The varsity hockey squad is currently sitting at 4-2-1 after going 1-1-1 in the past two weeks. The team has beaten Whitman, lost to Landon and tied Churchill.
The team leader in goals continues to be sophomore wing Brett Strauss with seven, while sophomore center Robert Neill leads the team with 10 points. Senior Hunter Band is happy with the team’s performance so far this season. “I like where we’re at right now, I think we’ve played well so far,” Band said.
Sophomore Brett Strauss finished the season last year as a freshman with six points. Since he was a freshman, he wasn’t looked upon to have a big role, but Band knew that he had the ability to be great. “Even though he didn’t play as much as other people on the team, Brett showed that he can play at a high level,” Band said.
Strauss currently leads the team in scoring, while he also stays out of the penalty box, only having three on the year. Being a consistent scorer and someone who stays out of the penalty box is extremely important to a team’s success.
The Patriots took on Whitman on Nov. 19, winning 10-6. The team continued their strong offensive season, putting up a staggering 40 shots on goal. Senior center Jake Smith, junior forward Zeming Chen and junior forward Daniel Tomashevsky all finished with two goals, while junior Colin Brick saved 14 out of 20 shots on goal. Smith said he was in the zone against the Vikings. “I really felt great against Whitman,” Smith said.
The team went on to face Landon on Nov. 28. They lost 11-2. They were unable to get anything going after junior forward Scotty Collinson scored the first goal of the game. The Bears gave the Patriots a taste of their own medicine, putting up 40 shots of their own.
The Patriots went on to face rival Churchill on Nov. 30. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. The Bulldogs scored two quick goals. In the third period, the team trailed 2-0 with seven minutes remaining. Strauss scored a goal on the power play giving them some hope. With less than four minutes remaining, Neill added a goal of his own to tie up the game. The two teams then traded chances for the remaining time in regulation, resulting in a tie, much to the disappointment of all fans who attended. Disappointing both teams at the big rival game, the game was left as a tie and overtime did not take place. While the team didn’t win, they can be happy about the performance of their goalie, Brick, stopping 21 of 23 shots.
The Patriots took on B-CC on Dec. 7, too late to be covered in this issue.
