By Nick Gerhardt
New season, new coach, new result for the Northfield girls lacrosse season.
The Raiders opened the 2023 season with an 8-7 victory over Mankato at Memorial Field at Northfield High School for the team’s first season-opening victory since 2018. The win came under the guidance of first-year head coach Lexi Halvorson, who took over for Dan DuPay, who led the team since its inception in 2014.
In a back-and-forth game the Raiders pulled ahead behind a three-goal flurry to break a 5-5 tie early in the second half.
Eighth-grade attacker Gwen Tapper scored her third goal of the game 5 minutes, 14 seconds into the second half for a 6-5 lead while sophomore Lola McCarty scored back-to-back goals to push the Northfield lead to 8-5.
The Raiders staved off a late push from Mankato after Kira Prange scored with 7:01 left in the game to cut it to an 8-6 game. Regan Steindl added a goal with 4:30 left to make it a one-goal game.
Northfield trailed 4-3 late in the first half before senior Lauren Kraby tied the game with a goal that came with 3:07 left in the first half.
Tapper’s second goal of the game came 1:30 into the second half to give the Raiders a 5-4 lead. Tapper led the team with three goals. Sophomore Kellie O’Meara and sophomore Claire Homan had first-half goals for Northfield.
The Raiders, who finished 6-9 last season, face Mound Westonka Saturday at 2 p.m. in Mound.