Two games into the regular season, the Robins are still looking for their first win after a hard fought 6-4 loss to the Maple Grove Crimson. The young Robins’ roster continues to work hard and develop their skills and everyone is making steady progress despite not being able to get themselves in the win column. As this game progressed, the Robins improved their ability to pressure the Crimson defense by moving the puck and being aggressive, but just weren’t quick enough to keep up with the front line of Maple Grove. Sam Roles and Marcus Brady each scored two goals, with Roles also earning an assist. Ava Hetteen and Jayda Johnson both made significant progress in their aggressiveness and defensive positioning in addition to each of them earning assists by making some great passes. Edgar Kinanga made 18 saves as goalie and Darius Larson blocked 7 shots. The Robins will continue their quest for victory #1 next Tuesday when they host Anoka-Hennepin.

In the floor hockey regular season opener, the Robins faced off against the defending state champion Brainerd Warriors and were handed a 12-2 loss. Brainerd took control in the first 90 seconds of the game, scoring 3 times and never looked back from there. The youthful Robins looked overmatched at almost every position, however their confidence grew and their game play improved steadily throughout the game. The Robins looked really good in the first 8 minutes of the third period, putting consistent pressure on the Brainerd defense, despite netting just one goal in that span. Sam Roles scored both goals for the Robins, with one assisted by Ava Hetteen and the other assisted by Mark Cleveland. Marcus Brady handled the goalkeeping duties in the first period before handing things off to Edgar Kinanga for the second and third periods. The Robins are back in action on Thurday when they host the Maple Grove Crimson.

The Robins traveled to Rochester, MN over the weekend to participate in the Andrew Cormack Invitational Floor Hockey Tournament, sponsored by the Rochester Raiders. This was the 17th year the Robins have been a part of this fantastic event. The Robins were not able to pick up any wins in the tournament, falling to the Raiders 9-1, Dakota United 4-0, and the Brainerd Warriors 7-2, but what they did pick up was lots of valuable playing experience. Ten of the Robins’ seventeen players are ninth grade or younger, meaning there is lots of work to be done this season. Everyone played hard all weekend, and lots of improvement was made…something that would have been difficult to do with inter-squad practices. These experiences will go a long way toward the Robins success later this season, and for many seasons to come. Thank you to all the parents that put in the time and effort to get there athletes to Rochester for this awesome tournament. The Robins now set their sights on the regular season opener on January 28 against Brainerd.

The Robins finished off an unbeaten regular season this afternoon with a 9-4 win over the Anoka-Hennepin Mustangs. For the second straight game, the Robins took a 4-1 lead into halftime and maintained control of the game throughout. The Mustangs got as close as 6-3, but Sam Roles’ scoring abilities proved to be too much to handle. Roles scored 7 goals, tying an all-time single game team record set two different times by the Robins’ all-time career goals leader, Erin Nickell. Roles final goal was the 100th of his career. Other goal scorers for the Robins include Ava Hetteen and Marcus Brady with 1 each. Santana Washington, Micah Bomgardner, Josh Reis and Lucas Harper were all credited with assists. Lucas Harper made 12 saves. Darius Larson blocked 11 shots and Edgar Kinange blocked 10. The Robins are the North Conference regular season champions and will be seeded #1 at the state tournament on November 22 & 23. Way to go, Robins!

The Robins faced the Park Center Pirates for the third and final time this season, and appeared to be on their way to their third victory after the first half. The Robins led 4-1 at half time and 7-4 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the game. The Pirates then got hot, netting 3 goals in just over two minutes, leading to a tied game with the a final score of 7-7. Sam Roles finished the game with 4 goals and 2 assists. Marcus Brady, Jayda Johnson and Santana Washington all scored one goal each. Lucas Harper made 16 saves while Edgar Kinanga blocked 14 shots and Darius Larson blocked 9. The Robins close out the season on the road against Anoka-Hennepin on 10/31.