After the boys’ hockey team trounced Bloomington Kennedy 6-1, head coach Ben Horsch said players were able to have more fun during the game which fueled the win.

“We put a couple of bucks on net, the opponents weren’t as tough as our last games, so the kids right now (could) just have a little fun, fly around the ice and that’s what they did tonight,” Horsch said. “We need to clean up a little bit of the positioning but they shot the puck and it went in.”

For sophomore Griffin Krone, who took part in the bombardment of goals against Bloomington Kennedy, the team did a good job with taking care of the puck, which played into its victory Dec. 14.

“We do a good job possessing the puck right and moving it. When we have the opportunity to make a play I think we usually take it.” Krone said.

Horsch said the team needs to work on refining its skills, but is satisfied with the win.

“It’s early in the year right now so we still need to clean some things up. We did some good things and bad things again tonight, but it was just a different opponent tonight and we were able to come away with a win.” Horsch said.

Senior captain Ben Olson said the strong student and alumni presence at the game gave the team extra motivation.

“Always seeing the students actually in the student section, holy cow! It’s so nice and our old teammates were back from college and we really wanted to show off for them,” Olson said. “The home crowds definitely add more intensity for us. We definitely feel the energy.”

According to Krone, who scored his first goal of the season this game, the team’s goalie is also a large part of what motivates the players to win.

“Winning is really fun and our goalie makes great saves and that just keeps us psyched. We have to go forward for him because he’s keeping us in this game.” Krone said.

Horsch said one of the biggest takeaways from the game was sophomore goalie Josh Middleton’s performance, which helped keep the team afloat.

“He got a lot of shots in those first two games, so I think the boys tried to pick it up a little bit in the D zone,” Horsch said. “We got a little sloppy on one of those goals but I mean, he’s the biggest guy on our team this year, how he goes we’ll go, so the boys picked it up a little bit tonight after that first goal and kept the rest of the pucks out.” 

Park’s next game is against Orono 2 p.m. Dec. 18 at Orono Ice Arena.