Hastings gets much-needed win, 3-1

The Hastings boys hockey team needed a win Tuesday night against Farmington, and that’s exactly what they got. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and improved Hastings’ record to 3-5 on the season.

After a scoreless first period, Hastings got on the board at 2:46 in the second period. Mark Huneke scored, short-handed, assisted by Nate Flynn.

Hastings went up 2-0 at 7:50 of the second period when Zach Mellick scored, assisted by Tyler Mellick. It was a short-handed goal. Less than two minutes later, though, the Tigers scored to make it 2-1.

At 16:12, Hastings added another goal to seal it. Flynn scored, assisted by Mark Huneke and Bailey Siewert.

Hastings dominated play, outshooting Farmington 44-21 in the contest. Connor Thomas played in goal for Hastings and made 20 saves to earn the win.

Hastings has its annual alumni game Friday night. The old-timers game is at 6 p.m. and the varsity game is at 7:15 p.m. Both games are at the Civic Arena.

Next week Hastings plays in the annual South St. Paul holiday tournament. Hastings has games Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Wakota. The team’s first game is at 6 p.m. Monday against Woodbury.

Vs Stillwater

Hastings lost to Stillwater on Saturday, 6-3.

Hastings took a 1-0 lead in the game, and then tied it 2-2 before Stillwater went on to score three straight goals to pull away.

“We were playing very well in the first period,” coach Russ Welch said.

Hastings got on the board at 4:23 when Andrew Bussey scored, assisted by Colin Shoen. Shoen had won a faceoff, and Bussey was ready.

“It was a great shot by Bussey,” Welch said.

Hastings gave up a goal two minutes later, then went down 2-1 at the 8:19 mark after taking a penalty and giving Stillwater a one-man advantage.

In the second period, though, Bussey scored again to tie the game 2-2 at 5:31. He was assisted by Flynn.

“That was a great feed by Flynn,” Welch said.

From that point on, though, the Ponies dominated on the scoreboard. They added a goal in the second period to take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission.

Early in the third period, they went up 4-2 and at 8:21 they went up 5-2.

“We coughed up the puck in our own end, gave up that fourth goal, and it didn’t go well from there,” Welch said. “That’s our biggest problem right now. We need to cut down on our turnovers. We’re turning the puck over too much, and it’s costing us goals in games.”

Bailey Siewert scored his first varsity goal for Hastings to cut the lead to 5-3. He was assisted by Flynn and Mark Huneke.

Stillwater added another goal, an empty-netter at 16:01.

P.J. Piotrowski played in goal for Hastings. He made 27 saves.

Vs Park

Hastings lost to Park on Thursday, 4-3.

The Raiders fell behind in the first period, 2-0. The Wolfpack scored goals at 2:47 and 10:25 to head into the first intermission with a nice lead.

“We had a bad first period,” Welch said. “We didn’t come out ready to play. They had more jump than we did. They were outworking us and outhustling us. That was the bottom line.”

Things were much different in the second period. Hastings scored just 36 seconds into the period when Nate Flynn found the back of the net, assisted by Andrew Bussey and Matt Koch. At 4:55, Flynn scored again, assisted by Koch and goalie Connor Thomas.

Park went up 3-2 in the third period at 10:59, but Hastings came back to tie it just 20 seconds later, when Flynn scored again, completing the hat trick. He was assisted this time by Andy Neuman.

“Nate had a great night for us,” Welch said.

The game-winner was scored by Park with just 36 seconds left to play in regulation.

“We got down, but we kept fighting back,” Welch said. “That was a tough one for us to lose. We just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to overcome the 2-0 deficit.”

Thomas played in goal and faced 26 shots, making 22 saves.

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