Girls Hockey

     The season came to end for the Northern Lakes Lightning Tuesday night in the semifinal round of the Section Tournament. The top-seeded St. Cloud Crush tossed a 6-0 shutout at the Lightning to end their season at 11-12-2.  Reese Ruska, the leading scorer for the Crush, gave her team a 1-0 lead in the first, her 21st goal of the season. Three goals in the second made it a 4-0 lead for the Crush. Liz Bell scored her 12th of the season, Ruska scored her 22nd and Reeghan Stevens scored her 15th of the year to make it 4-0 into the third period. Stevens scored another goal in the third and Josie Longnecker scored her 6th of the season to end the scoring. Rebecca Deemer was in goal for the Lightning and stopped 24 of 30 shots while the Lightning posted 20 shots on goal.

Lightning   0 0 0 0

Crush         1  3 2 6

      The Northern Lakes Lightning girls will take on the St. Cloud Crush Tuesday in the Semifinal round of the Section 6A hockey tournament. The Lightning, the #4 seed have a record of 11-11-2 and the #1 seed Crush come in with a record of 16-9. The Lightning score at a pace of 3.48 goals per game and the Crush are at 3.12 per game. The Crush give up just 2.48 goals per game while the Lightning give up 3.22 per contest. Jordan Bovy is one of the top goaltenders around with a record of 13-7 but her goals against average is one of the best at just 1.74 goals per game. Lightning Rebecca Deemer has had a good year as well. Her record is 6-8 with a goals against of 3.25 per game. The two teams have several common opponents. The Lightning are 3-4 against those teams while the Crush is 4-3. Both teams beat Detroit Lakes during the season. The Crush beat Willmar and the Lightning lost to the Cardinals 2-1. The Crush was 1-1 with Fergus Falls who is in the other semifinal against Sartell, while the Lightning lost 5-0 to the Otters. The Crush beat River Lakes while the Lightning lost in overtime. Here's a look at the top five scorers for both teams.

Lightning

Kambria Thompson-17 goals 11 assists-28 points

Natalie Stueven-9 goals 16 assists-27 points

Savannah John-10 goals 7 assists-17 points

Lila Nordby-5 goals 9 assists-14 points

Rayna Hopia-4 goals 9 assists-13 points

Lilly Logelin-7 goals 6 assists-13 points

Brielle Spaeth-4 goals 9 assists-13 points

Avery Lonergan-3 goals 10 assists-13 points

Crush

(21)  Reese Ruska-20 goals 19 assists-39 points

(20) Reeghan Stevens-14 goals 13 assists-27 points

(32) Liz Bell-11 goals 15 assists-26 points

(3)  Sheridan Stockman-8 goals 8 assists-16 points

(22) Jayden Layne-8 goals 7 assists-15 points

         The winners this week will play for the Section Championship in Alexandria Thursday and a berth in the State Girls Hockey Tournament Feb.18-21 at Grand Casino Arena.

       The Northern Lakes Lightning opened the Section 6A playoffs with a blowout 14-1 win over visiting Prairie Centre. The win moves the Lightning into the semifinals Tuesday against the St. Cloud Crush.

      The Lightning opened the scoring at 1:50 of the first as Mya Reuper scored her 5th goal of the season with Savannah John getting the assist. Kambria Thompson made it 2-0 at 4:39 with her 16th goal of the year with Rayna Hopia getting the assist. Thompson scored again at 12:16 from Lilly Logelin to make the score 3-0. Lila Nordby kept the scoring going with her 6th of the year at 13:37 from Avery Lonergan and Thompson and after a PC goal Savannah John scored her 10th of the year from Brielle Spaeth and Shaylee Swenson. Karly Haff ended the first period onslaught with a goal at 16:56 from Natalie Stueven making the score 6-1. It was her 2nd goal of the year.

     Five more goals in the second period put the game away for the Lightning. Averie Dill scored at 3:08 assisted by Kindle Thompson, Eva Anderson scored at 5:55 assisted by Haff, Logelin scored her 11th of the season from Kambria Thompson, Stueven scored her 9th goal from Thompson, and John scored from Lonergan to make it 11-1 into the third period. Jenna Udean scored her 2nd of the season from Thompson, Anya Vertnik tallied her 4th of the year from Dana Balmer and Spaeth ended the scoring with her 6th goal with Haff getting the assist.

      Rebecca Deemer stopped 10 shots in the win while the Lightning fired 50 shots on goal.

Blue Devils      1 0 0   1

Lightning        6 5 3 14

       The Section 6A girls' hockey tournament starts Thursday and one of the Northern Lakes Lightning seniors is Captain Natalie Stueven. She has had a great season, and she looks forward to the Section with high hopes of helping lead her Lightning teammates to the State Tournament, "The best I could hope for in the next couple weeks is making it to the State Tournament with my teammates." She is a Captain of this year's team, and she takes that responsibility very seriously, "I am a captain of the varsity team, someone that players can look up to and come to with questions or problems." This has been a year of change for Natalie and the Lightning, and she feels that was a good thing, "We started with an all-new coaching staff, and I really do think that is what changed us as a program. We ended the season near the .500 mark, 10-11-2 and that makes me excited for the post-season." Natalie also hit a milestone for her career this season, recording her 75th career point, "That was very important for me, and I have to thank my teammates for helping me reach that number." The Lightning will open the Section at home Thursday against Prairie Centre, a team they have beaten twice this season, 13-0 and 5-0 with goalies Rebecca Deemer and Kayla Landt both recording shutouts. In those two games Natalie recorded a goal and two assists so she will be in the thick of the action when the Blue Devils come to town. A win in the opener will put them into the semi-finals on February 10th against the top seed St. Cloud Crush who come into the Section playoffs with a record of 16-9. Currently the Lightning are led in goals by Kambria Thompson followed by Lilly Logelin, Savannah John, Natalie and Dana Balmer. Fourteen different players have lit the lamp for the girls this winter and anyone of those players can rip the net if they have the chance. Natalie has been the consummate captain of this Lightning team; she produces on the ice and takes care of business off the ice. Don't look for anything to change now, First-year Coach Angus Laing talked about his senior captain, "She is a captain for a reason, she has expectations for herself and her teammates. She holds herself accountable and expects her teammates to do the same. Our team wants and needs her leadership, and she has done a great job. We are so very proud of the job she has done. She, as a defenseman knows that our offense comes from the back line, and she sees the ice so well. She, as well as all our defensemen love to get things going from the back. Natalie wants to help get our team to where we want to go and she has the determination to do just that. She commands the ice when she is out there and that's a great quality to have. Leadership and determination=Natalie Stueven." 
      Gametime Thursday is 6:00 at the Breezy Point Ice Arena.

      The Northern Lakes Lightning finished the regular season Friday with an 8-1 win at Walker over International Falls. Four goals in the second period gave the Lightning a 6-0 lead and the goaltenders did the rest as Northern Lakes finishes 10-11-2 on the season. Brielle Spaeth gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 15:47 of the first, her 5th goal of the season from Savannah John. It was 2-0 at 6:13 as Dana Balmer scored her 8th of the year with Anya Vertnik getting the assist. Avery Lonergan got the Lightning going in the second with her 4th goal of the year unassisted at 11:17. After a Bronco goal Balmer scored again, this time from Vertnik and Lonergan. Rayna Hopia scored her 5th of the year from Lilly Logelin and Kambria Thompson to make it 5-0 and John scored from Lonergan at :09 to up it to 6-0 after two periods. Logelin scored both Lightning goals in the third, first from Thompson and Natalie Stueven, then her 10th of the year from John and Karlene Haff. Rebecca Deemer and Myra Nordby shared goalie duties for the night.

I. Falls         0  1 0 1

Lightning   2 4 2 8

       The Lightning JV also picked up a win, 6-0 over the Broncos. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead after one on a goal from Shaylee Swenson with Kapri Thompson getting the assist. Five goals in the second put the game away. Averie Dill scored from Swenson and Lila John, John scored from Gwenna Wannebo, Swenson scored from Dill, Kindle Thompson scored from Cassondra Smythe and John and Jenna Udean scored short -handed for the final goal. Myra Nordby and Kayla Landt shared goaltending duties.

I. Falls         0 0 0 0

Lightning   1  5 0 6

      The Duluth Northern Stars shutout the Lightning Thursday 5-0. Rebecca Deemer stopped 48 of 53 shots for the Lightning. Shots on goal were 53-9 for the game. Coach Angus Laing after the loss, "This was a great prep game for the playoffs, we spent a lot of time in our own zone."

     The Lightning JV lost 5-1. Myra Nordby was in goal and stopped 23 of 28 shots while the Lightning posted just 17 shots on goal. The only Lightning goal came from Lila John with Gwenna Wannebo getting the assist.

      The Northern Lakes Lightning picked up a big win Tuesday night as they beat Mosse Lake-Willow River at the Hallett Center 4-2. The win gives the Lightning a record of 9-10-2 heading into the matchup Thursday against the Duluth Northern Stars. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead after one as Lila Nordby scored her 5th goal of the season from Natalie Stueven. The Rebels scored twice in the second, but the Lightning sent the game to the final period tied 2-2 on a goal by Lilly Logelin, her 7th of the season assisted by Anya Vertnik. The Lightning scored a pair of goals in the final period to win it. First, Jenna Udean scored unassisted and then Logelin hit the empty net to ice the game. Rebecca Deemer was in goal for the Lightning and had 23 saves.

Rebels      0 2 0 2

Lightning  1  1 2 4

       The Lightning JV lost a 3-1 decision to MLWR. Savannah John had the only goal for Northern Lakes assisted by Brielle Spaeth. Myra Nordby was in goal and had 19 saves.

     The Northern Lakes Lightning lost a heartbreaker in overtime Tuesday on the road at River Lakes 5-4. Adelie Greeley scored at 2:15 of the extra session to ruin a nice three goal comeback by the Lightning in the third period. Lilly Logelin opened the scoring at 12:15 of the first with Kambria Thompson getting the assist. Bria Larson and Abby Storms each scored a short-handed goal in the second to give River Lakes a 2-1 lead heading to the third period. Logelin tied the game at 2-2 with her 6th goal of the year at the 2:32 mark of the period but Alaina Akerson scored at 3:26 to give the lead back to the Stars. Natalie Stueven scored her 8th goal of the season two minutes later to tie things at 3-3 from Avery Lonergan and three minutes later it was Savannah John giving the Lightning the lead with her 8th goal of the year from Stueven and Dana Balmer. That lead lasted until the 12:45 mark when Makayla Schreiber-Horn tied it at 4-4. That set the stage for Greeley's goal to win it in the overtime period. Kayla Landt took the tough loss in goal, stopping 28 shots while the Lightning had 20 shots on goal.

Lightning   1 0 0 3 0 4

Stars           0 2 2 0 1 5

     The Lightning JV lost to the Stars 5-1. Savannah John had the only goal for Northern Lakes assisted by Brielle Spaeth. Myra Nordby was on goal and stopped 19 shots.

      The Northern Lakes Lightning girls celebrated "Senior Night" with a 6-2 win over Litchfield-Dassel-Cokato Thursday night. The win gives the Lightning a record of 8-9-1 on the season. Both teams scored a pair of goals in the first period. Kambria Thompson scored her 10th goal of the season with Natalie Stueven getting the assist and Lila Nordby scored her 2nd goal of the year from Rayna Hopia and Thompson, and it was 2-2 after one period. The rest of the game belonged to the Lightning as they struck for three goals in the second. Savannah John scored her 7th of the year from Nordby, Myah Reuper got her 5th from Brielle Spaeth and Avery Lonergan, and Spaeth scored her 3rd from Nordby and Stueven and it was 5-2 after two periods. Spaeth scored the only goal of the third with Lonergan and John getting the assists. Rebecca Deemer was in goal and had 20 saves for the game.

Dragons     2 0 0 2

Lightning    2 3 1  6

      The Lightning JV lost 3-0 with Myra Nordby stopping 8 shots.

      The Lightning girls were shutout at Chisago Lakes Tuesday night 6-0. Rebecca Deemer stopped 42 of 48 shots while the Lightning managed just 12 shots on goal in the loss.
Lightning  0 0 0 0
C. Lakes    1  3 2 6

      The Hibbing Bluejackets scored with just five seconds left Friday night to tie the game with Northern Lakes and send the game into overtime. Neither team scored in the extra session and settled for a 1-1 tie. Kambria Thompson scored in the second period, her 10th of the season, from Rayna Hopia to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead and they held it until the final seconds. Rebecca Deemer was in goal for the Lightning and stopped 25 of 26 shots.

Hibbing     0 0 1 0 1

Lightning  0 1 0 0 1

      The Lightning JV won 1-0 with Myra Nordby stopping 19 shots and Gwenna Wannebo scoring the only goal of the game

    The Northern Lakes Lightning scored twice in the second and three more in the third Tuesday night as they shutout the Prairie Centre Blue-Devils 5-0. After a scoreless first period the Lightning got the scoring going with a goal from Natalie Stueven, her 7th of the season with Kindle Thompson and Lilly Logelin getting the assists. That goal came at the 9:41 mark and the Lightning weren't finished. Logelin picked up her 4th of the year from Savannah John at 11:16 for a 2-0 lead. Rayna Hopia opened up the third period scoring with her 4th goal of the season with Kambria Thompson getting the assist at 4:22. Lila Nordby made it 4-0 at 7:56 with a goal from Avery Lonergan. John completed the scoring at 16:56 with her 6th of the year with Lonergan getting the assist. Kayla Landt stopped all 12 shots she faced to pick up the win in goal while the Lightning fired 49 shots on Blue-Devils goaltender Izzy Lee.

Lightning      0 2 3 5

Blue-Devils  0 0 0 0

      The Lightning JV also won as they also shutout the Blue-Devils, 3-0. Myra Nordby stopped all 6 shots she faced to pick up the win in goal.