This past week the varsity hockey team got ready for a Home-and-Home matchup against the Mid-Michigan Marauders hockey team. This team is one of the teams that is in our league, and they have done reasonably well this season despite having only ten skaters. Knowing this, the boys still went into the weekend like any other weekend, ready to play their hardest and not underestimate the team they were playing against.

On Friday, January 21, the game started at 6pm, and the boys were absolutely buzzing. Nothing was out of the ordinary, the game was going nice and smoothly until the middle of the second period. Senior Kavin Kennedy was skating the puck into the Marauders zone with a lot of speed, lost an edge, and went flying into the end boards. He got up quickly, but it was evident that he was in a lot of pain. He went straight to the bench to see the athletic trainer. His knee has split open, needing 6 stitches to close the wound, taking him out of the lineup for the rest of the night. 

The third period was when the most commotion occurred. At the very beginning of the third period Senior Jack Melnick was skating the puck up the ice along the boards going into the zone, when he tripped over an opposing player’s stick, taking the legs out from underneath one of the linesmen. Melnick’s skate came up and struck the ref in the side of the head splitting his ear open. This caused the ref to black out for a few minutes and for about 20 minutes his came in and out of consciousness. Luckily athletic trainers, and parents who were nurses were there to help him until paramedics arrived. Paramedics were able to stabilize him and take him to the hospital where he was admitted to the ICU. Despite this scariness, the ref is okay and expected to make a full recovery. 

After the long, scary delay, both teams got back onto the ice and were ready to finish the game. After the break, a player from the Marauders injured his shoulder taking him out for the rest of the game. Despite all of the craziness that came out of this game, there were several positives. Junior goalie Anthony Donnelly got his first high school win, filling in for Matt Hoop who was out for the night. This was very exciting for the team who stormed Donnelly after the game to celebrate the win. Three rookies were also able to net their first high school goals, freshman Isaac Rehberg, freshman Isaiah Dinverno, and junior Matt Whitton. The Titans ended up with a 6-1 win over the Marauders.

The next day the Titans were ready to face off against the Marauders again, hoping for more of a normal game. Unfortunately the game was cancelled due to the Marauders only having six skaters that night. Luckily the game is going to be rescheduled for a later date.