The whistle wasn't blown

First, I saw that the whistle wasn't blown and then I saw that she didn't actually have it covered, it was just sitting there on her pad. I was literally like two inches away so then I just went after it and it ended up going in the net.”

Madyn Hanson

Fans at the Wildcat Centre in River Falls, Wisconsin were treated to an exciting girl’s hockey game between the Hastings Raiders and the St. Croix Valley Fusion on Tuesday night, Nov. 21. For the Fusion, it was their first official game of the season and for the 2-1 Raiders, it was their fourth game in 10 days. The back-and-forth game ended in overtime with the Raiders winning 4-3.

The first-game jitters were clear for the Fusion for a good portion of the first period. Hastings had the early pressure applied which eventually led to the first goal being scored at the 10:42 mark of the first. Fusion Keeper Anna Woolley made a save and thought she had it covered up. Luckily for the Raiders, the official and Madyn Hanson both saw the puck was sitting loose by Woolley’s right leg pad.

“First, I saw that the whistle wasn't blown and then I saw that she didn't actually have it covered, it was just sitting there on her pad. I was literally like two inches away so then I just went after it and it ended up going in the net,” explained Hanson.

Hanson was assisted on the goal by Jade Schauer and Grace Petrich.

The Fusion settled in nicely for the remainder of the game and tied things up before the end of the first. Jane Volgren scored at 14:10 with the assists going to Morgan Kivel and Kendall Sundby. Even with the early pressure from Hastings, the Fusion had the edge in shots on goal 10-7 as the teams went to the locker rooms for the first intermission.

The second period was all Fusion. They came out of the locker room with high energy and kept the Raiders on their heels for most of the period. Kendall Sundby added two unassisted goals within 50 seconds of each other to give the Fusion the lead between the sixth and seventh minute of the second. One of Sundby’s goals was a testament to her quickness when she shot around two Raider defenders who were simply unable to help protect the Raider keeper Victoria Steinke from being left to fend for herself.

The script flipped once more at the start of the third period and the Raiders came out of the locker room with intensity. Having allowed 22 shots on goal in the first two periods to their own 16 shots, Hastings worked back to being aggressive in the offensive zone outshooting the Fusion 9-7 in the third. The more important piece was they made more of the shots count.

Hanson scored her second goal of the game at 8:06 into the third assisted again by Schauer and Petrich. Hastings was now down one with just under nine minutes left in the period. With 3:52 left in the third, Hastings was on the powerplay because of a “too many players on the ice” penalty and Autumn Burt scored the game-tying goal. Burt was assisted by Addie Seleski and Olyvia Erickson.

Regulation time expired with the game tied at three and after a few minutes break, the overtime period began. 44 seconds into the extra period, Hanson found the back of the net for the hat trick and the Raider victory.

“The hat trick felt good, especially doing it with my friends,” said Hanson.

That led to a follow-up question ‘does anything feel different about this year?’

“Honestly, I feel like I'm having more fun than I've ever had. Because I feel like I've created new relationships with the girls, and I feel like we're a more positive team than we've ever been,” she added.

It is clear that camaraderie is carrying over from the locker room to the ice with Hastings now having a 3-1 record.

Total shots on goal favored the Fusion 30-28. Hastings had eight minutes of penalties on four infractions while St. Croix Valley was only shorthanded twice for four minutes. Hastings converted on 1-of-2 powerplay opportunities while stifling the Fusion on all four player advantages they had. Penalties are still a concern for the Raiders but their penalty kill has been phenomenal shutting down 17-of-19 shorthanded situations.

Woolley faced 28 shots, stopping 24 for an .857 save percentage for St. Croix Valley. Steinke stopped 27 of 30 shots for a .900 save percentage.

Hastings will travel to St. Thomas Ice Arena on Dec. 1 to face Visitation then to West St. Paul on Dec. 6 to take on the Riveters of St. Paul/Two Rivers. Both of those games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. puck drops.