The much-anticipated South vs. West hockey game was scheduled for January 13, 6:30pm at the Ben Boeke Ice Arena. The stands started to fill up, the Zamboni’s engine began to roar and the players skates hit the ice one-by-one.  It was time to watch some high school hockey. The South High Wolverines and West High Eagles went head to head in the hopes of coming out on top and taking home the big win. Being big rivals for many years now, fans came expecting to hear the screams from loving parents, dear friends, and hockey fans in general.

The Wolverines Varsity roster consists of six freshmen, 11 sophomores, three juniors, and five seniors this season. West High’s very own Mariah Bennett attended the game and tells us, “South has improved a lot since last season, and they put up a great fight against the mighty Eagles.” South Goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, definitely did a stand up job in preventing twenty-two of the twenty-three shots on goal West sent his way. As the game went on players got very physical and the penalty points started to tally up.

At the end of the game, South had a total of 10 penalty minutes and West had a total of fourteen minutes. Dylan Beloy, Tanner Dragomir, Jonas Hayes, John Matson, and Daniel Ramsey of South were all sent to the penalty box with two-minute penalty each. South’s only goal of the night came with two assists from Cameron Foraker and Ben Trujillo. Which put the Wolverines in front of the mighty Eagles, in hopes that it would throw the Eagles off their game. Making it easier for South to score once again.

Chloe Stillwell, a devoted hockey fan, stated, “the game was very intense and I didn’t expect it to be so neck n neck the entire time. It really made the game more entertaining and fun to watch.” South Varsity coach Tyler Morgan, was spotted by West Student Austin Norris getting “overly amped up under the pressure and circumstances of the game staying at a solid fifty-fifty chance,” according to Norris. South’s fate was resting in their own hands as coach Morgan hoped he trained his players well enough to take this win home with them that evening.

The second half came around and the score was still South one, and West zero. Until two impressive assists from West’s forward Roman Hamm and Dawson Ellingworth, set up defenseman Alex Bardsley to score West’s only goal of the night. Making the score one to one. As the game went on, the time dropped from minutes to seconds until the clock ran out.

The late goal caused the game to be pushed into overtime. As those extra minutes were set, both teams started to sweat even more than they already had. Not knowing who was going to win and who was going to lose, or if there was even going to be a winner and loser.

In the end it was a tie and both teams went home empty handed and disappointed, but left still standing together as a proud team and a family. Coach Morgan began to write down everything South did right and everything south did wrong that night for the discussion at practice they had the next day. Only for the main reason that he wishes to help to improve his player’s abilities and push them to their full potential. As fans leave the Ben Boeke Ice arena, they stopped by each teams designated locker room to tell both teams good job and that they hope they make it to the state championship this year.