Hockey loses in home opener

by Ashleigh Stingley

Despite their hard fight, the Waldorf Warriors lost during this weekends hockey games with the scores of 2-4 and 0-3.

In their home opener this weekend, Waldorf faced the Midland Warriors from Fremont, Nebraska. Even with all of their efforts, they couldn’t push through their opponents, leaving the Waldorf Hockey team at 2-2 currently for the season.

Fridays game was filled with pucks flying out of the rink and unusual scores. One goal was scored unintentionally when a puck slowly meandered it’s way into Waldorf’s goal while everyone was focused on the other side of the rink. While the game after first period was tied, it ultimately ended in a loss. After the first period, both teams knew there was more on the line and focused more. Midland scored two more goals to finish the game. Midland scored early in Saturday’s game and kept their lead until the last second.

While the game was a conference loss, it was a big win for assistant coach, Steve Smith. “We’re really coming together even faster this year,” said Smith. “There’s more depth on the team this year and the overall playing has been good. But by far, we played the better game. Our guys did what they practiced. It was a tough loss, but we did well.”

There was big support from the student body this game too. As encouraged, students wore tie-die in support of the team. There was also the unusual, but refreshing showing of the pep band at their first hockey game.

In a closing statement, Smith said, “We showed that we could play with a very good team.” He was excited about how the next game will turn out.

The Warriors will be playing again this weekend at home in Albert Lea against Michigan Tech. Friday’s game will be at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s game will be at 2 p.m.