Looking to match the success of the previous weekend, the Junior Team faced off against Islanders Hockey Club this past weekend.

The Junior Team bench at a game at the Olympic Center in September 2019 (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge).

On Saturday night, Northwood traveled to Plattsburgh. Getting off to a good start was Ray Fust ‘21 (Forward), as he scored the first goal of the weekend. With a mere thirty seconds left in the first, Jack Schlifke ‘20 (Forward) scored a goal off a costly turnover from IHC. Heading into the second period with a two-goal lead, Northwood took full control of the game. Fust, Mark Monaco ‘21 (Forward), and Daniel Colabufo ‘20 (Forward) each scored, pushing the score up to 5-0. In the third period, Northwood built on their lead. More goals came from Fust, Colabufo, and Jacob Guevin ‘22 (Defense). Kannon Flageolle ‘21 (Goalie) shut the door for the entire match to record another Northwood shutout. Overall, the Huskies won 10-0. The highlights of the game were Fust’s scoring of four goals and Colabufo’s hat-trick in his first game back from injury.

After a dominating victory the night before, the Junior Team looked to defend home ice, where they would face off against IHC again. Keeping the momentum from the previous night, Fust capitalized on a shot from the slot to give Northwood an early lead. As the period went on, neither of the teams scored. In the second period, coming out with a spark, Guevin scored another goal for Northwood to double the lead. Just moments later, both Cisco Delliquadri ‘20 (Forward) and Guevin added two more goals, giving Northwood a 4-0 lead. Not giving up was IHC, as they shortly found the back of the net to cut into the lead. The momentum that they grabbed didn’t last long as Patrick Doyle ‘20 (Forward) scored with just a minute left in the period. Going into the third, Northwood knew that they needed to keep their game up and not let the Islanders get any chance at victory. Little over half-way through the final period, IHC was able to find the back of the net off a misplay by Northwood. Responding quickly was Colabufo as he scored from the slot, off a feed from Jack Schlifke ‘20, giving Northwood a 6-2 victory, and two wins on the weekend.

Before going off on holiday break, the Junior Team heads to St. Sebastian’s, where they will face off in the annual St. Sebastian’s tournament.

Thanksgiving Break ended early for the Girls’ Hockey team as they traveled south on Thanksgiving Day for a major hockey tournament Nashville. The girls had just one thing on their minds: winning hockey games. However, after their business was taken care of, the girls enjoyed their free time exploring the city. Unfortunately, a winter storm made getting back to Northwood a challenge for the majority of the girls.

Nashville’s Lower Broadway (Photo: globeguide.ca)

The girls boarded planes as most of their classmates bellied up to the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day. After a short break, the girls reunited and shared a Thanksgiving meal prepared and hosted by Milly and Jeff Smith, parents of sophomore Iliana Smith ‘22. The girls, and the many family members who joined them, are very thankful for the evening.

After getting another five games under the team’s belt it was time for the girls to enjoy the city of Nashville. On Sunday evening, the team and families took a trip downtown, where they were able to walk down Broadway, enjoy dinner with live music, and sing some karaoke in front of a crowd.

After some days in the warm Nashville air, the girls had a rude awakening when they started their journey home: a major snowstorm in the Northeast canceled or delayed nearly all of their flights. The team wound up separated and stranded all across the country at different airports. Nearly every player experienced significant delays or cancelations.

The entire team made it back to school safely by dinner on Tuesday and they all got right back to work with practice on Wednesday to begin preparation for a big tournament in Connecticut December 13-15.

After full preparation in the gym and on the mountains of Austria, it’s time for Northwood skiers to begin their long winter season.

Gabby Cote ’20 (center) hopes for more podium finished this season (Photo: NYSEF).

Two weekends ago, Katie Gilligan, Alpine Ski Coach, and a small selection of NYSEF skiers hit the road for Sunday River in Maine. Besides the two seniors, Julia Geraldi ‘20 and Andrew Van Slyke ‘20, the other skiers, Audrey Higgens-Lopez ‘21, Gabby Cote ‘21, and Jaden Klebba ‘21 had their first FIS races ever. Cote said, “It went great for the first race of the season. We all skied up to our abilities and got a sense of what it’s like skiing at a higher level.” She added, “I’m very psyched for this season. The ski team’s got some really good training in, and we all continue to improve. Based on how we all did as a group on our first race, we’re going to kick butt this season!”

Now that skiing season is in full swing, Northwood skiers are out on Whiteface Mountain more than four days a week, traveling all across the country for races. Their second race took place this past weekend back in Sunday River.

Each year, the Northwood ski racers launch their season with a training camp, and this year the team trained on a glacier in Austria. “Ski clubs, academies, and programs often train in other countries to get days of training before there’s enough snow here in the States,” Coach Terry DelliQuadri, Director of Alpine Skiing, explained.

Every day for two weeks, the ski racers in Austria woke up for breakfast at 6:30 AM, got on the bus to the mountain at 7:20 AM, had their first runs at 8:00 AM, and trained until 12:30 AM. After lunch, they trained some more and headed back to their hotel in the afternoon. In the midst of this tight schedule, the skiers continued to balance rigorous training and schoolwork. “Even though we did have study hall every day, many of the skiers were stressed out. They had to put in extra work to get caught up,” said Coach DelliQuadri.

On their way back, the athletes had a five-hour bus ride to Zürich, Austria, followed by a flight to Newark Airport, and then rode a bus back to school. They came back at around 2:00 AM but were back in class the next day.

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Facing the Junior Bruins in a pair of home games, Northwood’s Junior Team looked to build off of their win against the Chicago Mission a weekend ago.

Zachary Ellsworth ’20 in action (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge)

Starting the weekend off Saturday night, both the Huskies and the Junior Bruins got off to a relatively slow start. Neither team was able to find the back of the net for most of the first period until Mark Monaco (Forward, 2021) put the puck off the crossbar and in the net to give Northwood the 1-0 lead. The score remained the same heading into the final period. Starting off the final period hot was Ray Fust (Forward, 2021), as he scored just a minute into the third to double Northwood’s lead. As the period went on, the Junior Bruins got a goal of their own, but that wasn’t enough as the Junior Team added four more of their own. Goals by Daniel Colabufo (Forward, 2020), Johnny Cielo (Forward, 2021), Zachary Sedlacek (Forward, 2022), and William Rosen (Forward, 2020) pushed the final score to 6-1 in favor of Northwood.

The following day, Northwood hoped to close out the weekend sweep. Felix Trudeau (Forward, 2021) initiated Northwood’s scoring streak, scoring eleven minutes into the period. A minute later, Will Donato (Forward, 2022) score made the score 2-0. Before the period was over the junior bruins, cut the lead in half as they would score a goal of their own and take some of the momentum back. As the second period started, the junior team looked to build on their lead, which is what they did as Donato would score again to make it a two-goal game. Getting another quick strike would be Monaco as he would score off a won faceoff to make the lead three goals. The Bruins would not give up as they would score two more of their own to close out the second period with a score of 4-3 in favor of Northwood. Both of the teams would play in a defensive battle for most of the third period as neither team would score until Donato would score again, giving him a hat trick and Northwood the weekend sweep.

Northwood looks to continue their hot steak by heading to Stanstead College, where they will play a game against Upper Canada College and Kimball Union Academy.