The girls’ hockey season is two weeks strong, and the Raiders have had four big wins over non-conference teams with one heart breaking, overtime loss to last year’s state champion. The two big wins this week came at Owatonna where Hastings won 3-1 and at home, 5-1 against the St. Croix Valley Fusion. Last year, the Fusion forced overtime where Hastings won 4-3.
Nov. 16 versus Owatonna
Against the Huskies, Owatonna took the lead in the first period at 8:24, but Hastings rallied right back scoring at 10:41 to tie the game. Sophie Thorkelson scored her first varsity goal on the power play thanks to the help of Jade Schauer and Grace Petrich.
The second period had no scoring, but the third period was all Hastings. Anni Schriefer logged another point for her season total with an unassisted goal at 13:37, putting the Raiders up for good. With less than a minute left in the game, Schauer scored an empty net goal with assists going to Haley Siebenaler and Olyvia Erickson.
Hastings went 1-for-2 on the powerplay and successfully stopped the seven minutes of penalty time on their own two infractions, one being a five-minute major. So far, Owatonna has been able to put the most pressure on the Raiders defense logging 28 shots on Hastings’ goalie Victoria Steinke. Steinke stopped 27 of the 28 shots she faced for a .964 save percentage. The Huskies defense kept the Raiders shooters quiet for the first time this season, holding Hastings to just 12 shots on goal when they had averaged 34.67 shots on goal the previous three games.
Nov. 19 versus St. Croix Valley
Hastings maintained their offensive aggressiveness against the St. Croix Valley Fusion logging 12 shots on goal in the first period. Erickson drew first blood in what looked to be another game turned goalie clinic with 28 seconds left in the period. Addie Seleski and Jade Schauer each tallied an assist to put the Raiders up 1-0 before the first intermission.
The Raiders kept the pressure on in the second period with 19 more shots on goal. This time, it was Schriefer scoring at 11:15 with the help of Siebenaler and Seleski. Through two periods, Hastings had 31 shots on goal to the Fusion’s 14.
1:21 into the third period, Petrich, who had been dishing out plenty of assists, final found the back of the net for her first goal of the season, assisted by Seleski and Schauer. Seleski earned the assist version of a hat trick (she already has two real hat tricks this season) when she and Schriefer connected with Clare Reader for her first goal of the season.
St. Croix Valley broke up the shutout at 4:04 into the third bringing the score to 4-1, but Hastings rallied right back when Schauer found white lace just 35 seconds later, Erickson on the assist. 5-1 is where the game ended, moving the Raiders to 4-1 on the season.
Hastings had 48 total shots on goal to the Fusion’s 20. Steinke was again stout in net for Hastings stopping 19 of the 20 shots she saw for a .950 save percentage. Hastings had four penalty minutes on two infractions and the Fusion spent 10 minutes in the penalty box on five infractions.
The weakest spot of the Raiders games so far this season is the power play. They have had 17 power play opportunities with only two power play goals. This includes a 3-on-5 opportunity against the Fusion. The opposite holds true for their penalty kill. So far, the girls are perfect stopping all 12 penalties they have incurred this season.
Looking at the state rankings early in the season, Hastings has some top 100 players. Addie Seleski is tied for 15th in goals with seven and 22nd in total points with 12. Jade Schauer is tied for 87th in total points with seven and 47th in assists with five. Anni Schriefer just missed the cut with three goals for the season and six total points. Victoria Steinke hit all three top 100 lists for goalies. Steinke is tied for sixth with four wins, in ninth place for goals against average at 1.05 and 15th in save percentage at .948.
The next chance to catch the Raiders is a pair of 6:30 p.m. puck drops at home, first against St. Paul/Two Rivers on Dec. 3, then Simley on Dec. 5. The ladies head to Red Wing on Dec. 10 for a 7:00 p.m. start before returning home to take on Eastview Dec. 13. at 6:30 p.m.