The Prep Team celebrates the win at the 2022 South Kent Classic (Photo: Northwood Athletics).
The Boys Prep Hockey Team had an outstanding weekend at the South Kent Fall Classic that the team sees as a milestone and another step towards proving this year’s team identity. Until this weekend the boys hadn’t made a statement against any top team, but the games at South Kent showed that this year’s Prep Team has great potential and that they are a team that opponents should respect. Here are the results of the weekend.
The boys started the weekend with a Friday game versus the New Jersey Rockets, a team that had some skill but ultimately could not hang with the Huskies. The Huskies came out with a strong start but not without a push by the Rockets. The Rockets were able to put in 2 goals, but the boys were able to net 4, a great start to the weekend since recently the team hasn’t been able to produce as much.
The Saturday game against a 13-0 South Kent was the defining moment of the weekend. This game was especially important because South Kent is a member of the Prep Hockey Conference, the elite league that Northwood is a part of. The game started and in the first shift Nikita Meshcheryakov ‘23, a big point producer for the Huskies, scored to give the Huskies an important early lead. Coach Morris talks about how momentum is key in winning a game, because if it isn’t used then it can lose you the game. The boys were luckily able to ride the momentum and you could feel in the air of the rink that this was going to be a good game for the Huskies. The team was able to score 2 more goals, adding more and more momentum. This was not without a push by South Kent, who was able to tally a goal. The game ended with the Huskies winning 3-1, handing South Kent its first loss of the season.
The win over South Kent gave the team confidence going into the Sunday game against NAX, a team that was more physical than the previous games. NAX came out cocky and scored, putting them up 1-0. This act of trying to stay in the game was quickly shut down by an aggressive Husky team. The boys were 2-0 on the weekend and they were not going to let this team into the game. The team scored goal after goal until they reached a 4-1 lead, which resulted in the NAX team being more physical because they were being dominated. The boys resisted these acts of aggression and came out with the win. Not only was the team able to lift the banner, but they were also able to start their journey to becoming the team that they should be.
After the game, Coach Morris said, “We will not go back from this,” making sure the team had the mindset of never being content with where we are. Morris believed the team pulled together and rode the momentum. “You could feel it on the bench, the energy of everyone playing for each other,” Morris said.
This was an important weekend for the boys, and Northwood wishes them more luck throughout the season, and that they continue to ride the momentum of this outstanding victory. Go Huskies!
