In a battle of two top-ten ranked teams, #8 Northland Pines hosted #9 Wausau West at the historic ERRA Dome for their last games before Christmas. Northland Pines entered the game undefeated on the season but Wausau West ended the streak with a 4-3 win over the Eagles.

Special teams were the key to tonight’s game as all but one goal were scored on the power play.

Wausau West took an early lead off of a power play goal by Cade Lemmer (Marc Sippel, Carson Marquardt) and both teams struggled to stay out of the penalty box for the remainder of the game.

Northland Pines also capitalized on their first power play opportunity as Tucker Wittkopf created a screen, allowing Jack Rhode (Brady Snedden, Gunnar Schiffmann) to fire the puck and tie the game at one goal apiece.

The Eagles ended the period on a high note, tallying their second power play goal of the period when Harmon Marien (Lochlan Siegmeier, Snedden) redirected Snedden’s shot to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

The physicality continued to escalate during the second period as five penalties were assessed, allowing for plenty of special teams opportunities. Max Brown (Schiffmann) scored the lone non-special teams goal of the game midway through the period when he found a lose puck in the slot.

Marc Sipple had a golden opportunity to bring the Warriors within one, but Brett Wilkins denied  him on the breakaway.

With a 5 on 3 power play opportunity in their hands, Wausau West’s Sam Techel fired the puck from the dots and brought the score to 3-2, still in favor of the Eagles.

Techel scored his second of the night (Lemmer), another power play goal, in the third period when he found a loose puck to put past Wilkins to tie the game. More penalties ensued before Wausau West took the lead late in the game when Austin Federici (Lucas Langlois, Jacob Cebula) scored the Warrior’s fourth power play goal.

The Eagles fought hard and generated several last minute chances but weren’t able to beat Adam Prokop, surrendering their first loss of the season.

Wausau West improves their record to 7-2-0 while Northland Pines falls to 9-1-0 on the season. Up next for both teams are Holiday Tournaments as Wausau West is participating in the Showdown in Titletown and Northland Pines will attempt to defend last year’s title in the Joe Raymond Memorial Tournament.