The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School varsity hockey team was defeated by North Broward Preparatory School in their first game of their season. On Monday, Oct. 2, they finished the game with a final score of 6-2. The game was held at the Panthers Ice Den in Coral Springs.
Considering this was the first game of the hockey season, fans of both schools showed up to show their support during the game. Besides the bleachers being filled, the top view of the arena was also full of supporters.
The match began with a goal shortside from North Broward, putting them in the lead during the first five minutes of the first period. North Broward got their first penalty of the game due to a cross-checking to the Eagles. However, the Eagles were unable to take advantage of this penalty.
The remainder of the period was quiet until the last couple of minutes when North Broward scored again. They extended their lead to 2-0.
As the second period began, North Broward expanded their lead to 3-0, putting the Eagles in a difficult position to try and take the lead.
North Broward scored two more goals making the score 5-0. As the second period neared its end, North Broward got their second penalty of the night again from cross-checking the Eagles. Although this created a chance for the Eagles to score, they were unable to take advantage of it,
“We moved the puck and cleared it out of the zone,” defensive man Joseph Lisewski (44) said. “We tried to get some goals.”
As the second period was about to end, North Broward scored again making them 6-0. The Eagles earned their first penalty of the night for cross-checking North Broward.
As the third period began, the Eagles scored their first goal of the night. The goal cut the lead of North Broward down to five.
“The team honestly played a lot stronger than we thought and shut down many chances our opponents had,” captain and forward Colton (13) said.
North Broward got their third penalty of the night, setting them back a player, giving an advantage to the Eagles. They took advantage of this and scored their second goal of the night to make it a 6-2 game.
Following the goal, neither team scored again and the game ended 6-2 in favor of North Broward.
“Some adjustments we need to make for our next match is capitalizing on offense and putting the puck in the back of the net,” Colton said. “To make sure we do this I would advise my teammates to get lots of shots on net.”
The Eagles put in effort to secure a win and are planning to increase their training intensity for their upcoming matches. They feel as though their teamwork was strong on and off the ice.
“I think we really had our energy up out there, we had some really great speeches and overall everyone had great spirit going into our first match,” goalie Matthew Schreier (98) said.
The Eagles thought they played strong throughout the three periods, and worked together in order to achieve good teamwork. The team had good defense and defended their goal.
Overall, the Eagles tried to pull through the game, with strong defense and good plays all throughout, but were not able to obtain the win. The team will be preparing for their upcoming matches. Their next game is on Saturday, Oct. 14, against St. Thomas Aquinas High School, at the Panthers Ice Den.
