Junior Max Crane positions to stop the fast break and keep the lead.(Henry Rubey’22/Media)

On Friday, February 7, following a tough stretch of defeats amid a great season, Academy faced off against Bishop Watterson at home for the Capital Hockey Conference Blue Division title. 

Watterson kicked off the scoring in the first five minutes in, but sophomore Jake Carlin capitalized off an assist from classmate Andrew Zaki to tie it up. The scoreline reflected the game at this point, as the match was even. This trend continued till the end of the first period, leaving the game wide open to start the second. 

Luckily, the Vikes came out of the locker room ready to go and stole the lead as sophomore Max Walker hit home an assist from Carlin. But, Watterson was still in it and tied the match back up at two to close out the second.  

In the final period, CA was driven to win, knowing the division title was on the line. With this hanging in the back of the team’s  minds, the Vikes came out gunning with Carlin getting his second on the night off an assist from Walker and junior Campbell Gwin, followed by Zaki finding the back of the net from Gwin. Gwin then grabbed  a goal for himself, and a final goal from Carlin closed out the team’s first ever division title win with a 6-2 victory. 

This week, Academy will play its last game of the regular season against St. Xavier at home. Looking forward, our girls and boys will begin their postseason tournament on Sunday, February 9, against Springboro at the Ice Haus downtown.