The Wright County River Hawks girls hockey team faced a tough opponent in the Buffalo Bison on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at the Moose Sherritt Arena in Monticello. After struggling defensively, the River Hawks fell to their Mississippi 8 Conference rival 3-1. "I felt, for the most part, we gave Buffalo the win," River Hawks coach Tim Hanson said. "We gave up two really soft goals and we weren’t able to beat (Bison) goaltender Hailey Morningstar in the net." The last goal was an open netter. Saves totaled 22 for Morningstar and 14 for the River Hawks’ Amanda Koep. Freshman Kaleigh Hamann had the Wright County team’s lone goal on a tip in front of the net on Allie Olson’s shot from the blue line during a power play. "We will have to take care of business the rest of the way in conference play if we want to win it for a third straight season," Hanson said. "We can’t have another loss in the Mississippi 8 if we want to repeat." The River Hawks are made up of players from Annandale, St. Michael-Albertville and Monticello. They are now 6-4 overall. Up next is Mound-Westonka at St. Michael-Albertville, Thursday, Dec. 30, at 7 p.m. -Brenda Erdahl
