After winning their first three contests, the Raiders girls hockey team entered last week at 3-3 with three straight tough losses to Fergus Falls, East Ridge and Duluth with many tough games looming on the schedule for December. Hastings had two games scheduled for the previous week, Hopkins/Park (4-3), a partnership program between Hopkins and St. Louis Park came to town on Tuesday, Nov. 29, and the ladies took a road trip to Somerset, Wisconsin to take on the Western Wisconsin Stars on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Tuesday’s game against Hopkins/Park was the fourth straight start in net for Junior Bree Balster. Defensively, the first period started out slow with Hopkins only netting six shots on Balster. Unfortunately for the Raiders, a shot on the power play at 8:58 in the first found its way to the white lace giving the Royals the first period lead.

The first period offense was a little more aggressive for the Raiders who placed 10 shots on net. The challenge for Hastings again came in front of the net and the lack of creating chaos as they did in the first three games. The bigger bodied metro teams seem to gain the advantage near the crease and are able to clear the puck for their goalies more quickly. The Hastings girls put up a great fight and they are starting to figure out different ways to get in front of the net and mess things up for the other team’s keeper, but the pucks just are not bouncing the Raiders way. At the end of the first, Hastings had the 10-6 shots on goal advantage, but Hopkins was up 1-0 where it mattered.

The second period, both offenses became more efficient. The shots on goal were similar to the first with Hopkins taking five shots and Hastings taking 11. The interesting piece was, both teams also successfully hit the back of the net twice. Hopkins scored 6:42 into the second to go up 2-0 then they scored again at 11:50 and led 3-0. That seemed to light a fire under the offense of the Raiders. At 15:23 Karissa Thompson and Addie Seleski connected with Madyn Hanson for the first Raider goal of the game then 1:20 later, just 17 seconds before the period expired, Makayla Berquist and Kyra Erickson helped Kylie Gruden score to make it 3-2 Hopkins. All four goals in the second period were even strength goals.

The third period saw more of the same, a low shot total and saves by both keepers which lead to a final score of 3-2 in favor of the Royals.

For the game, Balster faced 17 shots, stopping 14 for a .824 save percentage. Hastings put a total of 30 shots on goal, scoring two. Hopkins had two infractions for four penalty minutes, Hastings had four infractions for eight penalty minutes. One of the penalties for each team were coincidental minors. Hastings successfully killed two of the three penalties against them, and Hopkins stopped the only man advantage for Hastings.

The second game of the week, the trip to Somerset Wisconsin went a totally different direction for Hastings. Alexis Steinke returned to the starting line-up in net, and once again, Steinke was not challenged in the shots on goal department, facing 10 shots the entire game.

Hastings started the scoring just past the halfway point of the first period. Kacey Plank and Madyn Hanson connected with Addie Seleski for the even strength goal to put the Raiders up 1-0 at 9:07. Four minutes later, Plank tallied her second assist of the game when she hit Makayla Berquist for the even strength goal at 13:19. Western Wisconsin took advantage of the Raiders being short-handed with just 50 seconds left in the first to narrow the gap 2-1.

Kyra Erickson scored the only goal of the second at 12:08. Erickson was assisted by Kylie Gruden and Berquist to extend the Raider lead 3-1.

The third period was all Hastings. Plank finally found the back of the net thanks to Gruden and Berquist while the Raiders were on the powerplay. The fourth goal came at 2:21 into the third. Less than two minutes later, Lauren Muhl scored with the help of Jorja Riches and Libby Knoll to make it 5-1 Raiders. The final goal of the game came at 12:38 of the third when Karissa Thompson and Madelyn Schuster connected with Jade Schauer for her fifth goal of the season.

Both teams had five penalties each for ten minutes, both also did a great job killing the powerplay with each team going 1-for-5 on the man advantage. Plank and Berquist lead the team with three points in the game.

For the season, Berquist has the most points at 14 and the most goals at six. Erickson is close behind with 13 points, with 10 of hers coming from assists. Scanning the points column, the Raider offense is a well-balanced offence with every girl contributing to the points column. Hastings already has four girls in double digit points for the season.

In goal, Steinke stopped nine of the ten shots she faced for a .900 save percentage. For the season, Steinke is 3-0-0 in the win/loss column, has a 0.33 goals against average and a .969 save percentage having faced 32 shots on goal in 153 minutes played. Balster is 1-4-0 in the win/loss column, has a 2.20 goals against average and a .908 save percentage having faced 119 shots on goal in 255 minutes played.

The Raiders are entering a four-day home stand with Simley on Dec. 6, Two Rivers/St. Paul on Dec. 8, White Bear Lake on Dec. 9 and North St. Paul/Tartan on Dec. 13. The ladies take it on the road for one game against South St. Paul on Dec. 16 and then come back home for three more home games later in Dec. All games between now and Dec 27 are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. puck drops.

Madyn Hanson scored one of the two Raider goals against Hopkins/St. Louis Park and earned an assist against Western Wisconsin. Hanson has 10 points on the season and is playing a key role distributing the puck on offense.Photo by Bruce Karnick