By Grace Gertner
KYMN News Intern
Northfield girls hockey will open its 2026-2027 season in a new home Friday, Nov. 13, when the team takes the ice for its first official game at the new Hasse Ryt-Way Arena.
The Raiders will host Mound-Westonka at 7:15 p.m., marking the beginning of a season that brings new facilities, returning talent and high expectations following another successful campaign last year.
The Raiders finished the 2025-26 season with a 17-10-1 record and a shared conference championship with Mankato East, both finishing with 12-1-0 records and 34 points in the regular season. Now, the team will look to build on that success while adjusting to a new playing Environment.
“We’ve had a nice stretch of success in the five straight section finals, so our goal is to always get back there and get another crack at it,” said Jeff LaPanta, head coach of the Northfield girls hockey team.
The co-defending conference champs will return their top two goal scorers in the Peroutka sisters, Emma and Reese. Yet the Raiders sustained a huge loss with graduating National team members, Mia Miller, who is now playing at Minnesota State.
“It’s difficult to replace a player of that level, who earned a lot of her ice time,” LaPanta said. “But we’ve got five defensemen who have played in a lot of games together. And now those players have an opportunity for more ice time, so it’s really exciting.”
With high expectations from the previous seasons, and now playing in a new state-of-the-art
arena, coach LaPanta conveys that his team doesn’t feel any added pressure with playing in the new arena.
“Hockey’s hockey; once the lights come on, and you’re on the ice, nothing changes,” he said. “We’re kind of wearing out the newness, and getting into our new locker room space, but you’re not thinking about all those things while on the ice. Those ‘distractions’ really just boost our energy, and excitement to play this great game, and we just want to feed off that.”
The new arena provides several upgrades for the program. LaPanta said the team is grateful for the opportunity to have a facility that offers more resources for both players and coaches. “We’re extremely grateful, we have four pillars of our program, one being, gratitude,” he said.
“Walking into a state-of-the-art building, all of this is brand new for our program. The girls now have their locker room space, a beautiful dry land area for warm ups and space for training … it’s really exciting for the athletes.”
The improved conditions are expected to make a difference for both players and spectators. LaPanta noted that the new arena should provide a much more comfortable experience than the old Northfield Ice Arena.
With a successful season behind them and a new facility ahead, the Raiders will have an opportunity to establish a new home ice tradition while competing for another conference Championship.
Along with the home opener Friday, the Raiders will also be celebrating the 30th anniversary of girls high school hockey in Minnesota, marking an important milestone for the sport in Northfield and across the state.
Grace Gertsen is a KYMN News intern. Contact her through Rich Larson at rich@kymnradio.net
