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By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – When in doubt, turn to your top scorer to get the job done.
Senior Paige Johnson slapped home a shot from just inside the blue line with 2:16 remaining to lift the Marshfield girls hockey team to a 1-0 win over Northern Edge on Monday at the Marshfield Youth Ice Recreation Center.
The game’s only goal came seconds after the Tigers used a timeout.
“My speech was the same one I said to them down in Black River Falls earlier in the year, I said, ‘If you don’t want to play another 8 minutes, let’s score a goal this period,’ and it worked,” Marshfield coach Don Larson said. “There isn’t another person that shoots the puck like she (Johnson) does in the conference.”
Marshfield goalie Alexis Straughan saved four shots as the Tigers stopped a two-minute power play from 5:41 to 3:41 left in the third period.
That opportunity was Northern Edge’s best scoring chance in the final period.
Johnson scored 1:25 after the Tigers went full strength and Northern Edge couldn’t get one close to the net the rest of the way. The goal was Johnson’s conference-leading 13th of the season.
The win pushes Marshfield into sole possession of first place in the Great Northern Conference at 9-1-1 (12-6-1 overall), one-half game ahead of idle Northland Pines (8-1-1). Marshfield plays at Waupaca on Friday, while Pines has games at home against Tomahawk on Friday and at Lakeland on Saturday.
“We’ve only got the one loss, to Northland Pines, and we went up there without Nell Eichten, who is a big part of our offense,” Larson said. “We came out a little bit flat and they outplayed us physically and we lost that game. The rest of teams in the conference – Point/Rapids, Northern Edge, they’re good teams. It’s a good conference and we’re happy to walk out of their with a win any time we can get one.”
Tigers 1, Edge 0
Northern Edge 0 0 0 – 0
Marshfield 0 0 1 – 1
Third period: 1. M, Paige Johnson (Morgan Larson), 14:44.
Saves: NE, Sophie Schmidt 16; M, Alexis Straughan 22.
Records: Northern Edge 10-6-1, 7-3-1 Great Northern Conference; Marshfield 12-6-1, 9-1-1 GNC.