Boys hockey team beat Mounds View on Saturday to earn its first win

It took almost a period to get going, but once the Hastings boys hockey team did in fact get going Saturday, they were a hard team to stop. The Raiders picked up their first win of the season, beating Mounds View, 5-2.

The Raiders used three second-period goals to pull away from the Mustangs.

“It was our third game in just over four days, and it took us a while to get going,” coach Russ Welch said. “We got that late goal in the first period, and then we had a lot more energy the rest of the game.”

Hastings had just three shots in the period, but one of them found the back of the net.

Matt Koch scored the first Hastings goal at 14:41 of the first period. He was assisted by Nate Flynn and Adam Fox.

In the second period Hastings jumped all over the Mustangs with three goals in seven minutes.

“We just had better energy in the second period,” Welch said. “A couple guys got their first high school goals, too.”

At 2:31, Andrew Bussey scored, assisted by John Siebenaler. It was his first varsity score.

“That was a working man’s type goal,” Welch said. “It wasn’t pretty – it’s one of those you knock in right in the crease because there’s a big pileup there. That set the tone for us in the second period and got us going.”

Zach Mellick scored at 4:13, assisted by Alex Neuman. And at 9:40, Adam Fox scored, assisted by Tyler Mellick. The goal by Fox was his first varsity goal.

“He made a nice shot and just buried it,” Welch said. “It was a good goal.”

Zach Mellick added the fifth Hastings goal at 2:16 of the third period. He was assisted by Nate Flynn and Koch.

Hastings was outshot by Mounds View in the game, 21-18. P.J. Piotrowski played in goal and got the win.

Hastings is now 1-2 on the season.

Hastings plays on the road at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Roseville.

On Saturday, Hastings is at East Ridge for a 7:30 p.m. game.

The team returns home Dec. 15 to face Park. Gametime is 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

On Thursday, Hastings fell to one of the state’s top teams, Eagan, 8-1. The Wildcats are ranked No. 2 in the state and placed third at the state tournament last season.

The game was close through the first period, but the Wildcats scored four second-period goals and three third-period goals to pull away and win convincingly.

After falling behind 1-0 just one minute into the game, Hastings came back with a power play goal to tie the score 1-1. Koch scored, assisted by Nate Flynn.

Hastings almost took a lead going into the first intermission, too.

“With six seconds left, we had two great chances to score at the end of the first period,” Welch said. “We didn’t, and after that it was all over.”

In the second period, Eagan scored at 1:22, 5:15, 5:51 and 14:37. Hastings, meanwhile, was held to just one shot on goal in the period.

In the third period, Eagan added goals at 7:28, 13:39 and 14:37.

The Wildcats had 50 shots on goal and Hastings had 13.

“They dominated the whole game,” Welch said. “The bright spot in that game was the play of (goalkeeper) Lenny Weiss. That was the biggest positive for us, even though we got beat 8-1. It would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Lenny. He played great in the net.”

Tags: raider hockey, sports, hastings, minnesota, prep, spiral