MLWR Drops Nailbitter

Tyler Peterson-NSO

Photos By: Dan Lingle

The Moose Lake-Willow River area girls hockey team fell to International Falls on Saturday in a 5-4 nail-bitter, as Jessica Bird scored the hat trick including two short handed goals, and Cheyanne Wilson also added a short handed goal.

International Falls got out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, starting with Lexi Edwards scored just 16 seconds into the game. Just 2 minutes later, Clara Palm hit the back of the net and at the 7:48 mark, Kylie Skallman scored to make it 3-0. MLWR would respond, when Jessica Bird scored at the 11:30 mark.

The Broncos scored their 4th goal of the period when Amber Tilander scored at the 13 minute mark, making it 4-1. The Rebels chipped away before the end of the period when Bird scored short handed to make it 4-2 at the end of the 1st.

International Falls would make it 5-2 in the 2nd period when Abby Auran scored, but in the 3rd period, the Rebels responded. First with Bird scoring her third goal of the game at the 14 minute mark and then Cheyanne Wilson scored just a bit over a minute left, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Rebels fell 5-4.

MLWR’s Maddy Gamst blocked 18 shots on the night and International Falls Kayla McConnell also stopped 18 shots in the win.

MLWR falls to 14-8-1 on the season and will look to bounce back on January 29th when they host Grantsburg.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com