The boys varsity hockey team fell 6-1 to the Weymouth Wildcats on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at the Walter Brown Arena during their season opener. Though the game was hard fought, the Warriors felt their nerves, ultimately losing them the match.

The Wildcats showed strong offensive tactics immediately after the face-off, scoring a goal before the three minute mark.

Shortly after the initial goal, an on-ice altercation broke out between senior and co-captain Stephan MacDougall and the Wildcats’ forward. This lit a fire in senior and co-captain Emmet Teahan, who scored shortly after and brought the score to 1-1.

Despite freshman Craig Haas’s excellent goalkeeping, the Warriors’ defense struggled to keep the Wildcats’ aggressive offense from scoring. There were occasional sloppy play on both sides, but when it came to loose pucks, the Wildcats often took possession and they scored twice during the second period.

Once the Wildcats gained the upper hand, they had enough confidence and momentum to score three more goals during the third period, ending the game 6-1.

Although the game was hard fought, junior and co-captain Noah Gurdin said he felt like he and other leaders on the team could have given Haas more support.

“I think it starts with the leaders on the team. I don’t think we really stepped up. Our goalie hung in there the whole entire time, and we didn’t back him up, which I think ultimately lost us the game,” Gurdin said.

Senior Marcus Paes said although he is excited for the upcoming season, he thinks the team needs to focus on game strategy and team dynamics before working towards playoffs.

“We’d love to make the playoffs, but we know this team is new. We’ve got a lot of freshmen, sophomores and newcomers, so we just want to take it one step at a time. We’ll work on our game, study that first and then focus on playoffs,” Paes said.

Anthony Sarno, the team’s new head coach, said there have been changes to the team compared to last year, and with changes there will be challenges to follow.

“It’s the first home game; I think the nerves were there,” Sarno said. “New coach, new players for the most part, a lot of the players from last year have graduated, but we’re going to grow together. That’s all we can do.”

Contributed reporting by Molly Louison and Ryan Kravitz

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MOLLY LOUISON AND RYAN KRAVITZ/STAFF MEMBERS