Jacob Sardo’19 turns the corner and looks for his shot. (Jenny L’Hommedieu’19/Media)

After a close second round exit from the CBJ cup on February 10, the Vikings played in their first varsity district tournament on February 16 against the Centerille Elks.

Academy, ranked 15 in the tournament and was the favorite going in against 16th ranked Centerville. Both teams knew if they lost this game, their season would be over. So when the puck dropped at 2pm, The Vikes and the Elks played their hardest, equally matched in the first period until Centerville found the back of the net with less than a minute left, ending the first period 1-0, Elks.

The Vikings did not back down, holding off Centerville’s advances for five minutes, winning a power-play, and then tying up the game six minutes into the second period with a goal from senior assistant co-captain, Jacob Sardo.

Two minutes and one penalty kill later, the Vikes took the lead with a goal from Campbell Gwin’21. Though it looked like Academy finally had the upper hand with two unanswered goals, Centerville finally struck back with six minutes to go in the second, ending the period at 2-2.

Going into the third period, it looked like the game could go either way, but Centerville took the lead two minutes in, adding another seconds later. The rest of the period was an uphill battle for Academy, but a goal for Centerville with two minutes left was the final nail in the coffin, with the game ending 5-2, Centerville.

This defeat in the first round of the districts ended a good inaugural varsity season for the Ice Hockey Vikes, who ended the season just above .500 at 13-12, and though there are 10 seniors leaving the team, Academy will look to improve on this record in their second varsity season next year.