Athletic Results: Boys Hockey

Mountaineers Remain In First Place

By: Emily Laurenzi

Lake Placid, NY--Last weekend National Sports Academy’s Varsity Men’s Hockey team went 2-0-1 in three games against the third place team in their division, the New England Stars.

NSA center Erik Hallin

As the top team in the IJHL, the Mountaineers know they have to show up to play every game. “It’s not always easy being the top team,” Erik Hallin said, “You have to learn not to play down.”

On Friday night NSA came out strong with a 6-3 win, never once giving up their lead. Brandon Patraw and Erik Hallin were star players for the Mountaineers each having two goals.

The second game didn’t start as well as the Mountaineers would have hoped. The Stars came out fast and caught NSA off guard. By the end of the first they had scored two goals leading the game 2-1.

Once again in the second period NSA came out slow and the Stars took advantage. By the end of the second NSA was trailing 5-4. Play was steady for most of the third period, until with only 2:49 left in the game, Zach Dymock buried the puck ending the game in a 5-5 draw.

NSA goalie Jakob Rasmussen

“The Stars must have gained some courage after Friday nights game,” said Mattia Laudi, “They came out really hard on Saturday.”

The final game of the weekend came to a start and NSA knew they had to come out harder then they had the previous game. Four minutes into the game, NSA took the lead.  The game remained 1-0 until only 40 seconds remained in the second period when Tyler Watts put one away to make it a 2-0 lead going into the third period.

Two more goals in the third period for the Mountaineers helped them on their way to a comfortable 4-1 victory. Jakob Rasmussen, NSA’s number one goalie, stood on his head, facing thirty-one shots and was able to keep the Mountaineers in the game. 

After each game one player is awarded the “hard hat” for outstanding play on the ice. This weekend the “hard hat” was given to Erik Hallin, Taylor Widenmaier, and Jakob Rasmussen.

The varsity team knew they didn't have their best weekend, however, they pulled through and still remain the number one team in the league.