The Raiders girl’s hockey season started off with a flurry of goals and three straight wins. Hastings had outscored their opponents 32-0 in the first three games. Since the fast start, things have slowed down. Since then, Hastings has been outscored 8-1, resulting in three straight losses. The first loss of the season was covered in last week’s story, a 3-0 loss to Fergus Falls. The second loss of the season came at the hands of East Ridge.

The home opener on Nov. 22 saw the East Ridge Raptors come to the McGree Rink at the Hastings Civic Center for a 7:30 p.m. game and it did not go well for the hometown blue and gold.

East Ridge overpowered the Raiders on both ends of the ice and Hastings had a hard time keeping up with their speed. The Raptors looked to be in midseason form and took advantage of Hastings, putting over 30 more shots on goal than the Raiders.

East Ridge scored first on the power play after a Raider was called for hooking in the first period. Three minutes later, the Raptors extended their lead to 2-0 on a strange goal that appeared to go off the stick of goalie Bree Balster, flutter over her head and into the Raider net.

East Ridge added a third goal in the second period before Hastings scored. Makayla Berquist and Karissa Thompson assisted Emily Thuet for the Raiders first goal of the game. The Raptors tacked one on in the third period to defeat Hastings 4-1 and hand the Raiders their second loss of the season.

Both teams were penalized eight minutes on four infractions, the difference being the Raptors were able to score in two of their powerplay situations while keeping Hastings from scoring on any of their player advantages.

Overall, Balster faced 51 shots on goal, many of which were second and third rebounds caused by a combination of East Ridge creating chaos in front of the Raider netminder. The Raider defense struggled to clear the puck quickly.

Offensively for Hastings, they were unable to create the chaos in front of the Raptor goal which severely limited their second and third chances for rebounds. Hastings only managed 19 shots on goal and those were cleared away quickly by the speedy East Ridge defense. Balster, facing 51 shots and saving 47 had a .922 save percentage against the Raptors.

Saturday, The Duluth Northern Stars made the trip down Hwy. 61 for the Raiders second game of a three-game home stand. This game was the polar opposite of the previous game for Hastings. Balster got the start in net for a second straight game and this time, the shots on goal were significantly different. Both teams did a great job defensively preventing the opportunity for second and third shots. That also meant the game was scoreless until late in the third period, even though both teams had their chances.

Duluth missed their best chance all game in the second period when Graycen Schipper won the puck in the far corner of the rink and skated it around the back of the net to the near side. Schipper caught Balster off guard and out of position with her speed and had she not lost the handle on the puck at the last moment, she would have scored. Instead, the puck bounced harmlessly off of Balster’s leg pads and was quickly cleared. Hastings had numerous backdoor chances to score on the Northern Stars, but the Raider offense was too far away from the net to get the easy tap in. Both teams were also missing on some of the basics with several strange offsides calls and missed tape to tape passes. The girls on both sides of the ice seemed off until 28 seconds left in the third period.

Both teams had pressed each other hard the last few minutes of the game and that seemed to wear down the defensive players, especially for Hastings. Schipper caught a pass to the right of Balster and buried it over her shoulder for the game’s only goal.

Hastings went to the penalty box only three times for six minutes while Duluth was a little bit more undisciplined. The Northern Stars spent 21 minutes in the box on five infractions, including another five-minute major with a 10-minute misconduct called on a Raider opponent in six games. Maybe those penalties are not as rare as they used to be. During the five-minute man advantage, Hastings only managed one shot on goal and both teams did a great job defending the powerplay.

Balster’s workload was significantly reduced this game and she only faced 16 shots. Unfortunately, it was the 16th shot that made it in to give Duluth the win. Balster stopped .938 of the shots she faced.

On the season, Balster has a record of 1-3 where she has faced 102 shots on goal, saving 94 for 2.00 goals against average per game and a .922 save percentage. Balster’s goalie partner Alexis Steinke has played in two of the three Raider wins. Both games were shutouts, but she only faced 22 total shots.

Offensively, Hastings outscored opponents 32-0 in the first three games and has been outscored 8-1 in the three games since, a dramatic shift of the scoring pendulum that hopefully swings back to center soon.

Overall, the Raiders are 3-3 with the heart of their season coming up in the next month.

Due up next for the Raiders is a trip to Somerset to take on Western Wisconsin on Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. before they return home to host Simley on Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. and Two Rivers on Dec. 8, also at 7:30 p.m.