Ties in high school sports are normally on the rare side of results, so for the Raider girls to have two ties in a season it seems strange. To have two ties in a row, well, that, is just odd. That is exactly what happened on the girl’s hockey schedule. The last game covered in the previous edition of the Hastings Journal was a 0-0 tie against Simley, the first game of this week ended up a 3-3 tie at Farmington on Jan 14. Then, on Jan. 16, the girls lost a close one 4-2 to Apple Valley before a 4-3 victory at Hudson, WI. On Jan 17.
The girls have gone 1-3-2 since the new year and 1-5-2 in the last eight games but they still hold onto third place in the Metro East Conference (MEC) with an overall record of 10-8 and a MEC record of 2-3-1. Hill-Murray holds the top spot at 14-6, 4-0 in the MEC and South St. Paul is in second at 16-6, 4-1 MEC.
At Farmington
Farmington took a two-goal lead in the first period and held onto that until 7:57 of the second period when Jade Schauer connected with Kacey Plank for the Raiders first goal. Haley Siebenaller tied things up at 12:36 with assists going to Addie Seleski and Lauren Muhl. The Raiders too the lead with just three seconds left in the second period thanks to a power play goal by Anni Schriefer with assists going to Sophie Thorkelson and Carly Jacobson.
The Raider lead was relatively short lived. 3:49 into the third, Farmington tied the game and even with an extra period, neither team could find the back of the net again to garner the victory. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Hastings had six penalty minutes on three infractions and Farmington had eight minutes on four infractions. Victoria Steinke played all 59 minutes in net stopping 32 of the 29 shots she faced for a .906 save percentage. Hastings tallied 31 shots on goal.
At Apple Valley
The game at Apple Valley looked rather lopsided when you look at the stats, but the first period looked a little different on the ice. Neither team was able to score in the first even with The Eagles dominating the shots on goal 15-4. The action that Hastings had in the Eagles end of the arena simply did not make it through to the net. The action was probably 60/40 in Apple Valleys favor even with the disparity on the shots.
The second period went bonkers for scoring with five of the games six goals happening within 13 minutes of each other. Apple Valley went up two nothing with a power play goal at 1:21 in the second followed by another goal at 6:18. Jade Schauer scored the first Raider goal at 8:36 with an assist going to Siebenaler. Apple Valley made it 3-1 50 seconds later and at 14:08 Hastings chipped away at the lead. Olyvia Erickson connected with Addie Seleski who found the back of the net at 14:08.
The third period was a lot like the first period, a lot of action but very few shots made it on net. With less than two minutes left in the game, Head Coach Jim Joseph pull Steinke for the extra attacker and at 16:11, The Eagles popped one into the empty net to win 4-2.
Steinke stopped 31 of the 34 shots she faced for a .912 save percentage and Hastings logged 20 shots on goal. Penalties were even for both teams, four minutes each on two infractions. Apple Valley did score on one power play.
At Hudson
The game against Hudson was a good reset for Hastings. The first period was a feeling out period and the second things opened up. Hudson struck first, scoring at 4:27. Siebenaler tied the game at 6:47 with assists going to Lauren Muhl and Josie Hamann. Schauer gave Hastings the lead at 7:18 with assists going to Carly Jacobson and Grace Petrich, but Hudson was not done and they tied the game at 10:54 into the second.
20 seconds into the third period, Muhl took the lead back for Hastings single handedly and Hastings held on to that lead until 10:56 when Hudson scored. It did not take long for Hastings to respond with Grace Petrich scoring at 12:02 with assists going to Seleski and Erickson. Hastings managed to keep Hudson at bay to win 4-3.
Both teams stopped 100 percent of the penalties they faced with Hastings having 12 minutes on six infractions and Hudson having six minutes on three infractions. Steinke stopped 15 of the 18 shots she faced for a .833 save percentage and Hastings tallied 26 total shots on goal.
Up Next
The girls are rapidly approaching the end of the regular season with four games remaining. On Jan. 23, they travel to Dodge County for a 7:00 p.m. start, then they head to Eagan on Jan. 25 for a 5:30 p.m. puck drop. They return home for their last regular season home game against Woodbury on Jan. 28 for a 6:30 p.m. start and the final regular season game is at East Ridge and the M Health Fairview Sports Center at 3:00 p.m., then it is on to sections.