By Nick Gerhardt
Northfield wrapped up the 2023 portion of the season Tuesday with an unblemished record following a 5-3 victory over Mankato East at Northfield Ice Arena but the Raiders saw some blemishes against the Cougars.
Class 2A No. 6-ranked Northfield (12-0, 7-0 Big 9) fell behind 1-0 in the first period against Mankato East (8-4-1, 5-2 Big 9) before scoring the game’s next four goals to build a 4-1 lead early in the second period.
“I felt like we had a slow start, pretty sloppy,” Raiders head coach Paige Haley said. “I do think we got better as the game went on. There were things in the second period I wasn’t satisfied with. I felt like our third period was definitely our best.”
Raiders senior center Ayla Puppe recorded her 150th career goal at 9:57 of the period to go up 2-1 and senior winger Isabelle Stephes scored on a rebound at 11:08 for a 3-1 lead.
The Cougars pulled ahead 1-0 with a goal from junior forward Ashley Fischer, whose shot trickled in on the short side 6 minutes, 41 seconds into the game.
Mankato East came into the game having killed all 31 penalties it had taken this season but Northfield sophomore Mia Miller solved it with a power-play goal at 7:49 to tie the game.
Puppe scored again in the second period after a nice move left a wide open net for her to score to make it 4-1 at 3:22.
The Cougars responded at 12:50 of the period when Fischer’s shot slipped through five-hole with a screen in front to make it 4-2 while on the power play.
Puppe put Northfield up 5-2 after she collected a loose puck near center ice and broke in behind the Mankato East defense with one second left in the period.
The score stayed that way until the Cougars added a buzzer beater of their own to end the game when freshman forward Reagan Steindl knocked in a rebound for the 5-3 final.
The Raiders outshot Mankato East 39-25 for the game. Northfield goalie Macy Mueller stopped 22 shots in the win.
“We’ve had a stretch of Big 9 games so for us to come out without any losses, that’s a good start,” Haley said. “We’re going to see Albert Lea and Mankato East again and Owatonna again. You never know with the second game.”
The Raiders head to Farmington Dec. 27 to face East Ridge in the start of the Schmitz Holiday Classic. Northfield will also face Simley and Farmington in the tournament, after a hard practice Friday.
“They have to clean up some stuff,” Haley said. “It takes a lot of discipline to play the style of play that we’re trying to do and to keep it up every single game. They come out sloppy and they know it and we’re able to change it.”
