By Johann Schroeer
30 hours after a blizzard of 20 inches of snow wrapped up in Southern Minnesota, the Northfield Raiders (20-5, 1 seed in Section 1A) put on their own blizzard at the Northfield Ice Arena Friday night. As they came into the night without much practice due to snow days facing the Rochester Lourdes Eagles(10-16, 8 seed in Section 1A), they knew that this was the time that they had been looking forward to all season: section playoffs.
They started strong, as their first line attacked Lourdes goalie Xander Carter-Kleven early and often, finally putting one through as Junior Jake Geiger scored off a Kamden Kaiser pass at the 12:24 mark of the first period. The Raiders didn’t stop there, as Sophomore Will Cashin cashed in on a beautiful wraparound 14:24 mark of the first. Geiger finished the period with another goal, assisted by the Riley brothers Brecken and Bridger. Juniors Brayden Olsen and Jake Geiger added to the scoring for the Raiders in the 2nd period, for Geiger it was his 3rd goal of the game. Eagles senior Brody Seim broke the shutout, scoring on a wrister past Northfield goalie Keaton Walock. Freshman Griffin Kennelly wrapped up the 2nd period with his 2nd goal of the year. In the third, Junior Andrew Winter added to the flurry, giving the Raiders their 8th goal of the contest, and that’s where they would finish, winning 8-1. Geiger scored 3, Walock saved 15 shots, and the Raiders advance to the semifinals where they will face Dodge County Saturday morning.