The Hastings Boys Lacrosse team kicked off their season April 18th at Todd Field against a tough Rosemount Irish team. Rosemount got out to an early two goal lead, but that didn’t last long as junior attackman Wyatt Vieth scored on an outside shot with an assist from senior attackman Kody Niederkorn. Rosemount then tallied three more goals before the Raiders were able to strike back with an absolute snipe on the run from junior midfielder Ryan Clemens which got it back to just a three-goal lead for Rosemount.

Rosemount netted three goals again but this time the run was stopped by freshman prodigy Tony Melecio who got a gritty ground ball and scored his first ever varsity goal. Rosemount then stretched out to a 14-3 lead but Clemens put another one in the back of the net scoring his second goal of the night. Late in the fourth quarter, the up-and-coming eighth grade midfielder Carter Hanson was able to get his first ever varsity goal with an assist from Niederkorn.

Despite the 17-5 loss, senior faceoff specialist Thomas Reifenberger was winning faceoffs very consistently throughout the game and ended the game winning 16 of 23 faceoffs and had five ground balls.

On April 20th, the Raiders took the trip up to Spring Lake Park to battle against the co-op Spring Lake Park/Coon Rapids (SLPCR) team. The Raiders were able to get a quick goal coming from Melecio with an assist from Clemens. SLPCR was able to tie it up at 1-1 but that didn't last as the Raiders went on a seven-goal run. That run started with a goal from senior defenseman Brady Nickel, then back-to-back goals from Vieth with assists from Niederkorn and Melecio. Vieth returned the favor by assisting Melecio with his second goal of the night. During that seven-goal run the Raiders got another long stick goal but this time it was freshman long stick midfielder Matthew Beyer who was able to put it in the back of the net for his first ever varsity goal.

The Raiders were able to stay in control the rest of the game and didn’t slow down in the goal department. They continued scoring with goals coming from Reifenberger, Clemens, Niederkorn, Vieth and Melecio. It was a great 17-10 rebound win for the Raiders, bringing them to a 1-1 record on the season.

A few days later the Raiders had a Saturday matinee against the Lakeville North Panthers. The Raiders fought hard but weren’t able to hold on and lost 20-3, to start 1-2 on the season. But the day wasn’t over for the Raiders as they hosted a Try Lax Day on Todd Field. They had 20+ youth boys/girls to come out and try lacrosse. All the players from JV and Varsity stayed and helped pass the game on to the next generation of Hastings Lacrosse players. If you’re looking for more information on how to get a kid involved in lacrosse, go to hastingslacrosse.com.

The next chance to catch the boys in action is May 2nd, at home against Hill-Murray at 7:00 p.m. then May 4th at home against New Prague, also at 7:00 p.m.