Annual tournament motivates players
Team spends week in Duluth
December 27, 2015
For junior captain Bauer Neudecker, spending part of the week in Duluth playing competitive hockey his favorite part of the season.
For the past four years, the boys’ hockey team treks to the Heritage Center in Duluth to participate in the Heritage Holiday Classic hockey tournament Dec. 28-30 to face some of the toughest teams in the state, according to head coach Terry Keseley.
“This is usually a hard tournament for us, but we’re expecting to play up to these high teams’ levels and come out hard so we can win some games,” Keseley said.
According to Neudecker, the team enjoys and looks forward to its time in Duluth.
“We are really excited to play teams outside of our regular schedule so we can see how we match up against these top teams,” Neudecker said.
According to sophomore Shea Pekarek, the team started its season off strong with a record of 5-3, which was a huge source of motivation for many players to keep a good record.
“We have had a strong start this season and we all just want to keep building from that. We are becoming more confident in our abilities,” Pekarek said.
Keseley said he believes the team improved tremendously this season and holds high expectations for them at the tournament.
“I’m hoping that we win a game or two and advance as far as we can,” Keseley said. “Most importantly, I hope the team realizes they can play with these top teams.”
According to Neudecker, the team focuses on utilizing its skills in practice and games leading up to the tournament.
“We have to want to improve so that we can get better and move our program in the right direction, specifically working on skills to make us a more successful team,” Neudecker said. “The better equipped we are the better we will do.”
The team’s first game takes place Dec. 28 at 8 p.m. at the Heritage Center.
