By Derek Simon

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The Hastings Girls Hockey Team had a difficult stretch to start the season and it would have been easy for the Raiders to sulk and give up on the season. Instead, the girls battled back, winning six of their last seven games. The win streak got the team back to a .500 record on the season at 6-6 overall. This past week Hastings played the #7 ranked team in Class A in South St. Paul. They also played a rematch with Hopkins/St. Louis Park, and they played Delano/ Rockford.

The first period of the game at South St. Paul started out a little slow as both teams were getting their feet under them and feeling out their opponents. After one period, there was no score. The Packers outshot the Raiders 11-6 in the period although the puck possession was fairly even.

The second period was more wide open with many more quality scoring chances for both teams. Lauren Skov had two-point blank chances in the second period, but both were turned away by the Packers. The second period also did not produce a goal and the game remained scoreless after two periods. The Packers held a 13-10 shot advantage in period two.

The third period started with South St. Paul tilting the ice and controlling the play. The Packers seemingly never left the Raiders zone over the first ten minutes of the period. All the Raiders could do was to get the puck out of the zone and change lines. Even though the Packers were pressing for the first goal of the game, Hastings defense and goaltender Lauren Dubej were on top of their game. The defense often had good positioning not allowing for great scoring chances. They used their sticks well not allowing Packers passes to find their target. When the defense did allow a good opportunity for South St. Paul, Dubej was there to make the save. The second half of the period would be more even, but again no one could score, and the game was scoreless heading into overtime. The Packers held a 17-10 advantage in shots.

The Raiders got their first power play of the game with 25 seconds left in the third period. Hastings would get three shots off during the Power Play in overtime but could not get the puck in the net. With 3:17 remaining in the overtime period, the Packers entered the zone one on four and it looked like the Raiders would turn the chance away easily. The shot came from out front a few steps inside the blueline. The puck appeared to get tipped by a stick and lose momentum. The puck then fluttered end over end into the net over Dubej’s shoulder as she was expecting the shot to be low. The quirky goal allowed the Packers to escape with a 1-0 overtime win. The Hastings girls played their hearts out and to lose on a fluke play was disappointing. South St. Paul outshot Hastings 45 to 29 for the game. Dubej had an amazing game with 44 saves.

The Raiders did not have much time to let the tough loss sink in, as they travelled to St. Louis Park two nights later. Hastings won the previous meeting 3-1 on February 19th in Hastings.

Hopkins/St. Louis Park and Hastings apparently do not like each other, at least in girl’s hockey. It was another feisty game with several roughing penalties on each side. The Raiders fell behind by two goals in the first period. Hopkins/St. Louis Park would hold a 14-10 advantage in shots.

The second period, the Raiders controlled play as Hastings generated more chances and shots. Even with a 15-5 advantage in shots for the period, the Raiders could not get a goal. The Raiders now had not scored a goal in five periods and needed to dig deep in the 3rd period.

The third period saw both teams get good looks at the net. The Raiders went 0-4 on the Power Play in the game, while their opponents would go 1-4. That power play was a huge goal in the third period to give Hopkin/ St. Louis Park a 3-0 lead. Hastings did not go away quietly as Lexi Ramsbacher scored twice late in the period. The first goal at 12:46 of the period was assisted by Jaida Hanson and Kaitlin Petrich. Ramsbacher’s second marker at 14:15 was assisted by Hanson. The Raiders now had fought their way back to a one goal deficit with less than three minutes to play. Hastings would continue to pressure but were unable to get another goal. In the final minute with Dubej on the bench for an extra skater, the Raiders gave up the empty net goal. Hastings outshot Hopkins/ St. Louis Park 42-29 in the game but lost 4-2.

Two days later the Raiders hosted Delano/Rockford in another non-conference tilt. The Raiders were originally going to play New Prague, but that game was cancelled and replaced. The game was the Raiders last non-conference game of the season, and with three big conference games upcoming, the Raiders would turn to Nicole Vander Heyden in net.

Delano and Hastings started out slowly as both teams failed to create much offense in the first period. At 10:49 of the first period, Delano would score the first goal of the game. The goal was one of their four shots in the period. The Raiders were unable to put on in the net. Despite a 7-4 shots advantage, the Raiders trailed 1-0.

The second period started out with a bang as Delano/Rockford would score just 17 seconds into the period. The Raiders again did a great job limiting shots in the period, but again could not create a lot on offense. The shots were even in the period 7-7, but the Raiders trailed 2-0 heading to the third period.

In the third period, the ice started to tilt in Hastings direction, but a combination of puck luck, the Raiders grasping their sticks too hard, and good defense Hastings could not get a goal. The Raiders held a large 10-2 advantage in shots in the 3rd period. Delano/Rockford wins the game 2-0 despite being outshot 24-13. Vander Heyden made 11 saves in the game for Hastings.

Hastings now has their final three regular season games, all conference affairs. These games will determine where the Raiders will finish in the conference standings. Hastings is currently tied with Mahtomedi for fourth place just a game behind Simley. Hastings will host Sibley/ St. Paul on Wednesday March 10th, travel to Simley on Friday March 12th, and host Tartan North St. Paul to round out the season on Saturday the 13th of March.

Hastings goalie Lauren Dubej is the main reason the Raiders were able to keep it close with the Packers. Stopping 44 of 45 shots, she helped push the game into overtime. There were a number of times Dubej stopped point blank rebounds and was phenominal in net. Photo by Bruce Karnick