On Nov 3-5, the Lakers Varsity team headed down to Kentucky to compete in the Stable Classic held at Lexington Ice Arena. After a long day of travel, the team was anticipating the start of the tournament. Kicking the weekend of games off, the Lakers took on the Nashville Preds select team on Friday evening. The game started off slow, but midway into the second period, The Lakers were able to get points on the board. However, sophomore Ethan Mendelke would be given a slashing penalty making the Lakers shorthanded. Despite being down a player on the ice, it did not slow down Grayslake North senior Max Bouma as he broke through the Preds defensive line to score a shorthanded goal.
Despite their lead, the Lakers would take multiple cross-checking penalties throughout the game, but they were able to hold off their opponents as the Preds would not score on any of their power plays. The offensive line took off for the Lakers in the second period as Grant sophomore Eros Rabor scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Towards the end of the second period, Lakers were put onto the power play leading to Grant senior Jacob Tomasetti sinking one into the net to make it 4-0 at the end of the period.
As the third period began offense slowed for the Lakers, but defensively they kept strong. Late in the third, senior Aydin Zakrocyzmski would put the final goal into the net for the Lakers giving them a 5-0 win against Nashville.
The Lakers would go on to play Oswego Hockey Club in their second game of the tournament on Saturday afternoon. The game was full of highs and lows with a nail-biting finish along with a brawl to end the game. The first period took off at a fast pace, with both teams having multiple shots on net. Late in the first period, Zakrocyzmski would score, giving the Lakers the lead going into the second period. However, right before the buzzer, the Lakers received a penalty making them shorthanded at the start of the second period.
With the Lakers at a disadvantage, Oswego tied the game up with a tipped shot from the top of the blue line. Shortly after, Oswego would score again to increase their lead to 2-1. Despite being down 2-1, morale was still high as the Lakers headed into the third period.
Unfortunately, just seven minutes into the third period, Oswego would strike again making the game 3-1. Soon after their goal, however, Oswego would be given a penalty which put the Lakers on the power play. After a shot from the boards, Zakroczymski found himself in front of the net where he would backhand the puck giving the Lakers another point on the board. With the game now 3-2, it was officially crunch time. The Lakers needed just one more goal to tie the game up. With everyone at the edge of their seats, as the clock winded down, Mendelke would tie the game for the Lakers after getting a pass from behind the net. Unfortunately, with less than a minute to go in the game, Oswego scored leading to a 3-4 loss for the Lakers.
“Emotions were pretty high and tense, I would say because we were right there,” Zakroczymski said.” It was a hard fight the whole time. We really just wanted to beat Oswego next time”.
Though the buzzer sounded, the action did not end at the conclusion of the game. A fight quickly began to ensue that ended with an Oswego player throwing a broken stick at forward Riley Parpan.
“ It was pretty cheap and I hope that player doesn’t play for the rest of the season,” Karasek said.
After their intense game against Oswego, the Lakers needed to hone in and focus on their game later that night against the Huntsville Chargers. This was the win that the Lakers needed in order to advance to the championship.
At 8:20 p.m. the Lakers took the ice against Huntsville with adrenaline pumping. In the first period, Lakes Community High School senior Josh Monge would go coast to coast to get the Lakers on the board. ACHS junior Keith Watkins would then quickly follow up on a rebound giving the Lakers a 2-0 lead. With 6:16 left in the first, Monge would score his second of the game on a power play, putting the Lakers up by three at the end of the first period.
With the second period officially underway, Huntsville put themselves on the board making the game 3-1. However, just a few minutes later ACHS senior Sam Hanes one-timed the puck into the back of the net restoring their three-goal lead. After a physical game earlier that day, the Lakers played clean knowing that a costly penalty could risk their shot at the championship game.
“ We needed to stick to our game plan, put up a bunch of goals on these guys, not get down on each other and support one another,” Zakroczymski said.
Midway through the second ACHS junior Will Karask put the puck topshelf to give the Lakers a 5-1 lead at the end of the second period. As the third period began, the Lakers were given another power play where LCHS sophomore Cooper Buckingham would capitalize on the advantage making the game 6-1. Huntsville would score one last time before the game ended. The final score ended as 6-2, which meant the Lakers were officially headed to the championship for a rematch against Oswego.
“Coming off Saturday we knew what they were going to do and how they play,” Mendelke said.”We needed to make sure we got pucks to the net.”
At 1:40 p.m. the Lakers took the ice with energy pumping as they prepared to take on Oswego once again. Despite the back-and-forth scoring in their first game against Oswego, the game surprisingly remained scoreless throughout the first and midway points of the second. However, that would change late in the second as Oswego scored through a two-on-one. resulting in Oswego taking the lead, the Lakers would take every chance to try and tie the game but unfortunately were not able to cash in. As time winded down, the Lakers made a last-ditch effort and pulled the goalie. This then led to Oswego scoring again on the open net, securing the win at 2-0.
Although the Lakers had lost the tournament, the team still had a great experience down in Kentucky. With intense back-to-back games, the Lakers played their hearts out throughout the tournament. When they weren’t taking on their opponents, the Lakers also had great team bonding experiences during their downtime, and around the University of Kentucky Campus.
“On our already no very good record winning those games boosted our confidence a lot,” Karasek said.
The Lakers come back to home ice on Saturday, Nov 18th, to take on the Renegades at 9:20 p.m. With more confidence and a few more wins under their belts, the Lakers are anticipating a strong game against the Renegades.
“I think the best part of the tournament was just hanging out with the boys and having fun,” Zakroczymski said.
