This story is sponsored by Norm E Lane Farm
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
Click here to listen to the full interview with Marshfield coach Nate Sparbel
Click here to view the Great Northern Conference girls hockey standings
MARSHFIELD – Three players were out of the lineup Thursday night, leaving Marshfield girls hockey coach Nate Sparbel wondering how the Tigers would fare against a solid Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids squad.
The Tigers held their own. Goalie Ashley Bauer had 21 saves and Marshfield scored two power-play goals and one short-handed goal to beat the Red Raiders 3-0 in a Great Northern Conference game at the Marshfield Youth Ice Recreation Arena.
The game was marked as Pink the Rink Night as proceeds from the admission fee, as well as numerous raffles and fund-raising events were held to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society.
“Ash (Bauer) had a really nice game for us tonight,” Sparbel said. “We’ve been struggling in the power-play and short-handed department this year. In the last week, we’ve put a lot of work into it, and it showed tonight. Nicole Karl always does an amazing job for us in penalty-kill.”
After an evenly-played and scoreless first period, Marshfield (14-4, 9-3 Great Northern Conference) took advantage of a power-play opportunity to grab the lead midway through the second.
Bauer snuffed out two point-blank scoring attempts by Point/Rapids (11-9-1, 7-5 GNC) before the Tigers finally slipped one past Red Panthers’ goalie Alex Gallager as Paige Johnson nailed a slap shot from the blue line to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 10:18 left in the second period.
Bauer did her thing in the third period as well, stopping a pair of shots on the Point/Rapids power play with 15 minutes to go. Still playing short-handed, Nicole Karl stole a clearing pass in the front of the Red Panthers’ net and smacked in a goal at the 13:29 mark to out Marshfield up 2-0.
Abbey Besler added the Tigers’ final goal, also on the power play, with 3:28 left off assists from Emily Wolfe and Johnson to provide the final margin.
Following a tough 9-1 loss to the first-place Central Wisconsin Storm on Monday, and with only four regular-season games left in the season, it was important for the Tigers to bounce back and start preparing for the postseason.
“Tonight was huge. Monday was a hard game against an ever-so-talented Storm,” Sparbel said. “They’re such a good team. We lost a girl to a concussion in the game and tonight we played with three girls down, which is basically a starting line. It was obviously a huge team effort tonight.”
Marshfield hosts Hudson in a nonconference game Saturday at 5 p.m. before playing its final home game of the regular season Monday against Tomahawk at 7 p.m.
Tigers 3, Red Panthers 0
Point/Rapids 0 0 0 – 0
Marshfield 0 1 2 – 3
Second period: 1. M, Paige Johnson (Abbey Besler, Emily Wolfe), 10:18, power play.
Third period: 2. M, Nicole Karl (unassisted), 13:29, short-handed; 3. M, Besler (Wolfe, Johnson), 3:28, pp.
Saves: P/R, Alex Gallager 7-8-7-22; M, Ashley Bauer 7-6-8-21.
Records: Point/Rapids 11-9-1, 7-5 Great Northern Conference; Marshfield 14-4, 9-3 GNC.