The varsity boys hockey team battled fiercely but ultimately fell 2-0 to the Algonquin Titans in the season opener game on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Walter A. Brown Arena.

The game got off to a good start for the Warriors, winning the first faceoff and muscling the Titans around the ice.

Senior center Eitan Khait said the team expected to win the game and felt stronger than it did stronger than last year.

“I think the boys really wanted to make a statement to the Bay State league about who we are and our new identity,” Khait said.

However, the Titans scored the first goal of the game with only a minute left in the first period.

The Warriors came out with renewed energy in the second period, with senior center Greg Aptekman having several shots on net, but he was unable to score.

Khait said part of the reason for the lack of scoring was bad luck.

“The bounces didn’t go our way. It was just a tough loss on that part,” Khait said. “We need to improve on keeping our cool, keeping possession and having heads-up play.”

Going into the final period, the Warriors came rushing back out onto the ice as “Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys played, rallying the crowd and bringing even more physicality to the game.

The Titans eventually pulled even further ahead, however, scoring another goal with five minutes left to seal the game.

Head coach Mark Marfione said the loss could be attributed to a lack of attention to detail on the Warrior side.

“That’s expected in the first game,” Marfione said. “The effort was there. We just got to clean some things up going forward, but we know everything’s fixable, so we know what we have to do going forward.”

Though the Warriors were disappointed by the loss, Aptekman continued to look forward to the rest of the season and thinks the team has a lot more to give.

“It’s gonna come throughout the season where we start finding each other, start playing together as an actual team,” Aptekman said. “This is not gonna define us. This is not who we are. We are way better. In two weeks’ time [we] will be completely different.”