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The Raider boys (12-7-1) have faced some tough competition as of late and in the last 10 games, they have come out on top in half. That 10-game stretch included losses against some of the toughest teams in the area, Mahtomedi, St. Thomas Academy and Lakeville North. In just those three games, they were outscored 19-4, but in their wins, they showed a lot of grit. Winning close games against good teams like Tartan, Owatonna, and Farmington, and earning solid victories against teams like Simley and Two Rivers.

The boys are entering the last portion of the schedule and they have some tough games ahead against Park of Cottage Grove and East Ridge plus rematches with Mahtomedi, South St. Paul and Tartan. If they hope to make any kind of run in those five games and into the state tournament, one thing is certain: They will need to play smart hockey and stay out of the penalty box as they have had multiple games with double digit minutes of being shorthanded.

On Jan. 31, the boys travelled to Lakeville North (812), the Raiders jumped out to an early lead. Mark De-Noyer kicked off the scoring at 4:30 in the first when Connor Zgoda and Austin Shanks set him up for the first goal of the game. North went to the penalty box at 14:20 and at 15:11, and Hastings capitalized on the mistake. Eddie Peine and Blake Vandehoef set up Brody Larsen for the goal and Hastings took a surprising 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

That woke a sleeping giant, and North came out swinging, scoring five straight to win the game 5-2. Hastings had a total of 16 shots on goal to Lakeville’s 24. Kody Niederkorn stopped 19 of 24 for a .792 save percentage. Hastings went to the box eight times for 16 minutes and North went four times for eight minutes. Both teams scored once on the powerplay.

Against Mounds View (810), the Raiders got behind early and could not make up ground in the first two periods. Mounds Views scored their third goal at 1:26 in the third period thanks to another Raider five-minute major penalty. With the 3-0 lead and a man advantage, Larsen intercepted a pass in neutral ice and took off on a breakaway, scoring the first Raider goal at 2:20 of the third. Not a lot transpired in the next 10 or so minutes until Hastings pulled Niederkorn with about three minutes remaining to give themselves an extra skater.

Hastings went empty net with about three minutes left and for a solid minute and a half, the boys kept the puck in the Mustang’s end, until, with 1:10 left in the game, Peine fired from the point, scoring the Raiders’ second goal of the game. This brought the Raiders to within one. Hastings won the faceoff and Niederkorn was once again racing to the bench. Hastings was doing a great job keeping the puck in the Mustangs’ end, and they had a few really good scoring opportunities to tie the game. With 20 seconds left on the clock, a Mustang player took control of the puck and launched it toward the empty net. The score officially happened at 16:42 and those two seconds felt like an eternity with Raiders of all ages waiting, hoping the puck would go wide. It did not, and the Raiders fell 4-2 Mounds View had 32 shots on goal to Hastings’ 19. Of those 32, Neiderkorn stopped 28 of 31 for a .895 save percentage. Hastings once again had double digit penalty minutes, serving four penalties for 11 minutes while Mounds View went to the box twice for four minutes. Only one of Mounds View’s goals was a powerplay goal.

Mahtomedi comes to town on Feb. 9 and then Hastings heads back up Highway 61 to Cottage Grove to take on East Ridge on Feb. 14. Feb. 16, South St. Paul comes to town for the final home game. All three of those games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. puck drops. The final game of the regular season will take place at Tartan on Feb 18 at 3 p.m.