By Bruce Karnick

Trailing only Henry Sibley (3-0-1) in the Metro East Conference Standings, the Hastings Girls moved up to Second place at 3-2-0 with wins over both Hill-Murray (2-1-1) on September 8th and South St. Paul (1-3-0) on September 10th.

Against the Pioneers, the Raiders jumped out to a first half lead 3-0 with #4 Ashlyn Endres scoring her first Varsity goal, #37 Maddie Moore had her first two Varsity points, two assists, and #13 Megan Brown added to her points with an assist. After the match, Head Coach Scott Meier said “KP [#0 Kaitlin Petrich] had another great game in goal for us. She faced 13 shots and stopped 12. This was a great team effort and great team efforts equal team wins.” The Hastings defense stepped up big in keeping the shots on goal under 15 and the offense kept the pressure on the Pioneers. Hill-Murray would try to rally in the second half, but they were only able to get one past the defense and Petrich. The final, Hastings – 3, Hill Murray – 1 With the Packers in town, the Raiders knew they would be in for a grinder of a match. SSP vs Hastings can get pretty physical at times. #17 Ella Kelly earned her first ever Varsity goal to start the Raiders scoring and that was followed up by #37 Maddie Moore. Moore added to her Varsity point total with her first ever Varsity goal. Assists went to #4 Ashlyn Endres, she had two, and #28 Cianna Bernard grabbed her first Varsity point with one assist. Petrich was once again a brick wall in goal stopping 15 of the 16 shots she faced.

Coach Meier praised his Raiders after the match. “[The] team played well defensively. We got good possession through the midfield with #9 Bella Meier, #13 Megan Brown, #17 Ella Kelly and #26 Abbi Pelava. Our outside midfielders gave us good movement throughout the match. Defensive unit of #10 Delaney Kullman, #38 Maddy Daley, #3 Sammie Molitor, #14 Taylor Pelava and #21 Kate Hiller played well. #12 Lauren Hubbart and #2 Dae Morrison also gave us energy on the field to keep us going.

The final became the popular for the week. Raiders 3, Packers 1. The Girls have 2 more matches before the Conference Championships. Tuesday September 15th at Tartan and Tuesday September 22nd at Todd Pitch when they host Simley at 5:00 pm.

#13 – Megan Brown looks to move the ball in to the offensive end of the pitch after receiving a quick pass from #9 – Bella Meier. The Raiders would go on to upset Hill-Murray 3-1 on Tuesday September 8th at Todd Field. Photo by Bruce Karnick