The soccer season is ready to come to a close with both teams set to have their final regular season game against Mahtomedi on Thursday, Oct. 6 with the girls playing at 5:00 and the boys playing at 7:00 at Mahtomedi.

Boys

Last week, the boys took on North St. Paul Wednesday night at home winning 10 when Jed Carlson took an angled shot that snuck in off a defender, and then they travelled to Harding where they fell 10.

“Against North, our backline defenders Xavier Beal, Aiden Beal, and Ethan Klaren played very well along with Chase Harder earning his first shutout of the season,” said head coach Jamie Swanson.

“Harding played very defensive the entire match, and it was hard to unlock them in the first half. We changed tactics in the second half, and we had a large chunk of possession in their half of the pitch, and really were as dominant as I've seen us, so it was disappointing that we didn't score a goal,” added Swanson.

Heading into the post season, Swanson believes they are ready. “We are hoping we have hit our stride defensively only giving up one goal in the past five halves going back to the second half vs. Two Rivers. We have a tough couple of matches to end the season with St. Thomas and Mahtomedi, so we are looking to get better against those two opponents and be ready for our Section match next Tuesday.”

Girls

The ladies had two games as well last week, first against a very young North St. Paul team on Wednesday night. The Polars were starting many eighth and ninth graders due to low numbers, and the lack of experience against a deep Hastings squad proved far to difficult for them. Hastings had the lead 70 at the end of the half.

“The North game was a great team game,” said head coach Paul Armstrong. “We focused on passing and moving the ball quickly. I really liked our offensive combinations.”

The depth of the Raiders took advantage of the young Polar’s squad and won 90. Then, Park of Cottage Grove came to town on Saturday.

“The Park game lived up to its rivalry name,” added Armstrong. “It was super physical and a fast game in the first half and we had to remember who we are and what we can do as a team. The second half we picked it up and found our identity. The team played well, we honored our seniors, and everyone played well. It was a great team win.”

Section information was not released as of the start of the week, look for the details of the section seeding and games in next weeks edition as well as the Hastings Journal Facebook Page.

Jaylen Hanson scored in the 3-0 win over Park of Cottage Grove. Hanson has been a huge part of the Raider offense this season. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Martin Onnen has played a key role for the Raiders defense this season. Here he stops an offensive run by North St. Paul enroute to a Hastings 1-0 win. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Raider keeper Chase Harder has made huge strides in his game this year and is a key piece to helping keep Hastings in many of the games this season. Photo by Bruce Karnick