By Nick Gerhardt
Northfield snapped a five-game skid in a big way Monday with an 11-7 victory over Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes at Memorial Field at Northfield High School.
Three different Raiders tallied hat tricks with eighth-grader Gwen Tapper leading the way as her first goal put Northfield (2-5, 2-3 Big 9) the rest of the game. Sophomore Kellie O’Meara and Lola McCarty also had hat tricks as the duo helped keep the Raiders in front in the second half when the Rockets drew with two goals.
Junior Jaiden Schiller and sophomore Claire Homan added goals in the first half for Northfield, which had gone winless since the season opener April 13 against Mankato in an 8-7 victory.
Raiders senior goalie Wendy Bravo made clutch saves to thwart a handful of scoring chances for Rochester John Marshall/Lourdes.
Rockets sophomore attacker Camilla Hangee had herself a game, scoring five times to keep it close. Hangee’s third and fourth goals made it an 8-6 game with 11 minutes, 3 seconds left to play before McCarty and O’Meara answered for Northfield to push the lead to four.
Hangee cut it to a three-goal game with 37.4 seconds left with her fifth and final tally, but McCarty completed her hat trick with a goal that came with just 1.5 seconds left.
The Raiders and Rockets traded goals early in the game with Hangee scoring twice in the first five minutes while Homan and O’Meara each scored for Northfield. Tapper’s first goal came with 19:36 left to play in the first half to lift the Raiders to a 3-2 lead they never surrendered.
The Raiders will face Rochester Century Thursday in Northfield at Memorial Field.