The ice hockey team prevailed against Sherwood in their first tournament game on February 10 after penalty shots and overtime, with a final score of 3-2. “We communicated pretty well, and we stuck up for each other,” freshman Ajeet Goraya said. “We tried our best the whole game through, we made it to shoot-out and that was fun, and then we won.”

While Sherwood is a very physical team, both teams started off with energy and speed, and RM was able to take the lead at the end of the first period with a goal by junior Dmitry Bilous. “I think our team did a good job working hard through the whole game, especially under pressure,” junior Peter Jasperse said. “Our goalie Alex [was a major contributor to our team]. He really kept us in the game with several critical saves.”

Despite no RM penalties to report in the first or second period, a short scrapple between several RM and Sherwood players resulted in junior Julia Kochman being put in the penalty box for slashing towards the end of the third period. Sherwood continued to threaten the Rockets’ goal with aggressive shots, but in addition to their goalie, RM kept the pressure on Sherwood with the help of several key players.

“Adrian’s a good leader, and Dmitry is pretty good and he’s also a pretty good leader as well. He hypes up the team, and he just brings the team together,” Goraya reflected. “Peter is a really good defender and he stops a lot, and Jacob is reliable and he gets the job done.” With the skill and support of these players and the rest of the team, the third and final period ended with a score of 2-2, and the Rockets went into overtime.

Both Sherwood and RM battled for control of the puck and took shots on goal, but at the end of the five-minute overtime, the teams were still tied. Penalty shots for RM were taken by juniors Adrian Martella, Dmitry Bilous and Peter Jasperse, sophomore Jacob Logsdon and freshman TJ Moutchi. The team who scored the most goals out of five shots would clinch the game.

After missed shots by Sherwood and RM, Logsdon’s shot finally hit the sweet spot in the back of the net, giving RM a one-point advantage. ““We wanted to win, it is as simple as that,” Jasperse said. Despite loud cheers from their fans and concentrated effort, Sherwood was unable to make any of their penalty shots, giving the Rockets the win.

This year’s ice hockey team has no seniors, meaning all of the players will be able to return next year to continue improving their game. “We need to work on getting more shots on net and capitalizing on our opportunities,” Jasperse explained. “We want to win our next game and advance as far as we can. Next season, we’ll see if we can go undefeated again.”

Goraya, who is currently a freshman, also hopes that their team will continue to play well in the coming seasons, possibly against teams in a higher division. “In the future I’m pretty sure we’re going to go up to the other division playing up against other teams, better teams. So I don’t expect a big difference when I’m a senior because this was a pretty good season,” Goraya said.

Ice hockey will play in their next tournament game on Monday, President’s Day. They want to win and continue to advance in the tournament, but like Goraya, the team is also proud of what they have already accomplished this season: “If every season is like this, then that’s great. I couldn’t really expect any more,” he said.

Photos by Maddie Franke.