Austin goalie Mara Overby searches for the puck after a scramble at the net during the first period against Northfield Thursday night at Riverside Arena. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Austin senior Carley Grunewald has provided the bulk of the scoring for the Packers so far this season, so it wasn’t a surprise that she had an opportunity to give her team a chance to beat Northfield in Riverside Arena Thursday.

Grunewald connected on two early slap-shots, but her game tying breakaway slap-shot was stopped by Northfield’s Lizzy Shellum on a glove save with 1:06 left in a game that Northfield held on to win by a score of 4-2.

Austin's Karyn Potach tries to get the puck out of the corner during the first period Thursday night against Northfield at Riverside Arena.

“She made a great save,” said Grunewald.

The Packers (1-5 overall) started the third period on a five-on-three powerplay with the game tied at 2-2 and Northfield (3-2 overall) committed two more penalties early in the third. Still, Austin couldn’t seize the momentum as it finished the game 1-for-8 on powerplays.

“We had nobody out front; we got a little cute on our passing, and we couldn’t get the puck to the net. You’ve just got to keep hammering the goalie and fire away,” Austin head coach Denny Bray said. “If we could’ve scored there that would’ve broken them, but instead they got the momentum.”

The Raiders, who went 3-for-8 on powerplays, took the lead for good when Sarah Behr slapped in a one-timer on a powerplay with 6:41 left in the game and Northfield iced the win when Aleisha Bielenberg knocked in a powerplay goal with 44 seconds left in the contest.

Grunewald said the game’s physical nature led to a few more penalties than normal as the teams combined for 16 penalties.

“There was some frustration. They were taking some cheap shots and it was retaliation a lot of the time,” she said.

Austin freshman goalie Mara Overby kept her team in the game by stopping 30 shots. She allowed a goal in the game’s second minute, but bounced back after that.

“I had to stay focused and I tried to cover up the puck and keep them from getting extra shots,” Overby said.

Austin took a 2-1 lead in the second period when Grunewald scored a powerplay goal with 6:44 left in the third and Northfield tied it up at 2-2 when Annie Pumper connected on a slapshot with 2:52 left in the second.

Austin's Kennedy Thompson winds up for a slapshot in the first period against Northfield Thursday night at Riverside Arena.

SCORING SUMMARY

Northfield 1 1 2 — 4

Austin 1 1 0 — 2

First period

(N) Annie Pumper (powerplay) 2:20

(A) Carley Grunewald 3:20

Second period

(A) Grunewald (powerplay) (Justina Talamantes, Chloe Summerfield) 10:16

(N) Pumper (Laine Fischer) 15:08

Third period

(N) Sarah Behr (powerplay) (Fischer) 10:39

(N) Aleisha Bielenberg (powerplay) (Mandie Cloud) 16:16

Shots: Austin — 23; Northfield — 34

Powerplays: Austin — 1-for-8; Northfield — 3-for-8