The first week of the RLIHC varsity season began last Monday and continued with their second game two days later in their first Tier I season. Led by four seniors and backed with three preseason games (with 0 GA) and plenty practices, the team was enthusiastic about their first week.
Monday's game was a contest against a rival Tier II team, Lampeter Strasburg. In their only meeting of the 2008-2009 season, the Patriot's ended LS' 8 game winning streak in a 2-1 win. But this year was different with RL losing a larger number of top players compared to LS. The highly favored LS Pioneers hit the ice with the Patriots and with 6:15 remaining in the first period, RL struck first with John Geesey scoring off a feed from David Turby. The score remained at 1-0 until less than one minute into the second when LS scored a back-door goal to tie the score. Shortly after, senior Corey Fink tipped a hard shot from fellow senior Cameron Norman to put RL back on top. Fink would add another tally in the third, banging in a rebound which remained unanswered in the 3-1 RL win. With a shot count of 15-27 in favor of LS, the Patriot's offense proved capable of scoring on their chances, as the defense kept all of LS' shots to the outside, giving goaltender Will Ott a .963 save percentage.
The following Wednesday, the Viola Cup Champions took on the Bears Cup Champions, the Hershey Trojans. The Patriot's defense held off the Hershey assault until 11:05 of the first period when the Trojans scored top-shelf to make it 1-0. Hershey seemed dominant during the second period but were unable to score and the second period looked as if it would end scoreless, but in the last minute of the period, Hershey scored twice making the score 3-0. Hershey would add one more in the third in a 4-0 Hershey victory.
The following day, the Patriots attended a practice which would be subject to drills and messages which proved drastic in the loss to Hershey. The overall opinion as to what went wrong was the amount of respect given to the Trojans. It is true they are a Tier I powerhouse but for any success to be had, a team must work as a team and play to their full potential, no matter the opposition they face. The team practiced well, with a positive attitude and the team looks to put this lesson to the test as they take on CV on Monday, 11/30.
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