By Nick Gerhardt
Northfield junior Ayla Puppe etched her name atop the record for most career points Thursday in a 4-1 over Albert Lea at Northfield Ice Arena and she’s only going to add to it.
Maren Dvorak set the record of 189 career points in 2009 and Puppe entered the game with 188 career points. Puppe left the game with the record and a four-point night to give her 192 career points.
The Class 2A No. 17-ranked Raiders (15-6, 8-1 Big 9) won their fourth straight game and preserved a shot at the conference title. Owatonna has 30 points in the conference standing while Northfield has 28. Should the Raiders defeat the Huskies in the regular season final they’d share the title.
Raiders junior winger Emerson Garlie got Northfield on the board 8 minutes, 9 seconds into the game with a power-play goal, the first of three on the night for the Raiders. Puppe and ninth-grade defender Mia Miller picked up assists on the goal.
The Class A No. 14-ranked Tigers (12-7-1, 8-3 Big 9) tied the game with a goal from Aryah Hansen with an assist from Emery Nelson at 12:35 of the period to make it 1-1.
Northfield outshot Albert Lea just 10-7 in the first period, but the Raiders took control in the second period after the Tigers got whistled for five penalties.
Puppe scored the first of her two goals at 6:02 of the second period with an assist from Garlie to grab a 2-1 lead. Miller added her second goal in as many games to push the lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal. Northfield outshot Albert Lea 14-0 in the period.
Puppe scored her second goal with 2:40 left in the game for her 39th goal of the season and a 4-1 lead.
The Raiders finished with 34 shots on goal and Northfield sophomore goalie Macy Mueller turned away 10 shots for the win.
The Raiders will face Rochester Mayo Saturday in a four-point game in Rochester.