Both the Chaska Hawks (3-19) and Prior Lake Lakers (10-12-2) were looking to position themselves for sectional play following the final regular season game on Feb. 15. The afternoon’s highlight was honoring nine seniors who are wrapping up their Chaska hockey experience.
Seniors honored between games with their families were defensemen Riley Nahan (co-captain), Will Bushey, Colton Kinneman and Cullen Wendolek. Forwards are Ryder Herrmann, Brayden Soderstrom (co-captain), Tyler Schmieg (co-captain) and Walt Gute. Rounding out the seniors was goalie Tyler Nesheim (co-captain), who after Thursday’s 2-2 tie with Mankato West recorded his 2,000th save as a Hawk goaltender. The group of seniors shared their memories and experiences and all are planning on college next year.
Prior Lake came out shooting and notched a number of shots on net in the first period, yet it was the Hawks leading scorer Donovan Madsen who scored first with a wrister from the right side at 12:42 to make the score 1-0.
Chaska took a major penalty early in the second period. Prior Lake took advantage and opened up the scoring with five power play goals in the span of less than three minutes.
The third period saw a few more penalties for both sides, yet no goals. The final score was 6-1 for Prior Lake. Goalie Tyler Nesheim faced 86 shots on goal and Chaska put 16 shots up on Prior Lake goalie Preston Kulics.
After the game, Assistant Coach Connors commented: “The team didn’t give up. The guys played their best. Prior Lake played smart and challenged us this afternoon.”
Chaska plays at home to start sectionals on Feb. 17 and move on if they win.
