East Ridge girls hockey: Raptors winless streak hits seven

The East Ridge girls hockey team broke a five-game losing streak with a 2-2 tie of Suburban East Conference foe Forest Lake. However, along with a 7-2 loss to rival Park, last week saw the Raptors winless streak grow to seven straight games.

East Ridge (2-8-1; 0-6-1 SEC) tied Forest Lake 2-2 on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Bielenberg Sports Complex.

After the Rangers (2-7-2; 1-5-1 SEC) went ahead 2-0 with a goal in the first period and a goal in the second period, East Ridge sophomore forward Jaedyn Walz scored back-to-back goals to tie the game in the third period. Walz’s first goal came 5:55 into the third on an assist by Kayla Griffith. Her game-tying goal came with 2:08 remaining in the game on the power play off a pass from Valerie Whichello.

However, neither team would score in overtime and the game ended in a draw.

East Ridge junior goalie Katie Ahmann made 25 saves in the game. East Ridge had 28 shots on goal.

However, following the tie, East Ridge fell 7-2 to intra-district rival Park on Saturday, Dec. 17, at Cottage Grove Ice Arena.

Park took a 2-0 first period goal on the Raptors, outshooting East Ridge 10-5, then the Wolfpack poured in four unanswered goals to take a substantial 5-0 lead just 5:08 into the second period.

However, East Ridge stayed aggressive and broke through Park’s defense and score two goals, cutting the deficit to 5-2.

In the third period, though, Park took a 6-2 lead just 52 seconds in and the Wolfpack scored just under five minutes later, making the final score 7-2 for Park(5-5; 3-4 SEC).

Hannah Johnson and Alina Del Toro scored in the game for the Raptors, while freshman goalie Paige Press made 21 saves.

East Ridge took on 16th-ranked Mounds View on Tuesday, Dec. 20, after the Bulletin went to press. Next, the Raptors compete in a holiday tournament in Burnsville on Tuesday, Dec. 27, and Wednesday, Dec. 28, before returning to conference play by facing off against rival Woodbury on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

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