Putting the puck in the net is not a problem for the Waupaca Area girls’ hockey team.
Giving up goals? Well, that’s another story.
Waupaca Area dropped an 8-3 Great Northern Conference decision Jan. 20 to Stevens Point/Wisconsin Rapids. It was the third straight loss for Waupaca Area, which also dropped nonconference games to Bay Area and the Fox Cities Stars and were outscored 23-7 in the three games. The team also skated to a 6-6 tie with Northern Edge.
Point/Rapids 8, Waupaca Area 3
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – A 4-1 deficit heading into the second period was too much for Waupaca Area to overcome.
Macy Carlson scored for Waupaca Area in the first period to cut the Red Panthers’ lead to 2-1, with Brianne Huettner and Katarina Otter getting credit for the assist.
Mandy Tomlinson found the net 1:45 into the second period off of an assist from Carlson that cut the lead to 4-2. That was as close as Waupaca Area would get, as the Red Panthers scored three unanswered goals in the period and added one more in the third to take an 8-2 lead.
Tomlinson scored an unassisted goal with 5:35 remaining in the game.
Cassie Rasmussen stopped 23 of the Red Panthers’ 31 shots on goal, while Waupaca Area finished with 21 shots.
Bay Area 7, Waupaca Area 1
WAUPACA – The Ice Bears, a co-op team based in Green Bay and the top-ranked girls’ squad in the state according to wisconsinprephockey.net, scored two goals in the first and third periods and three in the second Jan. 17. Waupaca Area’s goal came in the second period.
Fox Cities Stars 8, Waupaca 3
WAUPACA – The Stars, another state-ranked team, outscored Waupaca area 4-0 in the first period Jan. 16.
Tomlinson put Waupaca Area on the board with 1:04 to go in the second period off of an assist from Makenzie Phillips.
Tomlinson added an unassisted goal six seconds into the third period and assisted on Huettner’s goal with 12:32 remaining.
The Stars outshot Waupaca Area 44-20.
Waupaca 6, Northern Edge 6
ANTIGO – The teams combined for a dozen goals Jan. 13 in a GNC contest in Antigo.
Waupaca Area took a 2-0 lead into the second period on goals from Tomlinson and Huettner, who accounted for all six of their team’s scores.
Northern Edge cut the lead to 2-1 15 seconds into the second period on a Lindsey Steger goal, but Tomlinson scored off of an assist from Huettner and Tina Rasmussen to make it 3-1.
Northern Edge tied the game later in the period on goals form Lauren Smith and Katie Detert, but Tomlinson completed her hat trick off of an assist from Huettner.
Smith and Detert scored to give Northern Edge its first lead at 5-4, but Tomlinson tied the game at 5-5 with a goal with 1:26 to go in the period.
Detert earned her hat trick with a goal 35 seconds into the final period, but Huettner tied the game with 9:38 to go off of an assist from Otter.
Cassie Rasmussen stopped 28 of Northern Edge’s 34 shots on goal, while Northern Edge goalie Shea Petersen stopped 23 of 29 shots.
Waupaca Area will play a rescheduled conference game in Tomahawk at 7 tonight (Thursday, Jan. 23) before opening a three-game home stand at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, against Medford.