Former Brookline hockey players filled the stands of the Walter Brown Arena as the hockey game began, cheering loudly for their former teammates as they appeared on the rink for hockey alumni day.

The boys varsity hockey team lost 3-0 against the Wellesley Raiders on Saturday, Dec. 17. Following the loss, their record changes to 0-2.

The game started off strong, with the Warriors winning first possession of the puck. Though the teams spent an equal amount of time on offense and defense, neither was able to score a goal. Near the end of the first period, the Warriors were penalized and defenseman and junior Noah Gurdin had to sit out of the game for two minutes with no substitution. The Raiders were not able to capitalize on this advantage, leaving the period scoreless.

Head coach Anthony Sarno said that the team did well in the first period.

“I thought we held our own. We were doing all the little things that we should have been doing,” Sarno said.

During the second period, the Raiders started with one more player and scored. The Warriors received another penalty in the middle of the period, but their defense held out and prevented the Raiders from scoring. Near the end of the period, the Raiders scored again, ending the period up 2-0.

Sarno said the reason they lost the focus they previously had was because the players didn’t take charge when they could.

“We did a lot of giving. We gave them opportunities to score instead of taking them for ourselves,” Sarno said. “And when you start doing that, and you start sitting back on your heels, bad things happen.”

The Warriors were able to regroup and regain focus in the third period. Though the team mostly stayed on defense, goalie and freshman Craig Haas blocked a majority of the Raiders’ attempts at scoring. The Raiders scored one goal in the middle of the period, but Haas recovered and stayed strong throughout the rest of the period. Sarno said Haas kept the Warriors in the game.

Haas said that coming out of the game, he had a few specifics he felt that he could work on.

“I’m definitely going to talk to my defense more and make sure they know who’s behind them at all times,” Haas said. “We definitely could have done better.”

Sarno said that apart from being more active, he felt that the team needed to improve on strategy and reaction.
“We got a good bunch of kids,” Sarno said. “But now we gotta turn ’em into guys that can identify what’s going on out there and react to it in a positive way.”