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West Boca Easily Defeats University in Season Opener
Photo Courtesy of Judith Koren
Written by Bryan Rubin, Sports Staff Writer
On Monday, November 16th, high school hockey in South Florida got underway. With nine games going on that night at Incredible Ice in Coral Springs, a buzz surrounded the players, students, coaches, and principals in attendance. Principals from every school participated in the ceremonial puck-drop before the game, including West Boca’s very own, Mr. Stenner.
From the very moment that the opening face-off took place, the Bulls seized control against University. After nearly controlling the play in the University zone for most of the first period, the Bulls finally got onto the scoreboard when Brian Farrell scored the first goal of the season. That goal was followed up by two more Bull’s goals and took a 3-0 into the first intermission.
In the second period, the Bulls kept the pressure on and never sat back on their lead. Following goals from Anthony D’Alessandro and Anthony Campanella, the game was put away at 5-0.
With only three seniors on the team, West Boca was led mostly by the underclassmen. Freshman Brian Farrell recorded two goals as well as a few monster hits. However, the real star on the night was ninth grader, Josh Lerman. In his first career high school hockey game, Josh scored three goals to record the hat-trick. Furthermore, freshman, Cole Karklins and sophomore, Austin Merrell played solid on defense.
In the third period, Ofir Koren, the team captain, had an open lane up the ice which he took aggressively. After a couple strides into the University zone, Ofir released a blistering shot that left the University goalie helpless to give the Bulls their seventh goal. Co-captain, Austin Miller, accounted for many of the scoring chances for West Boca but unfortunately spent more time in the penalty box than he did on the ice.
After Ofir Koren finished signing autographs following the game, he said that “for the first game of the season, the team played pretty good. I told everyone not to be nervous and just play hockey.” And play hockey is exactly what they did in their 7-1 rout of University. Tori Erie, Josh Kolbert, Jamie Brecher also contributed to West Boca’s victory by passing the puck and creating scoring opportunities.
In between the pipes, the West Boca goalies combined to have a near perfect game. With the shots heavily in favor of the Bulls, there was not much for them to complain about as they watched their team score seven goals. The season is off to a positive start and a good time was had by all.
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