PHM Drops Heartbreaker To Lightning

Jan 19

Kerry Rodd-NSO

A goal with just 18 seconds left in regulation time gave the Grand Rapids/Greenway Lightning a 2-1 win in girls hockey over Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall on Tuesday night as two of the area’s top ladies hockey teams went head-to-head on the ice.

The Lightning were staked to a 1-0 lead in the first period as Molly Illikainen scored at 15:42 with the assists going to Morgan Illikainen and Dana Gallop. However, that would be all the scoring for the next period and a half as Grand Rapids/Greenway managed to cling to the lead behind the strong netminding of goalie Sydney Helbrecht.

With only 2:02 left in regulation time, the Mirage tied the game on a goal by Reilly Fawcett with Niki Mathews and Hannah Buchite picking up the assists. From there, it was “game on” the rest of the way. The Lightning finally got the game winner on a terrific shot by Molly Illikainen as she picked up her second goal of the game with her sister Morgan assisting with just 18 seconds left in the game.

Helbrecht was strong with 27 saves on 28 shots for the Lightning, while Anja Morris made 15 saves on 17 shots for the Mirage.

Kerry Rodd can be reached at Kerry@northlandsportsonline.com