After scoring the game-winning goal against Edina with four minutes remaining in last year’s Class 2A state semifinals, Hill-Murray senior Laura Anderson entered the teams' regular-season matchup at Aldrich Arena on Wednesday as a primary suspect to blemish the Hornets' current unbeaten record.
She ended up being an accomplice.
Anderson contributed to both goals in the Pioneers’ 2-0 win that dropped Edina's mark to 6-1, but it was junior Lindsey Featherstone’s opening goal that made the most noise.
Featherstone, who assisted Anderson’s game-winner in March, chased down a chipped pass from Anderson in the third minute of play and fired a shot that hit the top left corner of the goalpost and went bar down.
The ringing triggered an uproar from the Hill-Murray fans while bringing Edina’s crowd to its feet and compelled those in attendance to throw teddy bears onto the ice. The toys will be donated to the Angel Foundation, which distributes them to area children battling cancer.
It was an act of kindness in a game between burgeoning adversaries.
“They beat us last year early on in the season, and then we beat them in the semis,” Featherstone said. “They’re definitely a rival now."
“We were all riled up for this one," she added.
Anderson added an insurance goal seven minutes later off a touch pass from Featherstone in the slot, just as the Pioneers (8-0) were back to full strength.
The duo has been troublesome to Hornets junior goaltender Anna Goldstein the past two meetings, and Hill-Murray coach Bill Schafhauser sees his top two skaters as a case of thunder and lightning.
Anderson, a Yale commit whose strong presence in front of the net keeps defenders at bay, leads the Pioneers with 12 goals on the season.
Featherstone, who’s committed to Bemidji State, provides the speed to create sporadic scoring chances and is the team’s primary playmaker with 11 assists.
They are tied for the team lead in points with 15, and while there is friendly competition for who’ll be Hill-Murray's top scorer, the pair compliment each other more so.
“(Lindsey and I) are at the point we kinda know where we’re gonna be and with Kate (Smith) on our line - I think she’s one of the smartest hockey players - we all really feed of each other,” Anderson said.
The Pioneers have been the top-ranked team in the Class 2A coaches’ poll all season, and while Schafhauser was happy with his first line’s production, he knows there is more to be improved upon.
“When we’re on and playing well, our regroups and transition play is really good,” he said. “There were times when we were rough around the edges and lost our flow.”
The quick neutral zone transitions created enough opportunity for Hill-Murray in the first period as it struggled to find No. 3-2A Edina’s net the rest of the way.
A member of the Pioneers' back-to-back state championship teams, Anderson has seen the different challenges the team has had to overcome each season.
“Every year we have a new group of girls, so each season is different building off the past years,” she said.
With a potential second title defense still months ahead, Schafhauser said his team must continue to progress to three-peat.
“Time flies. It’s amazing we're already a third of the way through the season,” he said. “In the first period we had good energy and some nice goals, but the girls know there’s a lot of work to be done and a lot of things have to fall in place for that to happen.”
Edina forward CC Bowlby tries to bust loose between a pair of Hill-Murray defenders in a 2-0 loss on Wednesday. Photo by Rick Orndorf
First Report
Junior Lindsey Featherstone and senior Laura Anderson each scored a first-period goal as Hill-Murray coasted past Edina 2-0 to hand the Hornets their first loss of the season Wednesday night at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood.
Ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A coaches’ poll, the Pioneers (8-0) have opened December on a hot streak, outscoring their opponents 24-1 in four victories during the first nine days of the month.
Featherstone and Anderson also assisted each other's goals, which were scored within the game's first 10 minutes.
No. 3-2A Edina (6-1) had eight minutes on the power play and committed no penalties in the game.
Hornets junior goaltender Anna Goldstein made 20 saves, while Pioneers freshman Ava Bailey turned aside 20 shots for her second career shutout in four starts.
