Park boys hockey went head to head with the number 10 team in the state, the Minnetonka Skippers Dec. 19, losing 3-2. Park made a comeback in the second and third periods of the game, closing the gap with one goal in each, but fell short in the end.
Head coach Tyler Brodersen said following the game against Edina, they wanted to focus on defense and playing the rush of the game.
“We did a lot of good things against Edina, but needed to fix our D-zone a little bit and our play off the rush,” Brodersen said.
Sophomore Liam McCoy said he was feeling slightly anxious to face off against a top ranked team like Minnetonka but that Park played well.
“I was a little nervous, just because it’s a big 10 team like Minnetonka,” McCoy said. “But we came out and played really well.”
Brodersen said he was feeling good going into the game but wasn’t sure if the team would step up to the challenge of a top-10 team.
“I had faith coming into tonight’s game that we could compete with a top-10 team, but wasn’t sure if we would do it or if we would take a step back,” Brodersen said.
Senior Lathan Harmston said there was a lot of improvement with their defense and their neutral zone since their last game against Edina.
“We definitely did a better neutral zone forecheck, split the D and that forced them to the outside today,” Harmston said. “It slowed them down which kind of helped us a lot during the game.”
Brodrsen said Park had lots of good practices that helped them raise their speed in game to prepare for Minnetonka. He said the alumni showing up helped motivate the team.
“We worked really hard this week. We had a couple of alumni back for practice that helped us raise the pace a little bit and that helped,” Brodrsen said. “We had a really good week of practice leading up to this game.”
McCoy said one moment that stood out to him during the game was their power-play near the end of the game because it gave them a lot of good scoring opportunities, but they just couldn’t get the goal.
“Our power-play in the later part of the game (stuck out to me). We had a lot of chances, we just couldn’t put the puck in the net,” McCoy said.
Harmston said their second goal changed the play of the game making it feel like they had a chance to make a comeback.
“Right as we scored our second goal, it was a one-goal game in the third period, it felt close,” Harmston said. “It felt like we were almost able to do it.”
Brodersen said the team played well in the second and third periods coming back from a bad start, but Minnetonka’s three goal head start was something you can’t come back from.
“We had a really bad first period. I don’t think we played well. Then in the second and third, we played really well,” Brodersen said. “You just can’t spot a team like that a three-goal lead.”
Park boys hockey’s next game is against Chanhassen at 7 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Victoria Ice Arena.
