It was a frustrating day on the ice for the ice hockey team as the Warriors fell to the undefeated Panthers of Bridgewater-Raritan High School by a score of 8-0.
Warriors head coach Justin Kaufman attributed the loss, which saw the team’s largest margin of defeat this season, to mental errors.
“The fact of the matter is, if we’re down by one goal, two or five, you still have to play with pride,” said Kaufman. “If you’re only down by one, you have to pick yourself and the team up and go back to work. Every time we start to pick ourselves up, we seem to get a bad bounce.”
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The Warriors seemed to be keeping the game close throughout the first period, allowing just one goal to Bridgewater-Raritan captain Dave Monahan in the period while putting some punishing hits on Panthers players.
Even through the second period, the Warriors seemed to be hanging tough and playing a physical game against the Panthers. Down 3-0 after second-period goals by Monahan and freshman Eddie Weissmann of the Panthers, the Warriors came out for the third period excited about a possible comeback attempt.
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That attempt was thwarted, however, in the third period. The Panthers exploded for five goals throughout the period—two apiece from seniors Nick Lewis and Eric Luetters and a third from Monahan—before they could respond offensively.
Part of the problem for the Warriors was the amount of scoring opportunities they afforded the Panthers. Bridgewater-Raritan shot 44 times on a platoon of Watchung Hills goalkeepers, led by freshman Dante Gambino. This was in stark contrast to the Warriors’ offense, who only got off 24 shots on the Panthers throughout the game.
Going forward, mental preparation and accountability—on the part of players and coaches alike—will be a key for the Warriors, who will hope to turn things around as the season progresses.
“The coach is supposed to prepare the team for games,” said Kaufman. “It seems like teachers and coaches are held accountable for things that, back in my day, the players were mostly held accountable for.”
