By Bruce Karnick

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The Raider boys hockey team had one of its biggest games of the year at home. The game that would determine the #2 and #3 seed for the Section 1AA playoffs. Lakeville North Panthers came to town with one mindset, and that was to defeat Hastings and take the #2 seed.

Hastings took the lead at 2:49 into the first period when Collin Stewart found Luke Savage for a goal that looked like it had no chance of going in. Savage was in the far faceoff circle headed to the corner on the left side of the net when he looped one in from about an 80-degree angle to the side of the net. It was a truly unbelievable shot. North tied the game with 14 seconds left in the period.

North then took the lead on a power play that carried over from the end of the first, 50 seconds into the second period. Connor Stoffel tied the game on a pass from Jackson Sweeney. Jake Harris drew the defender out far enough that Sweeney was able to look the defender back before connecting with Stoffel for the goal. North then regained the lead with under two minutes remaining in the second on another power play.

John Chorlton rocketed a shot through traffic to tie the game at three at the 3:23 mark of the third. Logan DeBettignies and Stewart earned the assist. The teams traded goals with Stoffel scoring his second to bring the game even at four. This time Harris was credited with an assist point along with Sweeney.

Up until this point, the referees had been letting the two teams play, ignoring some pretty clear penalties against both teams. This started to get out of hand in the third when a Lakeville player actively threw a punch at Raider keeper Holden Richardson. This act was right in front of all three officials, and it was at the start of the stoppage of play, so there was no excuse for the officials missing it. No penalty was called. With less than a minute to go, Jackson Sweeney was positioned in front of the Lakeville goal by a good ten feet. A North player charged at him and crossed checked him right in the throat, knocking him down for what seemed like an eternity. There were two officials around the play, both looking at it and nothing. The puck was nowhere near the play at the time of the hit and at a minimum, there should have been a 2-minute interference call if not a 5-minute cross checking call. The lack of a penalty call meant a lack of stoppage of play. Sweeney was so shaken by the hit that he was unable to get back on defense in time and Lakeville scored with eight seconds left in the game.

After the game, Head Coach Matt Klein addressed the penalties or lack thereof, “I think you have to play with the structure of the game, but you also have to have an understanding of how the game has been called. I really enjoyed how our kids played. Penalties are always a part of hockey. You know, if even if you’re playing at your, your highest level, penalties will always be within and without what you’re doing. That’s something we can’t control, but we just asked our kids to be aggressive, to be efficient. Sometimes that turns into different physicality, but I think every game has a different flavor and that depends on the officiating and what is being addressed. You know, as long as it’s consistent, we’re going to play our best with them.”

Hastings fell 5-4 to the Panthers and that dropped them to the third seed. In the grand scheme of things, does it hurt their chances to progressing to state? Most likely not, but it still stings to lose a game that you had a great chance to win.

Klein spoke on what they learned in the Lakeville game, “We learned we can skate with a really good skating team like North. We gave up, I’d say three goals that we can really focus on in practice. It’s just positioning and focus on everywhere else because they are a good hockey team. They’re going to create good chances, but I was pleased to see how many chances we created on the other end against a good skating hockey team.”

After the tough loss, what did the Raiders do? Took their frustrations out on an unsuspecting Dodge County team by blowing the roof of their arena. The Raiders won that 9-0.

Once they had the game securely in hand, Klein took the opportunity to apply some of the skills and plays they had been practicing since the Lakeville game to drive the point home further before sections.

“We tried to go 1-0 at Dodge County, which we did and today [Sunday] we are actually going to enjoy our end of the season banquet with our Varsity and JV together at Whirly Ball. We’re going to get some whirly ball, bowling and laser tag in and it’s just kind of a good prelude to appreciate what has happened and to be excited about where we are going,” added Klein.

With the regular season over, the Raiders are officially the #3 seed. That means they will host #6 Owatonna on Feb 24 at 7 p.m. for the final home game of the year. Going forward, the remainder of the games will be held at neutral sites in the section. A win Thursday means there is a good chance to get revenge on Lakeville North, unless #7 seeded Rochester Century upsets #2 Lakeville North the same night. If the Raiders win, they will head to Rochester to play at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the Rochester Rec Center. A win there puts Hastings in the Section Championship game on Mar. 3, 7 p.m., also at the Rochester Rec Center.

Senior Captain John Chorlton launched a rocket at the goal that found its way through traffic to score. Photo by Bruce Karnick