The West High School boys varsity hockey team took on the South High School Wolverines Tuesday night, January 13th, 2015. The game started at 6:30 p.m. at Ben Boeke Ice Arena, where all the Anchorage high school hockey games are held. The game up until the end was very close. The Wolverines scored the first goal in the second period, putting them in the lead.
After a rough playing and intense skating one of our most valuable players and Eagle’s team captain, Alex Bardsley (#5) scored a phenomenal goal on South during the third period, making the game a tie breaker and having to go into overtime. Dawson Ellingworth (#7), a senior who starts as center, came in with an assist as well as Roman Hamm (#9), a junior who plays right wing. After battling it out between the Eagles and the Wolverines in overtime, the game ended in a tie, leaving West with 14 wins, four losses and two ties.
The Eagles have had a good season overall this year and are bound to go to state. They have played against some of the toughest schools in Alaska and have had a very strong team this year. Annie Rush, a senior on the boy varsity hockey team and playing center has taken on some rough and intense games this year. Being a girl on the boys varsity hockey team is really rare, she plays with her good friend Bella Hanson who is a sophomore on the boys team as well. Annie has been playing hockey for ten years, playing with the boys is not new to her, she played with boys her whole life up until five years ago.
“Playing on the boys varsity team isn’t that different than being on the girls team, I think it is a lot of fun and you have to work a lot harder,” Rush Explains. Annie has had an impressive season so far, she has had gotten four goals this year and 6 assist, helping out the boys take the win.
James Batman (#18), a senior first string left wing player and occasionally he plays center, explained, “South is a huge competition because we lost to them in state last year so we need to get revenge on them and beat them.” Batman has been playing hockey since he was seven and has been playing on varsity since his freshman year of high school. Since south is such a big competition, the Eagles have been preparing to take them on for the next game.
Dawson feels that they should have won their previous game against South. “Our last time we played South I felt that we should have won because Jack Walters stood on his head for us. I didn’t get to play in the game because I received a game suspension so it messed up our lines and if our lines were in order we could have beat them,” Ellingworth explains.
Even though it was a disappointing turn out, the boys don’t play for the win they play because they love the game. Most of the players grew up playing hockey but were introduced to the sport in many different ways. “My dad introduced me to hockey when I was about seven years old and I have loved to play ever since then,” Batman explains. Our Eagles wouldn’t be the team they are without a goalie.
One of our starting goalies, Chris Alexakis is a sophomore and is one of the top goalies. He has played for 12 years and loves the sport. “My dad introduced me to hockey and I find that it helps me clear my head and I have a blast playing it,” Chris states. The Eagles are ready to take on their next biggest rivalry and prepared for any obstacle that is thrown at them.