The Prep Team in action at the Olympic Center in February 2023. Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge.
The Prep Team traveled to Minnesota at the end of February to compete in their league playoffs. This was the culmination of their season, and after this, the team only has four remaining games left in the season, two against St. Andrews College and two against Stanstead. More on those games later; here is how the playoff weekend went.
The Boys traveled to Minnesota on Thursday, and shortly after arriving, they bused to Shattuck St. Mary’s to complete a final practice before the fight for a championship began. The top two teams in the league, Shattuck and Mount Saint Charles, received a first-round bye. That meant that the remaining four teams would have to win to have a chance at playing one of those teams. Northwood was one of those remaining four teams, and the boys were scheduled to play Culver on Friday. This was a must-win game for the Huskies, and they had previously beaten Culver, so they knew they could win. Reportedly Coach Morris would always say “that he couldn’t want it for us.” That meant that the boys were ultimately capable of going as far as they wanted to this weekend. Sadly, Culver got the lead early on, making it a 1-0 game. At the end of the three periods the boys were trying to fight back into the game, but they couldn’t prevent Culver from making it 3-0. In the blink of an eye, Northwood’s chance of winning the championship were diminished. Although this was heartbreaking, every game presents an opportunity to learn from mistakes, and the most important thing was that the boys stepped up their game so they could at least get a win in the next two games.
Going into Saturday, the boys were scheduled to play South Kent. The boys knew they had to perform much better in this game, even without a championship. The game was a back-and-forth match between the two teams, with both teams scoring in the first period. The boys were looking a lot livelier in this game and clearly were dominating South Kent. The Second period came, and South Kent scored two goals, followed by one from Northwood, making the score 3-2 for South Kent going into the third period. Again, Northwood was dominating but the boys couldn’t seem to get one in the net. The game ended with another loss, even though Northwood outshot South Kent by about twenty. This was heartbreaking for the boys, but they still had an opportunity to win from the weekend. The third game would be against St. Andrews College. It was the most back-and-forth game of the weekend. The Huskies went into the game and were able to get an early two-goal lead. This early excitement was quickly suppressed when SAC was able to make it 2-2 before intermission. SAC came out the second period with a ferocity to score and the boys were caught running around, allowing SAC to score three compared to Northwood’s one in the second period. Going into the third period, it was clear the boys needed to settle down and return to how they needed to play. Towards the end of the third, the boys were able to tie up the game at 5-5, sparking hope on the Huskies bench. Heartbreakingly SAC was able to score with just under a minute remaining. The boys didn’t have time to get back that one. This loss made the record 0-3 on the weekend.
Although the weekend didn’t go how the Prep team wanted, they wanted to thank everyone for supporting them throughout the season and tuning in for the playoffs. The good news is that the boys will have a chance to redeem themselves against SAC in a week, so they will show them what Northwood hockey actually is. As usual, go Huskies, and I look forward to seeing how they match up in these last few games of the season.
