Girls hockey team is now 5-0-2 on the season after another big Suburban East Conference win

The news just keeps getting better for the Hastings girls hockey team. On Thursday night, the team beat Roseville, 3-2, in overtime.

Roseville finished second in the state this year, and they have one of the state’s top recruits this year.

That apparently didn’t affect Hastings entering the game.

“We went into Roseville feeling pretty confident after starting the season 5-0-2, especially having some of those wins against teams like Stillwater, Burnsville and Eastview,” coach Jeff Corkish said. “The girls did not show one bit of worry and came out ready to play.”

Hastings fell behind 1-0 when in the first period, but tied the score on a goal by Danielle Duffy, assisted by Erin Moes.

Lucky for us Danielle Duffy played her best game of the season and got one for us in the first,” Corkish said.

Before the end of the first period, though, Roseville went back up on top, 2-1.

Both Roseville goals were scored by their top player, Kate Flug.

“During the intermission we reorganized our plan against Flug and the girls bought right in with added determination to get in her back pocket,” Corkish said. “The rest of the night we did a decent job of slowing her down and keeping her to the outside but when she did get away from us Brooke Weber, our 10th grade goalie, stopped her cold with one chance being on a short break with five seconds left in the game. Kit Ruedy and Natalie Simons did a good job on Flug keeping her in check through open ice as well as in the corners of the defensive zone.”

Hastings tied the game again in the second period when Elle Cooper scored, assisted by Nicole Klimek and Jackie Stark.

“Elle, one of our feisty ninth graders, found a rebound on the side of the net and put it home, tying the game at 2-2,” Corkish said.

In overtime, the game-winner was scored by Jackie Stark, assisted by Kit Ruedy.

Corkish has been thrilled with the play from the defense this season.

“Although our forwards are getting a lot of the publicity lately for scoring a lot of goals, we have to also give credit to our defense,” Corkish said. “They are very young and inexperienced but also playing much better than anticipated. Their confidence is growing every day in practice and the things they are learning are coming out in every game we play. It is fun to know that our potential is so much greater than where we are right now. This group of girls are being led by assistant coach Steven Benson, who has been coaching in the program for 17 years. The kids are very lucky to have a coach with as much knowledge about teaching the skills a defenseman needs to get better in this game and it seems like they are taking full advantage of that opportunity.

“He teaches the kids that they have to compete, be strong all over the ice, be tough enough to battle in front of the net, make good quality first passes to get the puck out of our zone as well as to get up in the play so a player has good gap control in all zones. What a great coach.”

Tags: hhs hockey, sports, hastings, minnesota, spiral, local, prep