Hopkins/Park girls hockey off to a 1-1 start

The Hopkins/St. Louis Park Royals girls hockey team is off to an even start with a 1-1 record after their first two games of their regular season.

The first game, the Royals took on the Eagan Wildcats. The team adjusted through the game but struggled towards the end of the game, resulting in a loss by the score of 6-1.

“We just fell apart in the end, the first game things didn’t go exactly how we wanted, obviously we have a lot to work on,” Kyle Hanley, senior captain, said. “There were a lot of good things but a lot of things we still need to work on.”

The second game, the girls took on the Buffalo Bison at home. The girls came out to a flying start, and scored in the first period. By the end of the first period, the girls added on three more and were up 4-0.

“I feel that we as leaders kept intensity high, even though Annika got hurt, we persevered and finished strong,” Hanley said.

The girls were relentless and finished off the Bison by a final score of nine goals to zero. The girls, however suffered by losing a player to an injury during the game against the Bison. Annika Patterson, senior captain, suffered a broken wrist in the game after an awkward collision after dumping the puck.

Nevertheless, the Royals are looking to continue their winning streak with the momentum from the victory against the Bison.

“We played a solid game offensively and defensively and kept the intensity high and didn’t play down to their level,” Hanley said.