The ice hockey team (7–4) endured a disappointing loss, 6–3 against the Walter Johnson Wildcats on senior night.
In the first period, the Wildcats completely took control of the game and started things off by firing one past the Vikings goalie just a few minutes into the game to get on the board first. Shortly after, a Wildcat slid one into the back of the net to extend the lead to two. The Vikes quickly responded as junior Momo Cohen placed one perfectly during a power play to cut the Wildcats lead to one. WJ followed the one Whitman goal with a scoring spree, scoring three unanswered goals to go up 5–1 entering the second period.
In the second period, the Vikes slowly began to dig themselves out of the deep hole as they added their second goal of the night off a nice move and shot by senior Thomas Rouxel about midway through the second period to make it 5–2. The Vikes significantly improved on their defense in the second period, preventing the Wildcats from adding to their lead, but the Vikes were unable to turn their defense into offensive production despite some promising possessions as the score remained 5–2 going into the third period.
In the third period, The Vikes played more aggressively and started to create more opportunities for goals but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Eventually, junior Nicholas Huguely tapped one into the net to cut the lead to two with around six minutes remaining. Despite many shots on goal, the Wildcat’s defense stayed strong as they barely let the puck hit the back of their net. Desperate, the Vikes chose to have an empty net in the last few minutes in hopes of completing an epic last-minute comeback, but the Wildcats took advantage of it as they fired on into the net with just seconds remaining in the period to make the final score 6–3.
The Vikes look to finish off their season strong as they travel to Rockville Ice Arena to play crosstown rival Churchill on Friday at 9:50 P.M. for the final game of the season.
Congrats to seniors Jacob Lerman, Sammy Van Leeuwen, Rowan Miller, Andrew Fou, Cam McNeil, Thomas Rouxel, Jonah Bortnick, Evelyn Hays, Otto Lukanic and Ben Lammers on an exhilarating and memorable 2023/24 hockey season.
