By Bruce Karnick

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With the strange sports seasons experienced by the Raiders due to COVID, it should come as no surprise that the strangeness is going to continue. Raider Boys Hockey fans know that Holy Family is not a team the Raiders would ever normally see, yet on Thursday, January 21st, they made the trip to Victoria to take on the Fire.

As the game started, the teams were getting a feel for each other early on. With 10:35 left in the first, Holy Family scored first on an even strength goal by Ben Reddan.

The second period is where the scoreboard saw the most action. Holy family would score 1:40 into the second increasing their lead to 2-0. 2:32 later, at the 12:48 mark, Jax Schauer would score the raiders first goal with assists by Johnathon Peine and Kyle Bauer.

With 8:50 left in the second, Hastings would score again, this time off the stick of Stephen Reifenberger with the assist going to Joe Benson.

At 5:35 left in the second, Jake Harris would find the back of the net off a Jager Kenall pass, giving Hastings the 3-2 lead. Holy Family stormed right back and scored 35 seconds later to make it 3-3 heading into the third period.

The third period would be nearly half over when Kyle Bauer would knock one in after a pass from Jonathon Peine giving the Raiders the lead once again. Hastings would hold on to that lead until Ben Reddan would score his second goal of the night to tie it up at four.

The Raiders would see their first extended action of the season, but with 4:35 left in overtime, Holy Family’s Marc Lund would end it on an even strength goal.

There were only two penalties in the game, both in the first period and both to Hastings. Stephen Reifenberger would sit for Roughing and John Chorlton for Cross-Checking.

In the net, Tyler McCarvill for Hastings faced 44 shots, stopping 39 for a .886 save percentage, Holy Family’s Jack Olson stopped 28 of 32 for an .875 save percentage.

Saturday was the game fans and players alike were looking forward too, St. Thomas Academy 2.0.

Early on, it was clear the boys were fired up, ready to go. The first period of play did not disappoint. Both teams were flying all over the place, trading shots, trading checks, and having fun. “It’s what we wanted. Play fast with them, get some chances and play good D zone,” Head Coach Adam Welch said after the first period.

The boys came out flying in the second period, mimicking the first, but it was a pace they could not maintain. Halfway through the second, St. Thomas started to control the neutral zone a little more, keeping the puck on the Raiders side of center significantly more and at 7:48 left in the second, they scored the first goal of the game. Tommy Cronin of STA made it 1-0 Cadets. 40 seconds later, Cronin found the back of the net a second time and made it 2-0.

As the third period began, St. Thomas continued the aggressive play from of their first line the first game and Cronin nabbed the hat trick 44 second into the third. 3-0 Cadets. With 12:17 left in the game, Jackson Hallum made it 4-0 Cadets on the first Raider penalty of the game, Stephen Reifenberger sat for two for Roughing.

That is where the game would end, 4-0 Cadets.

Tyler McCarville would stop 28 of 32 for .875 save percentage for the Raiders, Carsten Lardy earn the shut out stopping 16 shots for the Cadets.

The next chance to catch the Raider Boys in action is Thursday, January 28th, at New Prague, 7:15 p.m. Then Thursday, February 4th, at Simley, 7:00 p.m.

The Raider boys lined up for the rematch against St. Thomas Academy on Saturday at St. Thomas. Hastings lost the second meeting, 4-0. Photo by Bruce Karnick