The Varsity team played another weekend at home at the Lake Placid Olympic Center, where they faced Culver Military Academy, South Kent, and Ontario Hockey Academy. This was a weekend the boys will never forget.
Photos by Jacob Slagel ’26
The Varsity team had a special person on the bench that weekend: Gino Riffle, the Headmaster of Northwood School. Gino worked with the defensemen throughout the weekend and was truly impressed with the team’s performance.
The first game was against Culver Academy. The varsity team was hounding Culver in the first half, leading to a goal by Drew Tulloch ’26 from the blue line on the power play. The boys were fired up to score the opening goal, and shortly after, Northwood scored again by Elliot Murch ’27, pushing the lead to 2-0. Northwood and Culver were back and forth until Varsity found another goal by Drew Tulloch, sniping one from the blue line again. Northwood ended the half up by 3, and Culver was showing no signs of life at the end of the half.
The second half began with Northwood still putting their foot on the gas, with Northwood opening the second half with a goal by Willem McArthur ’28. Culver could not find a goal, with Luke Hurlbut ’26 playing an amazing game between the pipes, not letting anything through. Varsity was not stopping there, pushing the lead 5-0 with a goal by Matthew Kernan ’27, who was able to sneak one past the Culver goalie. Varsity wanted to seal the deal with another goal at the end of the half by Jett Travis ’27. The Varsity won game 1 6-0.
“I was truly impressed with the team’s performance this game; they really brought out their full effort by just taking over the show,” Drew Tulloch ’26 said.
“I was really impressed by Luke Hurlbut ’26. The saves he made throughout the game were unbelievable. Luke was able to stop every puck, and Culver couldn’t figure out how to score on him,” Harry Vant ’26 added.
In the second game, Northwood went against Culver Academy again. Northwood was excited for the rematch against Culver. Varsity opened the scoring again in the first half, with Elliot Murch ’27 shooting one from the top of the circle’s short side. Throughout the first half, Northwood and Culver were really battling it out, but Northwood came on top at the end of the first half, scoring a goal by Willem McArthur ’28, ending the half 2-0.
In the second half, Northwood and Culver battled back and forth, neither knowing who would score next. Shortly after, Northwood forward Griffin Mangan ’26 sniped one short side on the Culver goalie, completely shocking the goalie and sending his water bottle flying in the air. Ethan Nau ’26 played an amazing game against Culver, allowing no pucks to get past him. Northwood sealed the game 3-0, taking their second win of the weekend.
“The game was much closer than the last one, but I was dialed in the net, not letting any puck pass me, so I was not worried at all, and we were able to take the game 3-0,” Ethan Nau ’26 said.
I was happy that we took game 2, and I was impressed by Willem. He is really stepping up despite his young age. Willem is pushing his hardest to get the win, and I respect that,” Andrew Sherland ’26 added.
In the third game, Northwood went against South Kent at Saranac Lake. South Kent came out flying, scoring a goal right away on Luke Monaco ’27, but Northwood was able to answer back with a goal by Carson St’ Louis ’27, a tap-in rebound on the power play. Northwood was not ready to end it there; the team ended up scoring two goals before the end of the first half, with Ray Peters ’27 and Jackson Marchione ’27 taking the lead 3-1 at the end.
In the second half, Northwood came out hounding South Kent. The team was physical, throwing bodies around and making the right play, but the wave turned the other way, and South Kent scored two goals back-to-back, tying the game at 3-3. Northwood was not ready to give up; they turned on the jets and absolutely went beast mode on South Kent, scoring two goals back-to-back by Griffin Mangan ’26 and Jett Travis ’27, making it 5-3. By the end of the second, Northwood came out on top, taking their third win of the weekend.
“This game was most likely to be the best game of the weekend, with South Kent being a good team, but our team was better. We came out with the win and showed who was really on top,” Ryan Demers ’27 said. “I was impressed with our defensive game that day; we were really boxing them out,” Ryan added.
“I really enjoyed watching this game. The team was pushing hard and scoring on the chances that were given to us,” Ray Peters ’27 said.
In the Fourth game, Northwood faced Ontario Hockey Academy, and Northwood came into the game with one goal in mind: to complete the weekend sweep. The Varsity came out hot, scoring two goals 15 minutes into the first half by Jett Travis ’27 and Jack Pitts ’27. Northwood and OHA were going back and forth throughout the rest of the half until Northwood found another goal by Willem McArthur ’28, who was able to tuck one past the OHA goalie, bringing the score 3-0 at the end of the first half.
In the Second half, Northwood came out slow with OHA finding a goal 5 minutes in the half, seeking one past Luke Hurlbut ’26. Shortly after, Northwood was able to find a goal by Elliot Murch ’27, sniping one from the top of the circle. After both teams went back and forth, OHA found another goal on the powerplay short side on Luke, but he wasn’t fazed by it. Northwood wanted to seal the deal with Griffin Mangan ’26 sniping again short side on the goalie, and the young guy on the Varsity found his fourth goal of the weekend and his second goal of the game by Willem McArthur ’28. Northwood came out taking their fourth win of the weekend, 6-2 over OHA.
“I’m proud of the performance by the Varsity team this weekend. They really showed what this team can do, and I am excited for our next weekend,” Jack Ide ’26 said.
“Another person who stepped up this weekend was Griffin; he played an amazing weekend, scoring three goals and using his speed to gain the advantage,” Carson St. Louis ’27 added.
Overall, the Varsity team took the weekend by storm to complete the sweep, and the Varsity picked a good weekend to get hot because the 46th Annual Northwood Tournament is just around the corner.
