Feb 4, 2025 | By: Charlie Yaeger

Grand Rapids-Greenway Girls’ Hockey Enters 7AA Tourney on 5-Game Win Streak

The regular season of girls’ hockey has concluded and postseason play picks up this week. 13th-ranked Grand Rapids-Greenway is red hot heading into the Section 7AA tournament, having won their last five games to finish with a 19-5-1 record.

The Lightning are averaging nearly five goals a game, a full goal per game better than their past two seasons, while also holding opponents to just two-and-a-half goals. Much of that can be attributed to their staggering 888 shots on net this season, compared to their opponents’ 503.

“I think just telling girls ‘shots on net’ really does come a long ways,” forward Mira Rajala said of the shot differential. “It starts in our defensive zone and then working into the neutral zone. I think we’ve put a lot of work into that and then our offensive zone, too.”

“We definitely have a lot more to give because our season has been pretty uphill this year compared to other years,” the senior captain added. “I think that all the girls still have a lot more to give.”

GR-G now has their sights set on first round section opponent Northern Tier, but there is a shadow looming in the distance. In three of the last four years, Rapids has fallen just short of their goal of making the state tournament, finishing as the Section 7AA runner up to Andover. It’s a trend the Lightning would like to strike down this season.

“Obviously, we take it one game at a time, but that’s our end goal. We want to beat Andover and go to the state tournament,” admitted forward Ryleigh Sherlock. “We don’t want to keep getting second place. So that’s just kind of the motivation, the fire that’s spreading under us.”

“It would just make all the work that everybody’s put in for the team, the years that people have had getting second place – it would just make all of those things just go away and it’d be great,” added the senior captain.

Grand Rapids-Greenway enters the Section 7AA tournament as the 2-seed, with their opponent Northern Tier as the 7-seed. The Lightning beat Northern Tier in the first round of last year’s section tournament. Puck drop is this Thursday, February 6th at 6 p.m. in Yanmar Arena.

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