SUPERIOR, Wis. -- Northland ambushed the UW-Superior women's hockey team with three goals in the first period and went on for a 5-3 victory in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament first round game at Wessman Arena on Tuesday.
 
The LumberJills -- who entered the game having scored just 17 goals all season -- tallied first, closed the opening period with a pair of goals in three minutes, 15 seconds and held on to advance to league semifinals for the first time. Northland will meet third-ranked UW-River Falls Friday and Saturday at Hunt Arena. 
 
The victory for the 'Jills (3-22-1), the fifth seed in the WIAC tournament, is their first in 20 all-time games against UWS.
 
Northland senior goaltender Teagen Johnson stopped 65 shots, including 29 in the third period, for the victory, while junior defender Maddy Bloedel scored two goals and an assist to lead the offense. 
 
Bloedel opened the scoring just 5:19 into the game as UWS junior goalie Rose Beeman (Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's School) was slow to react to a rising shot that found space over her right shoulder. The unassisted goal made it 1-0 for the visitors.
 
The Yellowjackets knotted the game 2:22 later when sophomore Darbie Mattson's (Atikokan, Ontario/Atikokan) shot popped up in the air off the blocker of Johnson and over the goal line at 7:41 of the first period. Senior captain C.C. Hayes (Fort Frances, Ontario/Fort Frances) earned the first of her two assists on the night on the goal, Mattson's third of the season.
 
Northland retook the lead at 16:45 of the first as Elle Black won a faceoff back to Eliza DiNatale, whose shot beat Beeman. Kate Holtz doubled the Northland lead with just 6.2 seconds remaining in the period when she slipped the puck underneath Beeman's pads for a 3-1 edge.
 
Sophomore netminder Molly Black (Devils Lake, N.D./Devils Lake) replaced Beeman for the final two periods as Beeman made eight saves in 11 shots.
 
Elle Black scored a power-play goal at 9:08 of the second period, lifting a shot over her sister's left pad for a 4-1 edge on what was the LumberJills' third consecutive power-play opportunity.
 
Northland's Taylor Richmond then took three straight minors of her own -- high sticking at 10:13, tripping at 11:52 and holding at 14:40 -- in the second period. Superior was able to cash in on the second of the penalties when Hayes found Jenna Hoops (Woodbury, Minn./Visitation School) wide open at the back post at 11:19 to cut the deficit to 4-2. Kailey Swerhun (Thunder Bay, Ontario/St. Ignatius) also assisted on Hoops' team-best 10th goal of the season.
 
Bloedel's second goal of the game -- shorthanded at 15:23 -- restored the Jills' three-goal cushion. Her point shot deflected off of a UWS skater in front and past Molly Black (Devils Lake, N.D./Devils Lake) with Laura Hink grabbing the only assist on the play. 
 
Sophomore Brynn MacLean (Wilcox, Saskatchewan/Athol Murray College of Notre Dame) scored at 10:32 of the third to make it 5-3, converting after Veda Roeske (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) slipped a centering pass in front from behind the net. MacLean's third goal came after a scramble and was assisted by Hoops and freshman Ashton Parnell (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti).
 
The Yellowjackets were unable to creep closer in the final half of the period, as Johnson remained solid in net.
 
Molly Black (Devils Lake, N.D./Devils Lake) (3-4-0) made 11 saves and was tagged with the hard-luck loss for UWS, which ended its season at 11-15-0 overall.
 
The Yellowjackets, who scored six power-play goals in their final four games, went 1-for-5 with seven shots with the extra skater Tuesday.