Boys’ Varsity Hockey Bests New Hampton School
By: Ashley Jiang, Vir Shrestha
With thorough preparation, the boys’ varsity hockey team prevailed over New Hampton School in a decisive comeback win with a score of 4-2 on Dec. 15.
While the team managed to end the game strongly, the same can’t be said about how things started off. Lower Christian Maro commented on their competition saying, “New Hampton School played a physical game which made it hard to settle in.”
Head coach Timothy Mitropoulos agreed. “Our team brought good energy with their level of intensity and play. We played better as the game went on. We started slow and played our best hockey in the third period. We did not allow a single goal in that period,” Mitropoulos said.
Assistant coach Brandon Hew described the players’ resilience in the third period, putting extra emphasis on the team's stellar defensive effort. “Once we took the lead in the third period, I thought it was a very good team effort to close out the game and get the win,” Hew said. “Killing off their 5-on-3 powerplay in the third was especially huge for us.”
“It was a good win for us, especially coming off a tough road loss at St. Sebastian’s the game before,” Hew added.
Many players took note of the audience’s energy feeding into their playing. “The crowd was a great bonus. I’m enjoying the lively atmosphere through high competition and teammates,” senior and co-captain Manan Mendiratta stated.
Mendiratta additionally shared that the team is keeping up the training regimen during the pandemic. “We are hosting daily zoom sessions to watch films. We’re more intentional before games on what we watch and the things we focus on. In game, the team is always ready to adapt though,” Mendiratta said.
Maro agreed. “Coming off a long stretch of games the week before, now we focus on film, while having short high intensity practices to allow for some recovery.”
Mitropoulos is proud of the team’s consistent effort. “The team focused on getting better every day and competing hard from the defensive zone outward,” he said. “Every chance we get to play, we will not take it for granted.”
Even though the team puts in a lot of effort towards the games, the players never lose sight of the individual wins. “Piersimoni took control in the second period with an early goal and a great pass to Ryan Sordillo to tie the game,” Maro said.
“[It was a] big group effort, a bounce back game for us,” Mendiratta recalled. “Shoutout to goalie Michael Salvatore, who helped keep the defense in shape, and started the transition to offensive plays.”
Maro also went on to highlight the contributions of senior Charlie McGurrin. “McGurrin scored the [game winning goal], breaking the tie in the third,” Maro said. “All season, Charlie has been clutch, scoring goals at the most crucial moments of the game.”
“Charlie applied pressure offensively all game with many shots on goal,” lower Reilly Piersimoni added.
“We have a great team this year, and hopefully we can build off what we did before break and have a great rest of the season,” Maro concluded. The boys look forward to competing in an intense season ahead with a current record of 4-3-2.
