By Bruce Karnick

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The Raider Girls Hockey team has been working hard on and off the ice to improve their standing in the Metro East Conference. That work is starting to pay off. After a 5-1 loss to Owatonna, the girls seemed to have received the message: It takes a team, playing like a team to win in a team sport.

“We had our best practice as a team yesterday, I told the girls that. This is what we need out of them to win,” Head Coach Tim Duggan explained after the Two Rivers/St. Paul game on January 11.

Hastings repeated it on the ice for the game with solid defense, accurate passing, picking up the passes and moving the puck around. The Riveters are a good team, but so are the Raiders, when they play together and play at their skill level.

The first period, both teams had scoring chances, but both keepers did a great job of closing the door.

Lauren Hubbart started the scoring with an unassisted goal at 6:46 of the second period. Kiki Radant scored unassisted 2 minutes 58 seconds later to make the game 2-0.

Hastings came out in the third period and applied pressure right away. Kyra Erickson scored two goals 38 seconds apart. Her first was unassisted at 1:08 and the second, Makayla Berquist logged the lone assist for the game, when she hit Erickson who buried it at 1:46.

Hastings won 4-0. Both teams had 17 shots on goal. Hastings had eight minutes in the penalty box on four infractions and the Riveters went to the box for four minutes on two infractions. No powerplay goals were scored.

Alexis Steinke earned her second shutout of her varsity career, a moment that means a lot more to her than it might to most as she suffered through illness for the last two years.

“To come back from that and get a shutout on varsity, it means a lot to me, and it shows that I’ve actually worked hard, and I feel very proud of myself,” she said.

Steinke credits her teammates for playing just as big as she did.

“Oh my gosh, the back door – they had it covered – and I barely even said anything. They would just come back and cover it, and it was just amazing.”

Steinke was referencing the open space of the net behind her where players often score on rebounds or passes through the goal crease. She also talked about the chatter the girls had going between periods and on the bench. The team was staying positive, supporting each other, and taking pride in teammates’ accomplishments. They were looking back at the week and how hard they worked to earn the win.

Assistant Coach Terry Brown agreed. “I believe our defenseman and low forward weak side winger did a nice job, with sticks up. We have a tendency to forget about lifting sticks and just making contact with the body. That was probably the best game they’ve had with protecting and not giving up the 5-to-10-foot rebounds shots. The protection was good. Our goalie had a very good performance, she stood tall, she was out of the crease and she handled her rebounds. That’s what we work on in practice all the time. She caught the puck tonight versus the puck bouncing off. And that all matters,” said Brown. Brown also explained they spent time working on the body contact, simply invading the offensive player’s space, making them uncomfortable and unable to move as freely as they want. The girls hockey game is different. They are not allowed to full-on check, but that does not mean they cannot lean into an opponent or give little pushes here and there to disrupt their rhythm and make them just a hair off balance.

Both coaches went over some of the X’s and O’s in the office after the game to give a little more insight into what to watch for.

Against North St. Paul, the Raiders kept working the way the coaches asked, they simply came up short on the scoreboard falling, 3-1. The lone Raider goal had Erickson connecting with Radant who then found Lauren Muhl for the powerplay goal with just under 1:30 remaining in the first period. After that, the Polars did a great job shutting the door on Hastings. The Raiders even out shot North, 26-22.

One big issue that a more aggressive playstyle can create is opportunities for penalties. Hastings had six infractions to North’s two. Luckily, North was only able to convert on one. Steinke started again for Hastings, stopping 19 of the 22 shots she faced.

Hastings plays host to Simley on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. where they look to get some revenge for the 4-1 loss earlier in the season. The Raiders then they travel to Doug Woog Arena in South St. Paul on Jan. 25 to face the Packers at 7 p.m. Hill-Murray comes to town Jan. 28 for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop before Hastings travels to TRIA Rink in St. Paul on Jan. 29 at 2:00 p.m. to take on Visitation.