Coming off of a decent 10-7 season last year, capped off by a disappointing second-round loss to BCC 10-4, varsity ice hockey came into this year with high expectations.
The team lost lots of talent last year including all three of the team’s captains – Tim Yun, Grady Sellman and Ilhom Abdulaev – as well as seniors Cole Weber and Michael Murphy. The team has gained new talent to help fill the hole by the departed seniors, including sophomore Evan Batbold playing his first year for the hockey team after playing for his travel team full time last year. “All my friends wanted me to join the school team so I just figured why not,” Batbold said.
The team won their first game on Oct. 18 10-1 led by senior Nathan Tai, who had three goals. They won their next game on Oct. 25, 10-4 against BCC led by senior Sam Hosier with five goals. They won their next game 3-1 against upper Montgomery on Nov. 1 with two goals from Hosier. Then on Nov. 8, they beat Rockville 13-4. They continued their winning streak with a 13-4 win on Nov.15 against Richard Montgomery and a 10-1 win on Nov. 22 vs. Upper Montgomery.
The winning streak ended after a 6-5 loss to Sherwood and a 2-8 loss vs Whitman on Dec.13 . However, the team is still standing at a strong 6-2 and with a rivalry game vs. Churchill on Jan. 2 the team is looking to bounce back. “I think the team has had success this year due to many of us playing with each other for many years, building chemistry,” Hosier said.
The team ended the season last year on a disappointing note after losing in the second round of the playoffs to BCC 10-4. The team has built on this disappointing end to their season with their 6-1 record this year due to breakout seasons from Hosier, who has scored 24 goals and 10 assists in just their first seven games, along with other major contributors like Tai, who scored eight goals and eight assists, and senior Owen Goozh, who scored seven goals and six assists.
The team’s head coach, Tyler Greene, was suspended in the middle of last season for inappropriate misconduct toward an official, and assistant head coach Patrick Billingsly has had to take over for this season. Despite this, the team has persevered and started the season off strong, going into the second half of the season with high hopes of making a run in the playoffs.
The JV team has also had a successful start to the season going 6-0 in their first six games with their top scorer being sophomore Nathan Geeng with eight goals and six assists. The team won their final game vs sherwood 8-1 to end the season 7-0. The JV team’s success has shown that the program’s future is in good hands. “It’s been a good season so far. We have been a little short on players but we have made it work and still won games,” sophomore EJ Anderson said.
