The Raider Girls hockey team cannot seem to catch a break so far this season. They entered the week 2-5 and on a three-game skid with games against the co-op team of the St. Paul-Two Rivers Riveters (4-3) and Simley Spartans (4-4). The Riveters rolled into Hastings on Dec. 2 drilling the Raiders 5-2. Hastings looked to rebound against the Spartans on Dec. 5, but they fell 2-1 in a hard-fought game.
Against St. Paul-Two Rivers, the night opened with quick pressure from the visitors. Hastings barely had time to settle its lines before St. Paul Two Rivers struck twice in the first three minutes. Chloe Rall slipped behind coverage for the opener at 1:35, then Zoe Moore added another at 2:17, putting the Raiders in an early 2 to 0 hole. St. Paul Two Rivers carried most of the possession in the opening frame, rolling up 15 shots while the Raiders managed only two. Still, even with the push coming at her from every angle, Addison Lanning steadied things with a handful of timely stops that kept Hastings within reach.
The second period brought more action and, finally, some energy on the home bench. St. Paul-Two Rivers made it 3 to 0 at 8:11 when Moore scored shorthanded, a tough blow with Hastings trying to generate something on the power play. The Raiders could have sagged, but instead they found a spark. At 13:45, Delaney Solberg threaded a clean feed to Sophie Thorkelson, who buried Hastings first goal of the night. The crowd barely had time to settle before the visitors punched back nine seconds later on a finish from Faye Leitner, but the Raiders kept pressing.
With less than a minute left in the period, Olyvia Erickson spotted Mackenzie Krauth drifting into space and fed her for a strong finish that cut the deficit to 4 to 2. It was the kind of goal that reminded everyone how quickly this group can generate offense when it connects cleanly through the neutral zone. Shots also tightened up in the middle frame, with Hastings putting seven pucks on net after a light first period.
The third period belonged mostly to the visitors again, although the Raiders carved out chances and pushed the pace. St. Paul Two Rivers stretched the lead to 5 to 2 at 12:34 on a goal from Maddie Garry. Hastings answered with one of its better closing stretches of the season, outshooting St. Paul-Two Rivers 12 to 7 in the final frame, but every look met the pads or glove of Kaitlyn Galeazzi, who finished with 19 saves.
Even without a comeback, the night held a few positives for the Raiders. Thorkelson and Krauth each found the net. Solberg and Erickson each picked up assists. The penalty kill stayed perfect across two shorthanded stands. And as the game wore on, the group created more sustained offensive zone time, something it will want to carry into the coming weeks.
Lanning wrapped the night with 27 saves. For a large portion of the game, she was tested by high traffic and second attempts, yet she kept the Raiders poised to rally. Hastings also drew five power play chances, showed improved puck movement on the fourth and fifth tries, and kept its bench active in the final period.
St. Paul-Two Rivers finished with a 32 to 21 shot advantage; a number Hastings trimmed nearly in half after the opening period. The Raiders were whistled for two minors, while the visitors took five penalties.
Unfortunately, the stats for the game at Simley were unavailable before press time. Both teams were evenly matched with a lot of back-and-forth play. The game was knotted at zero after the first period. Head Coach Jim Joseph told the girls at the first intermission that they were playing really well but needed to challenge the Simley goalie more, make her work harder, work on tiring her out. Hastings took that message to heart, out shooting Simley 12-0 in the first 13 minutes of the second period.
Simley logged their first shot on goal with four minutes left in the second, they scored 23 seconds later after Lanning made several stops and appeared to have the puck covered. The Spartans took that lead deep into the third period when the Raiders scored a scrappy goal. Krauth pushed in a rebound off the post to tie the game with 1:12 left in the third.
All the momentum looked to be in favor of the Raiders with less than a minute to go, the grit and determination Hastings played with all game led up to this point. Then with 42.7 seconds left in the period, another questionable goal after several stops by Lanning had the Raiders believe they held the latest barrage off from the Spartans, but the officials said otherwise and awarded the game winner to Simley. For the first time in 50 minutes and 27 seconds, the Raiders bubble looked to be deflating. Hastings was unable to gain possession of the puck and Simley took the win.
Hastings has a short week of practice before they host Farmington on Dec. 11 at 6:30 p.m. They head to River Falls the next day to take on the St. Croix Valley Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. The Packers come to town on Dec. 16 for a 6:30 p.m. puck drop. Dec. 20 is at St. Thomas Ice Arena against Visitation for the rare Saturday, 10:30 a.m. game and the pre-Christmas schedule closes at home, against Rochester Mayo on Dec. 23 at 6:30 p.m.