Sophomore Lucas Hand said the team eased up too much after its quick first goal.

“I think we were feeling a little too comfortable being up one goal, if we went out there and played like we were playing in the beginning of the first period we would have been up two or three to zero,” Hand said.

The boys’ hockey team tied Bloomington Jefferson 2-2 at the Rec Center Jan. 31, bringing its overall record to 8-9-1.

Junior Avery Pittman said the tie was better than losing but not desired.

“There was some satisfaction from our team, which is expected but we are obviously not happy with a tie because we want to win but its not the end of the world and it’s better than losing,” Pittman said.

Hand said despite the tie the team played a solid game defensively.

“I thought we played really good on defense. Our goalie Will Pinney mentioned that this was one of our best games defensively. He said he could see every puck and we did a good job,” Hand said.

Head Coach Andrew Sackrison said that the team wasn’t truly lacking until two goals slipped through early on in the third period.

“I thought through the first two periods we were where we wanted to be but we just fell asleep in the first five minutes of the third period,” Sackrison said.

Hand said his goal tying up the game with 15 seconds remaining in the third period was huge for the team and a chance for them to get pumped up and possibly come back and win.

“It was great to score and to get the puck in the back of the net, that goal was huge for the team to move forward,” Hand said.

Sackrison said that tying is not something to look down on considering the tough competition and the team should focus on bringing forward the energy they showed throughout the game.

“Jefferson is a good hockey team. I think this game was a good step for us and we have started to see in the last couple of games our team come together and get rewarded for it. Hopefully, we can take this momentum back to practice and continue to battle for the tough game on Saturday,” Sackrison said.

The next boys’ hockey game with take place against Chaska at 4 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Rec Center.