Royal Raptors hanging in there

• Royal Raptors clinch .500 at Christmas

The South Washington County girls hockey team clinched at least a .500 record at the Christmas break as the Royal Raptors tied No. 13-ranked Hastings, 0-0, on Friday night. Staff Photo by Tom Carothers.

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The South Washington County girls hockey team ensured at least a .500 record at Christmas by means of a scoreless tie against Hastings, the 13th-ranked team in Class AA, on Friday, Dec. 18 at the Bielenberg Sports Center.

While the Woodbury-East Ridge cooperative has not won a game since a 3-0 victory over Tartan on Thursday, Dec. 3, the tie against the Raiders put the Royal Raptors record at 4-3-2 with one contest left to go before the holiday break.

The Hastings deadlock followed a 5-3 loss against Mounds View at the National Sports Center in Blaine on Tuesday, Dec. 15 that dropped South Washington County’s record in the Suburban East Conference to 1-2-1.

Emily Moris scored twice against the Mustangs after fellow forward Jess Krinke fired home the game’s first goal to give the Royal Raptors an initial lead before the hosts rallied to eventually take the game, recording 37 shots total to just 13 for South Washington County.

Royal Raptors goaltender Katie Ahmann made 32 saves against the Mustangs before giving way to fellow netminder Jess Taplin, who made 26 saves to clinch the tie against Hastings.

South Washington County hosted fifth-ranked Stillwater on Monday, Dec. 21, after the Bulletin went to press in its lone game of the week. The Royal Raptors are slated to take part in the Andover Tournament, beginning on Monday, Dec. 28.

Tags: sports, royal, raptors, girls, hockey, hastings, mounds, view