Cretin-Derham Hall coach Brooke White-Lancette has a formula for beating a nearly unbeatable goaltender. 

Create chaos. 

“Take away the eyes,” White-Lancette said on Saturday afternoon. “Get screens in there and get rebounds. That’s what we did and it was good.”

White-Lancette’s Raiders flung shots from all over the offensive zone and spent their fair share of time buzzing around Forest Lake goaltender Josie Bothun on Saturday, racking up four goals and adding an empty-net tally to hand Forest Lake a 5-2 loss in the regular season finale for the Raiders.

Bothun, a sophomore, entered the game with a goals-against average of 0.98 and a 3-0 shutout win over the Raiders already this season.   

“We have so much speed on this team,” White-Lancette said.  

“Realizing that and being able to drive to the net and create those opportunities (is beneficial),” White-Lancette added.

Raider senior forward Anna Klein opened the scoring early in the second period, a goal answered by Bailey O’Donovan of Forest Lake (19-4-1). 

Kennedy Spiering and Erin Meyers tacked on goals for the Raiders (12-11-2) in the second, with Makyala Lenz extending the Cretin-Derham Hall lead to 4-1 in the third period. 

Forest Lake, ranked No. 10 in the latest Youth Hockey Hub Class 2A Staff Rankings, pulled within two on a power-play goal by Brieja Parent with 3:20 remaining in regulation, swiping the momentum from the Raiders and proceeding to pepper goaltender Megan Meyers with roughly a dozen shots in the game’s final moments. 

During a timeout, White-Lancette told her team to forget scoring. 

“Keep it simple,” White-Lancette said. “Keep pucks to the outside, we don’t need another goal. Just keep it simple, play smart.”

The Raiders executed and escaped with the win, with Emily King putting the game out of reach with an empty-netter with seconds on the clock. 

For the Rangers, the loss is just the second in the team’s last sixteen games, as the Raiders earn their second victory in their last seven contests.