As the ref blows his whistle—ending the timeout—Thomas ’21, Luke ’20, Marc ’20, Ronan ‘21, and I skate toward the faceoff circle. Fourteen seconds remain on the clock, and as the bright lights blind me, I line up—shoulder-to-shoulder with a Roxbury Latin forward.
In the stands, the student section—decked out in red, white, and blue for the night’s patriotic theme—roars wildly and shakes the netting above the glass. “FWEET!” The referee’s whistle brings my focus back to the rink. As Luke steps up to take the draw, time seems to slow down. The puck falls from the official’s hand—spiraling downward—and bounces—once and then twice—before Luke pulls it to my side. Roxbury Latin’s net, 200 feet away, is wide open. Automatically, I rifle the puck between the enemy defenseman, and it sails down the ice. I hold my breath. The trajectory looks off, but maybe not; I can’t tell. Finally, at the last second, the puck curls into the net, and the crowd goes berserk! Once play restarts and time expires, the boys varsity hockey team secures their fifteenth win of the season to the sound of a cheering fan section. The feeling is nothing short of magical.
Taft, St. Paul’s, Andover, Deerfield, Cushing, Rivers, and Roxbury Latin (twice). . .All trampled by the Zebras. Behind the leadership of our fearless captains, Luke ’20, Marc ’20, Thomas ’21, and Gabe ’20, Groton BVH has experienced incredible success this season. Every guy on the team has bought into Coach Riley and Coach LeRoy’s system—which places an emphasis on speed and camaraderie—and as a result, our on-ice chemistry has flourished. Right now, we head into winter long weekend on a seven-game win streak, and upon our return from break, we can’t wait to earn a few more Ws. Exciting times lie ahead!