Ice Hockey Review: Yorktown Team Shows Improvement Down The Stretch

A 5-14-2 record may not signify a great year, but the Yorktown Huskers did show a lot of heart, as they won their last four regular-season games before being shut out by eventual Division 2 champion Pelham 5-0 in the opening round of the Section 1 Division 2 playoffs.

“It was great the way we played in that stretch,” Huskers senior co-captain Matt Williams said. “We got off to a rough start. We didn’t get any bounces to go our way. We had a couple of injuries. It was good at the end that we were able to make something out of nothing, basically.”

The highlight of that stretch came in the game that started the four-game winning streak, a 6-2 triumph against cross-town rival Lakeland/Panas.

“It was great feeling to beat them,” Williams said. “Everyone came together and played great hockey.”

Earning postseason honors for the Huskers was their leading scorer, junior forward Colin O’Reilly (six goals and 10 assists), who got all-league and juniors, forward Neil Jacobsen and goalie Randy Ashe, who each received all-league honorable mention.

"That was great, for those guys to win those awards," Williams said. "Our record did not show it, but we went out every game and played hard. It was nice that the league acknowledged those players because they played really hard. I was happy to see that they got rewarded for their hard work, they earned it."

As for Williams, he says he’s going to miss everything about playing hockey for Yorktown and being coached by Robert Fritsche. 

"He taught me everything I know," Williams said. "It just was great being a leader on the team, trying to motivate everybody."

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