Owen L. and Katie V. skate to their spots before a face-off. (Chang L)
The Vikings ice hockey team opened its regular season against St. Charles on Friday, November 22.
The game started as a defensive battle for the Vikings before Landon L. found Brady M. in front of the goal. Sadly, the shot went wide, and not long after, St Charles netted its first goal of the night. Brady was not discouraged, as he whipped a shot a few minutes later, and a smashing hit by Landon L. gave the Vikings some hope amid their scoring drought.
The Cardinals killed the momentum with a wrister to the top right after a tough deke a few minutes later. Goaltender Sydney L. flashed the leather to make a major one-on-one save to thwart the Cardinal offense. But, with 6:43 left in the first period, St. Charles broke through once again to put the Cardinals up 3-0. Scott A. joined in on some action with an offensive zone steal, which led to a slapshot by Landon that was lucky to be saved.
Landon would not be stopped later on a breakaway before finding Daniel K. atop the crease before a St. Charles defender could dispossess him. In a common theme, the shot went wide, and the Vikings remained scoreless. Sydney L. came up big once again for the Vikings with a major save followed by a bone-crushing hit by Jake S. Again, this wasn’t enough as St. Charles tacked on two more goals in under two minutes left in the period before Jake laid another hit on the Cardinals.
In a moment of rare Viking physicality, Jake opened the second period with a gnarly hit, landing him in the penalty box for two minutes. The Viking’s penalty kill held strong without its enforcer as they successfully killed the time and went back to full strength. The Cardinals found their rhythm again just over halfway through the period, notching a sixth goal.
A few minutes later, Jake found himself back in the box, this time for five minutes after laying a brutal hit on a defender. The Cardinals capitalized on yet another powerplay opportunity with less than 90 seconds left in the period.
The Vikings headed into the final period showing nothing short of pure resilience. Down 7-0, the Vikings looked spent on the ice but never gave up. The third period was a beatdown as the Cardinals scored three goals within thirty seconds of each other to start the period. They weren’t done racking up two more a couple of minutes later before Jake put a howitzer on frame, only to be turned away by the Cardinal goaltender.
This would be the last fight for the Vikings as St. Charles would score two final goals in the final minute to come away 14-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
A few positive takeaways from this game were the emergence of Landon for the Academy offense, Jake S.’s enforcer role, and Sydney L.’s debut in net. Landon’s playmaking skills were on display as he created opportunities early in this game. If the offense can grow and build around him so he can play-make and create open looks, then the Viking offense should be dangerous. Another aspect crucial to the Maroon and Gray’s success is an enforcer. Jake stepped into that role this year, and it worked. In recent years, he has played a more technical role for the Vikes, but as the enforcer, he is creating takeaways, and his slapshot is dangerous. The final positive is Sydney’s performance in goal. The score doesn’t represent all of Sydney’s performance sinceshe had flashes of good saves and quick hands.
Yet there is room to improve. The defense looked confused at times, and Sydney is still growing into a hockey goalie. More importantly, we need to put the puck in the net if we want to compete at all this season.
The Maroon and Gray will get the week off before hosting Gahanna-Lincoln at the Easton Chiller at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, December 2.
The team will then travel to Cincinnati for St. Xavier on Saturday, December 7.
