Senior girls’ captain Mary Gleason said the team worked hard throughout the game against Proctor/Hermantown with a slower start.

“I thought we played pretty well for them being a good team, and they were really aggressive,” Gleason said. “I think we started off kind of slow but by the third period we were all hyped up, and we really wanted to get back in the game.”

According to coach Ryan St. Martin, the team played well through the tough times in the game and came back from being down a few goals.

“We played hard and were able to come back late after being down a few goals in the third. I liked the fight in the team and how they handled adversity in on an even keel,” St. Martin said.
Hopkins Park lost to Proctor/Hermantown 5-6 Dec. 15. Hopkins/Park scored to tie the game 5-5 with under a minute of the game and Proctor/Hermantown then scored with 8 seconds left to win.

Sophomore Sarah McCallon said overall the game went well even though Hopkins/Park lost.

“I think it was a little disappointing that we lost at the end, but I think we are really happy with everyone’s effort in the third, and we left it all out there. It was a really exciting and fun game to play,” McCallon said.

Gleason said the team scored three goals which boosted the teams energy and then came back to make it a close game.

“We scored three quick goals which really got our energy up, but sadly they scored with 8 seconds left which was hard. We worked really to get that game back to a close game,” Gleason said.

McCallon said specifically the effort in the third period stood out in the game against Proctor/Hermantown.

“It would’ve been easy for us to just be like, ‘oh we’re down by a lot, we are done trying,’ but I think everyone went out and played and everyone definitely gave it their all in the third,” McCallon said. “Everything just started connecting in the third, and it was exciting to see that everyone was trying and that everyone was working.”

St. Martin said Hopkins/Park put in the work to come back to make it a close game, but the small skills are important.

“The ending was tough after we clawed our way back into contention, but it’s a learning lesson to us about how the little things matter,” St. Martin said. “We tip our hats to Proctor/Hermantown’ they deserved to win that game with their performance and discipline on the ice.”

According to MN Girls’ Hockey Hub, Hopkins/Park will face Rogers at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at Rogers Ice Arena.