By Riley Burns
Staff Writer
On Friday, Feb. 6, the Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt Varsity Boys Ice Hockey team took on the Skaneateles Lakers for senior night to honor their three seniors, Ryan Durkin, Cole Fowler, and Lucas Relkin, who have been strong leaders for the team all winter long. Along with the J-DHS seniors, CBA is also saying goodbye to Kyle Barker, Kane Alletzhauser, and Peter Dziergas.
The seniors, the team, and the fans enjoyed the ceremony but not the ending results of the game. The team took a hard loss in overtime against Skaneateles with a finishing score of 3-2. “It was a hard fought game and a tough loss but we’re looking past it into sectionals,” says junior defender Jamie St.Amour. Even though they lost on senior night, the team felt their regular season went extremely well. The Brothers hockey team will be going into playoffs with a game record of 15 wins, one tie, and three losses.
Although it was a tough game, seniors such as Cole Fowler were impressed with the Senior Night ceremony. “It was a great experience and I’ll definitely remember those moments going into college next fall,” says Fowler. Each senior went up one by one to take a picture with their family and to celebrate all that they have accomplished, not just this year, but throughout their whole high school career. “I thought it was nice that we got to show our respect to everyone who has helped us out over the years,” says senior Lucas Relkin about the senior ceremony. It was most definitely an emotional yet exciting experience for the boys parents as they not only said goodbye to their sons but sent them off to the playoffs for hopefully a successful state championship victory.
J-DHS freshmen who attended the game such as Meg Hair were upset about the loss but were impressed with the level of play. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the team does in playoffs,” says Hair. Other students, like sophomore Jake Brazie, were very enthusiastic from the bleachers. “Win or loss, it was a great game to come out and watch,” says Brazie.
Everybody who went was pleased with the game but there was controversy before about the cancellation of the traditional skate time following the game. J-D Athletic Director states that the scheduling is created by the section and things such as the J-DHS school musical “The Wedding Singer” were not taken into account when planning the timing of this game. All actors and pit band members part of this performance were unable to attend the game because of this.
Other players such as CBA sophomores Lynch Raby and Ben Mccreary have had a great season getting to work with all of the seniors. “We’ve really come together as a team fighting for one goal and while facing adversaries along the way, we have become a stronger team because of it,” said Raby and Mcreary.
With the team’s first win of the playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 18 against Clinton with a final score of 9-2, the team is looking hopeful about a sectional title and maybe even a state championship win. “Hopefully we finish off the season strong and make a good run in the play offs,” says Durkin.