Hockey: Girls skate to win over Tigers

• Racheal Knoke (16) carries the puck across the blue line

Senior captain Racheal Knoke (16) carries the puck across the blue line ahead of a pair of New Richmond defenders in the Raider girls’ hockey team’s 3-1 win over the Tigers last Tuesday at Gornick Arena. Photo by Bob Burrows

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Last season, the Raider girls’ hockey team didn’t win its second game until the middle of January. This season, the team achieved that task in its third game.

The Raiders faced off against long-time rival New Richmond last Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Gornick Arena and came away with a 3-1 victory over the Tigers.

The Raiders kept heavy pressure on New Richmond goalie Bailey Lund during the first period, outshooting the Tigers 13-4. Senior Alex Willi scored at 6:29 of the first, taking a pass from behind the net from sophomore Sydney Squires and putting her wrist shot through the goalie’s pads.

Thirty-five seconds into the second period, the Raiders went end-to-end with a crisp passing play. Willi passed to senior defensive partner Shannon Hartzell, who sent a pass to sophomore Julia Douglas, who put the puck on the stick of Squires. Squires drove in from the blue line, around a defender and scored on a top shelf shot to put the Raiders up 2-0.

At 7:33 of the second period, Willi sent the puck toward the net from the blue line to senior Lexi Byler. Byler made a great pass to the stick of sophomore Sara Iacobello, who scored the Raiders third goal of the game. Hudson outshot the Tigers 13-5 in the second period.

The Tigers got on the board 1:48 into the third period on a Paige Charland goal, assisted by Siera Myer and Emma Lepper, to pull the score to 3-1. The Tigers tried to rally in the third period, outshooting the Raiders 9-5, but the Raider defense and goalie Nali Mullan held tough and Hudson came away with a hard-fought victory.

Mullan tallied 17 saves for the Raiders while Lund stopped 28 Hudson shots.

The Raiders improved their record to 2-1 and have allowed just four goals in their first three games.

Hudson will face the Blizzard Co-op in Grantsburg at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Dec. 22.

Tags: sports, hockey, raiders, prep