PDS students and faculty looked forward to the hockey game against our rival, Lawrenceville. This year, the game was on January 25th, 2018. The week leading up to the game was filled with excitement among the PDS community. Sophomore Cade McLaughlin noted, “Seeing everyone so excited made the team excited. It is the biggest game of the year for us, so it was nice to see the school spirit.” Many members of the community helped support the team by wearing white on the day of the game. As a whole, the school displayed a tremendous amount of enthusiasm throughout the day, which got the boys motivated. A highlight for many was going to the theater lobby during lunch and listening to music while dancing and cheering as the game was only a couple hours away. This brought students together before they would reconvene at the ice rink.

Students began to show up an hour before the game, claiming their spots on the bleachers of the ice rink, waiting for the buzzer to go off to start the game. “Around 300 students showed up,” said senior Zookeeper Grace Barbara. This number displayed the amount of support from the student body which “made it a fun game to be a part of,” said senior Ryan Lisk. Once there were only five minutes until the game started, the student section started chanting and shouting to encourage the team. “We hadn’t had that many people come out to our games before, so it was pretty cool to see everyone who showed up,” noted Lisk. As the boys were stepping out onto the ice, they were “hyped up” and motivated to face Lawrenceville. They prepared themselves like it was any other game and avoided the stomach butterflies that stress before big games can cause. The close-knit team shared the collective mindset of going out on the ice and doing the best they can.

Before the puck dropped in the face-off, the student body section helped the acapella group finish the National Anthem which “intimidated Lawrenceville,” insisted Lisk. This kicked off the first period on a good note. “Though some players were on their nerves, once we started playing, everyone got into it,” recalled junior Ty Eastman. The pressure was high for the boys since they saw this game as a “must-win,” explained McLaughlin, but the team managed to stay focused on their goal to beat Lawrenceville. After an intense first period, neither PDS nor Lawrenceville was on the board. Nonetheless, the boys came into the second period determined to get a lead.

With a little over ten minutes left in the second period, junior Coby Auslander made a goal which gave PDS the lead. This goal brought momentum to the team as they saw the enthusiasm that the PDS student section displayed. The boys were that much more motivated since they had a goal under their belt; however, they played like the score was still zero-zero. Ending the second period with the score one to zero with PDS winning, the team knew that they had to come out in the third period with all they had left; they did not want to blow this lead. “Now is a chance to close it out,” Eastman said with determination entering the final period. As the third period began, both PDS and Lawrenceville came out strong. As five minutes of hard playing passed, sophomore Matthew Manahan from Lawrenceville, scored a goal with about thirteen minutes left in the final period. “I was nervous once the score got tied one-one because it reminded me of last year’s game where they came back from behind,” commented McLaughlin. Though the team never doubted themselves, they knew that they had to play forcefully to uphold another lead.

With ten minutes left in the third period, senior Russell Friedman scored a goal to give PDS a two to one lead. “The team got momentum back after this goal was scored,” remembered Eastman. Playing to secure the win, the boys were aggressive since they did not want Lawrenceville to come back as they did at the beginning of the last period. About forty seconds left in the third period, senior Nic Petruolo, scored an empty-net goal which was a sigh of relief. The team knew they still had to finish out strong, but this goal secured the win for them. As the buzzer went off and period three was over, the whole team skated towards the crowd. It was an unforgettable experience and win for them and the PDS community!