BY KADEN BUCHALTER
With the help of a new coach, Drew Fisher, the hockey team wrapped up their season with strong and persistent play. Even when playing in a tough division, the team’s demanding work paid off as they improved and finished the season on a positive 1-1-1 run.
Freshman goalie Logan Schroeder commented, “I still think we played better than what our record shows. Everyone battled hard even through the ups and downs.”
Although the team didn’t achieve all of their goals, many of the players enjoyed the season, specifically a few key events. Logan Schroeder voiced that some of his favorite highlights include, “Picking up our first win of the season vs. Ocean Township, as well as senior night.”
Schroeder helped orchestrated the team’s success against Ocean with 25 saves on 27 attempts in the season opener. Junior Christopher LoCicero ran the show on senior night with two goals and an assist in a 4-0 victory over Edison.
The team featured only two seniors, forwards Kyle Butchyk and Sean Weber. Butchyk scored three goals and added five assists while Weber posted three goals and two assists.
Junior Shane Culley contributed six goals and three assists but acknowledged there is still room for development. Culley expressed, “The season played out well compared to the expectations everyone had, but we could have definitely done more this season. We had a lot of freshmen come up after losing many seniors last year and the year before.”
Schroeder started varsity as a freshman and earned a shut-out in the senior night game. However, Logan expressed that he plans to work on his own skills. “I learned a lot over this season, and the main thing I noticed was the speed of the games. This tells me that I need to improve my reaction speed and overall movement speed.”
With a team of many underclassmen, many opportunities still stand for growth. Culley conveyed, “Next year the team is planning to perfect the plays that worked effectively this year and work on some new strategies that will depend on how the other team is playing and how the game is turning out.”
The varsity team consisted of ten underclassmen; two juniors, five sophomores, and three freshmen. In fact, two of the top three-point earners were sophomores Patrick Apgar and Michael Pellicciotta. Apgar earned 11 points on two goals and a team-leading nine assists while Pellicciotta tied for the team lead with 13 points on six goals and seven assists.
Since they had a loss of seniors and new freshman arise, The Knights hope to heighten their consistence on the rink and create a stronger bond between teammates in following seasons. As Culley stated, “The team has a lot of talent and potential we just need to gain more chemistry with the new players and fix the little mistakes we made while playing this year for next season.”
Posted on 2/17/22
Photos by Kaden Buchalter
Knight Life 