Wingers get first win of the season

The Red Wing girls hockey team struggled in the second period during the opening game of the season but Thursday against Hastings in Hastings, the Wingers took control with four second period goals and came away with a 7-4 victory.

Red Wing (1-1) sophomore Emily Stegora led the team with three goals and Paige Haley, Nicole Schammel, Elle Anderson and Reagan Haley netted a goal each for the Wingers.

Reagan Haley put Red Wing ahead first in the opening period on a great pass from Schammel. Hastings responded with two power-play goals and took a one-goal lead into the first intermission.

The Wingers scored first again in the second period on a nifty spinning pass from Reagan Haley to Stegora to tie the game 2-2. The Red Wing offense sputtered for a stretch and the defense allowed two Hastings goals to fall behind 4-2 midway through the period.

After the goals, Stegora stepped up and was the catalyst for the Wingers comeback. She scored two consecutive goals to tie the game 4-4, giving her a hat trick in the period.

“I haven’t seen that in a while,” Red Wing head coach Scott Haley said of the hat trick in one period. “That was the star of tonight.”

Stegora deflected the attention, giving credit to her teammates for setting up each goal.

“It was pretty much a team effort,” Stegora said. “I was there to get the rebounds.”

Haley added another goal for Red Wing with 18.4 seconds remaining and the Wingers took a 5-4 lead into the second intermission.

In the final period, Red Wing got goals from Anderson and an empty net goal by Schammel. The Wingers gave up four goals early but the defense stifled Hastings for the final period and a half.

“I kind of expected that from the beginning,” Scott Haley said. “The thing that I was most proud of was that they came with intensity and speed. That was something we were lacking Tuesday.”

Against South St. Paul Tuesday, Red Wing allowed eight goals in the first two periods and never found a rhythm. Haley said he switched up lines and defensive schemes for the Hastings game. His placement of Stegora on the same line with Schammel and Reagan Haley paid off. The players just needed time to adjust, he said. The defense let up a few too many odd-man rushes but as the game progressed, the Wingers looked more comfortable, he said.

“We were really embarrassed Tuesday,” Stegora said. “We didn’t want to get embarrassed again.”

The Wingers next game is Tuesday against Shakopee at the Prairie Island Arena in Red Wing.

Tags: red wing, sports, prep, hockey