By Jacob Lawson
Warrior
Utica HS
Division 3, Yearbook
Sports Reporting
Tensions were high on Friday, Nov. 21, as players arrived to Suburban Ice of Macomb, Utica’s home rink. It was the first match-up of the season versus the Fraser Ramblers. Last year, Utica played against Fraser and won 6-4. Also, in a summer season scrimmage, the teams ended the game in an argument between a few players as they were skating off the ice.
The team was announced one by one and a spotlight shot from the dark onto each player as they skated onto the ice upon being introduced, starting with junior Tristan Lupinski.
“We were in the team huddle in the locker room and everyone started telling me they had already called my name,” Lupinski said. “I was really confused and I didn’t know what was going on, but it did feel pretty good being the first one to represent our team.”
The tensions continued to build as the starting lineups of the rival teams stared down the ice at each other, with rage in their eyes and in their hearts.
“As I looked down to the ice and back up to the other team,” junior Ryan Gowing said, “I knew it was go time.”
The puck dropped and before long senior Trevor George had shoved in a rebound goal making the game 1-0.
“It felt amazing to be able to get the first goal of the year,” George said, “just simply amazing.”
By the end of the first period, Fraser had tied the game. The goal came after a quick save from senior goaltender Jacob Lawson rebounded to a Fraser player who scored off a redirection.
As the team went into the locker room and sat silently, glooming over losing their early lead, coach Matt Burke came barging through the door, telling the team how much better they were than Fraser, saying how they needed to play with more intensity. Burke then lightened the mood with a few of his classic stories and jokes.
“Coach always makes us believe in ourselves and it makes us believe in him and work harder,” Kyle Kreutz- Lovecchio said. ”He always helps us relax and take the edge off so we can focus on playing our game.”
The team came out strong and got two goals in the second period. The first goal of the half was scored by senior Matthew Moreton, which had a quick answer from Fraser with a breakaway goal. The second came soon after when junior Brendan Barile got a breakaway and blew a shot above the glove of Fraser’s goaltender, once again taking the lead which the team held through the end of the period.
“The breakout from Maddox and Berger was perfect and I just knew I had to bear down score,” Barile said. “Gaining the lead late in the game really gave us a lot of momentum.”
The third period was evenly matched and as time passed, the game became more intense. The period went
scoreless until with less than 30 seconds to go, Fraser scored the tieing goal, forcing the game into overtime.
After another uplifting speech from Burke, the team came out flying. With most of the pressure on Fraser’s end of the ice, it was only a matter of time until a goal was buried just under the crossbar by junior Jacob Maddox, as he patiently waited until the perfect time to shoot, ensuring that he would score.
“It felt great to score that final goal,” Maddox said. “The main thing that helped me was the play making the rest of the team did throughout the overtime period.”
The entire team rushed Maddox and as they cheered and hugged him. They kept their heads held high, shook the hands of their defeated opponents, saluted the crowd, and went into the locker room to celebrate their first of many big wins to come.