it got to her target waiting on the back door, bounced off a defender's skate and slid into the net. The unassisted goal came at 6:25 of the first.

Four minutes later, Kiley Kopf scored from the low left side to make it 2-0, with a helper credited to Alayna Bruneau.

The Red Panthers almost increased the lead twice in the next 90 seconds, but an AJ Weiss shot clanked off the crossbar and then Gruen's shot from close-in bounced off Edge goalie Shea Petersen's pads and over the bar.

The period ended with the hosts holding an 18-2 shot advantage in the stanza.

The Edge played well in the second period and almost made it through the period without further damage, but with less than two minutes left that changed.

Bruneau sent a long stretch pass to the NZ where Gruen caught up to it and went in on a breakaway before going high blocker on the Edge goalie to nudge the lead to 3-0 with 1:44 left.

A minute later, the Red Panthers had a 3-on-1 chance, but a pass to the back door went awry and the opportunity was lost.

Shots were 15-6 in the period, Red Panthers.

Northern Edge (0-5) cut into the Red Panthers' lead in the middle of the period shortly after their power play expired.

Just as the Red Panthers player was coming out of the box, the Edge buzzed up ice with a 3-on-1 and Kourtney Carrico made it count, low on the blocker side to make the score 3-1 with just under ten minutes left. Jade Forster and Payton Bunnell earned helpers on the play.

A couple minutes later, Nolan bumped the lead back to three goals when she took a pass at the top of the right circle and fired it into the net, with an assist to Kopf.

Bryar Brooks made the score 5-1 one minute later as she punched home a rebound. Megan Nolan and Emily Nolan earned assists on the play.

Gruen tallied the final marker with three minutes left on a shot through traffic from the bottom of the right circle. Kopf was given an assist on the play. 

Shots were 20-2 in the period in favor of the Red Panthers. Madi Hall finished with nine saves while earning the win. Petersen played well before tiring late in the game, stopping 47 shots for the Edge.

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Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center

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Mayo Games of the Week