Badger Lightning Goes 2-0 In Weekend Trip To The Northwoods

The Badger Lightning Girls' High School Hockey traveled to the northwoods on Friday and Saturday to play the Northland Pines Eagles at the historic Eagle River Ice Arena and the Medford Raiders at Simek Recreational Center. The team went 2-0 to improve their record to 3-4-1 on the season. On Friday in Eagle River at the historic ice arena, the Badger Lightning came away with 3-1 victory against the Eagles. The game's first period was a tight battle with the score being 0-0 by the end of it. The second period provided more scoring for the Lightning as sophomore Cassidy Putz opened the scoring at 7:12 in the second, with an assist from Haydee Meyer. This goal was Putz' first career varsity goal. Not long after, the Eagles knotted things up at 1-1 with a goal by Lilly Tomlanovich, assisted by Bella Nowak. With only 38 seconds left in the second period, Cassidy Putz again finds the back of the net, pounding home a rebound from Kate Brandt's shot for her second goal of the night, proving to be the eventual game winning goal. The third period featured a tight hockey game with score remaining 2-1 until there was 30 seconds left to play when senior Elizabeth Haag knocked in the team's third goal on a powerplay, with assists by Cassidy Putz and Lily Freeman. Not only was this the Lightning's first win since beating Janesville on Dec. 4th, but it marked a significant accomplishment for junior goalie, Olivia Renneberg, where she earned her 1,000th career save. She achieved this feat in 41 games played. Renneberg joins Natalie Buss, Gabby Christensen, Alyssa Gada and Jamie Dutton as the only goaltenders since 2011-2012 to surpass 1,000 career saves. The team stayed overnight to play Medford at Simek Recreational Center on Saturday. The Lightning scored a season high seven goals in a 7-1 victory over the hosting Meford Raiders. Junior Jenna Garbacz got the scoring going right away in the first period at 14:55, this was Garbacz's first career varsity goal, she was assisted by Kate Brandt and Dayana Wade. Exactly seven minutes later at 7:55, freshman Martha Weiss knocked in the second goal of the game, her first career varsity goal as well, with assists by Lydia Falde and Kate Brandt. Not long after, Jenna Garbacz put her second of the night away with assists by Lily Freeman and Kate Brandt. On that goal, sophomore Kate Brandt earned her first career playmaker. Senior Paige Othmer scored her first goal of the season with four minutes left in the second period, with assists by Ashlynn Ballweg and Eliana Graham. This capped the scoring in the first at 4-0 Badger Lightning. The second period started off with the Badger Lightning on the power play. Great puck movement by the Lightning allowed senior Lily Freeman to net the teams fifth goal of the night on a shot from Jenna Garbacz. After 10 minutes of scoreless hockey, Medford broke the shutout with a goal by Alessia Selamin on an assist by Lilyana Kujawa. The Lightning answered back soon after on a goal by sophomore Haydee Meyer with assists by Kjersten Hagen and Cassidy Putz. With 55 seconds left in the second period, Martha Weiss stuffed in her second goal of the game with assists by Kate Brandt and Dayana Wade. This ended the second period scoring with the score being 7-1. That score proved to be all the scoring in the game, as the game ended at 7-1. The Lightning enjoyed a weekend up north, milestones were accomplished and first goals were awarded. The Lightinng head on the road again for their next game. They look to even their record as they will be in Stevens Point on Tuesday, January 6th to play Wisconsin Valley Union. JV plays at 5:00pm with varsity puck drop at 7:00pm.