Sports
Holy Angels' Offense Too Much For Northfield Boys Hockey
Raiders goalie Nate Finger made 42 saves, but the Stars remained unbeaten in Missota Conference play with 4-1 win.
Northfield senior goalie Nate Finger looked like a man on a mission in net Tuesday against the Academy of Holy Angels. That’s because, in many ways, he and the Raiders boys hockey team were playing more than just a regular Missota Conference game.
“It’s all of our dreams to beat these guys,” Finger said. “You’ve got to get jacked up for that. It’s what it’s all about in high school hockey.”
Finger held up his end of the bargain—steering away 42 shots—but the Stars were too much in a 4-1 win at Richfield Ice Arena.
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Holy Angels (15-6-0, 11-0-0 Missota Conference) used quick passing and offensive speed to play keep-away with the Raiders for much of the night—making it difficult for Northfield to clear its defensive zone.
The result was an onslaught of Stars shots.
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Holy Angels outshot the Raiders 17-1 in the second period and, holding on to a 2-0 lead heading into the third, maintained that type of offensive pressure for the rest of the contest.
“We stuck to our game plan defensively in the D-zone,” Raiders coach Bryce Barry said. “But the longer the puck is in our zone, which it was most of the night, a team like that is going to score some goals.”
By the time Raiders sophomore forward Andrew Scofield scored his 17th goal of the season—an unassisted score with 5:52 remaining—Holy Angels held a 41-7 shot advantage.
Still, even in defeat, the Raiders were not deterred Tuesday. Barry said Northfield (7-13-0, 4-8-0) matched up well with the conference’s top team.
Finger said the team’s play might show through come playoff time.
“If you can play like that against those boys, you can play against the top teams in our section,” he said. “They’re a top team. It’s really easy to build off this.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Northfield 0 0 1 — 1
Holy Angels 1 1 2 — 4
Scoring — First period: 9:42 HA Joseph LaBate (Mario Bianchi, Trevor Meador). Second period: 7:01 HA Bianchi (unassisted). Third period: 5:27 HA Nick Sauro (Zach Hartley, LaBate) PPG, 6:03 HA C.J. Smith (unassisted), 11:08 NHS Andrew Scofield (unassisted). Shots on goal: HA 46, NHS 11. Power plays: HA 1-2, NHS 0-1. Saves: HA Brett Pierce 10, NHS Nate Finger 42.
