| Raiders sluggish in 4-2 loss to Hutchinson |
By: Jeff Wald, Sports Editor
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Posted: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 11:56 pm
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Northfield’s Charlie Cloud takes a shot on goal during the second period of the Raiders’ 4-2 loss to Hutchinson Tuesday night at Northfield Ice Arena.
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NORTHFIELD — Things weren’t right from the opening face-off as the Northfield boys hockey team hosted Hutchinson Tuesday night.
Passes weren’t connecting, pucks didn’t stay on sticks and the Tigers were more physical in a 4-2 win over the Raiders at Northfield Ice Arena.
“It was just a lack of practice. None of us had even touched the ice since last Friday,” said senior forward Alex Pumper, who had two assists. “Getting out of school early Monday and a snow day (Tuesday), we had to shake the rust off. We were all rusty.”
School was canceled Tuesday, which usually means games get postponed. With it being a long travel for the Tigers and the final stretch of the regular season, the game had to go on.
“We couldn’t get any flow going,” said NHS coach Bryce Barry. “It just wasn’t really happening for us. The whole atmosphere was kind of dead. The overall team effort wasn’t there.”
The Raiders actually scored the first goal of the game at 12:51 of the first period. Andrew Scofield found a loose puck in front of the net and scored on assists from Jordin Crawford and Pumper.
Hutchinson tied the game with one second left in the period, then took the lead 47 seconds into the second with a power-play goal. The Tigers scored again at 12:19 of the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Mike Vogel tipped a Scofield shot for a goal at 13:35 of the second to cut the lead to 3-2. Hutchinson answered at the 2:14 mark of the third. Tanner Grina ripped a slap shot past Nate Finger, who made 24 saves in the loss, to make it 4-2.
“I could feel it hitting the team, but we need to stay confident,” Pumper said. “It’s kind of hard when they get one right away to bounce back real fast.”
Barry said it comes down to playing with more confidence and being able to have practice time to get better.
“When something like that happens, don’t dwell on it. Keep working harder,” Barry said. “We have to out-work teams in order to beat them.”
— Jeff Wald covers local sports. He can be reached at 645-1111 or jwald@northfieldnews.com.
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