Owatonna senior Genny Caswell (28) tries to slap the puck away from Lakeville North sophomore Ashley Kloncz (2) on Thursday night at the Four Seasons Centre. Senior Aimee Goodew (10) chases the play. Derek Sullivan/People's Press

OWATONNA — If it looked like Lakeville North had one extra skater on Thursday night, it was because, for the most part, the Panthers did.

North shut out Owatonna 2-0 in nonconference girls hockey action on Thursday night at Four Seasons Centre.

In the loss, Owatonna

(16-5 overall) committed seven penalties. The third one led to North’s first and eventual game-winning goal. The Panthers’ second goal was at even-strength, but came just moments after the Huskies’ killed off their fourth penalty of the night.  

“We were short-handed for most of the second period,” said OHS coach Tim Hunst. “We couldn’t get anything going, and once we did, we found ourselves back on the kill, just trying to kill off penalties. It was a tough stretch.”

The Huskies had only 10 seconds of their own power-play time. North was called for just one penalty, two minutes into the third period. Unfortunately, the penalty came while Owatonna was on the penalty kill, so the Huskies got 1 minute, 50 seconds of four-on-four and 10 seconds of having an extra skater.

Owatonna started strong and led in shots on goal 6-3 after four minutes, but the Huskies struggled to get any strong shots off the rest of the game. The Panthers out-shot the Huskies 34-9 in the final two period.

The loss ends a 10-game winning streak, which tied a school record. The Panthers, ranked No. 12, are the toughest team the Huskies have faced since playing in the Burnsville Holiday Tournament in December.

Owatonna goalie Keshia Reuvers, who finished with 45 saves, said, even after a loss, she loves facing teams like North.  

“I love playing at a fast speed,” Reuvers said. “I love playing great teams. We just need everyone to play at their best and at the level they can.”

The Huskies get only one practice to shake off the loss before traveling to Rochester to face Big Nine power Rochester Mayo at 3 p.m. at Graham Arena. If Owatonna wins that game, it clinches the outright Big Nine title after the Huskies and Spartans shared the crown last year.

“You go home. You reflect on tonight and the things we could have done better,” Hunst said. “We could have won a lot more races. Tomorrow morning when they get up, they have to be moving on. We need to have a solid practice tomorrow and get ready for Saturday’s game, and get back to what we had been doing the last three weeks or so.”