Girls’ skaters edged by Chippewa Falls/Menomonie

• Alex Willi (2) breaks up a passing attempt

Hudson senior Alex Willi (2) breaks up a passing attempt by a Chippewa Falls/Menomonie player in the third period of the Raider girls’ hockey team’s regular season finale last Thursday at Gornick Arena. Chippewa Falls/Menomonie held on for a 2-1 win over the Raiders. Photo by Bob Burrows
• Caitlyn Bjornstad (9) looks to move the puck up ice

Hudson freshman Caitlyn Bjornstad (9) looks to move the puck up ice in the third period of the Raiders’ 2-1 loss to Chippewa Falls/Menomonie last Thursday at Gornick Arena. Photo by Bob Burrows

Talk about it

If you missed the last five minutes of the second period, you missed all the scoring in the Raider girls’ hockey team’s final home game of the season last Thursday, Feb. 9 at Gornick Arena.

Chippewa Falls/Menomonie scored twice in a span of 3 minutes, 28 seconds before Hudson cut the Cardinal lead in half on sophomore Sydney Squires’ team-leading 24th goal of the season 1:25 before the end of the period.

The Cardinals outshot the Raiders 14-3 in the third period but neither team would score again and Chippewa Falls/Menomonie went home with a 2-1 victory.

The loss gives the Raiders a final regular season mark of 6-11-2 overall (1-4-1 Big Rivers Conference) heading into a WIAA regional final this Thursday night, Feb. 16, against BRC champion Eau Claire/Altoona (18-4-1, 5-1-0) in Eau Claire.

Last Thursday, neither team could get on the scoreboard in a first period that saw Chippewa Falls/Menomonie outshoot Hudson 8-1.

The game remained scoreless until the Cardinals’ Shauna Bollinger scored at the 12 minute mark of the second period. Chippewa Falls/Menomonie extended its lead to 2-0 on a Sara Sorensen goal 3:28 later.

Squires beat Cardinal goalie Lauren Scobie at the 15:35 mark, assisted by senior captain Racheal Knoke, to make it a 2-1 game and after a scoreless third period that’s how things ended.

Raider goaltender Nali Mullan finished with 34 saves in Thursday night’s loss as the Cardinals outshot the Raiders’ 36-9.

Squires finished the season as the third leading scorer in the BRC with 24 goals. She also dished out 14 assists to total 38 points, fourth best in the conference.

Tags: sports, hockey, raiders, prep