Eagles Ice Hockey: End of Season Recap

Meghan Holloran, Staff writer| January 23, 2020

Teammates #4 Robert Bernier, #23 Simon Minsang Kim, and #34 Patrick Mccracken celebrate after a goal is scored.

Allen’s club hockey season is almost over. Only four games remain before state and national tournaments begin. The varsity record this season is 6-8, a slight improvement from their 2018-2019 season record of 4-9. Allen still has four games to turn that around and advance their standing from fourth in the metroplex. The Eagles broke their two-game losing streak on January 9, beating Southlake Carroll – who currently sits fifth in the league at 7-5.

Varsity’s top three scorers are #4 forward Robert Bernier with nine goals this season and 11 assists, #6 forward Ethan Chen, with ten goals seven assists, and #98 forward Mitch Blassingame, with nine goals and eight assists. Allen’s top goalie to watch is freshman Boden Jensen; Jensen is rising to the top with 227 saves this season and a .841 save percentage.

Varsity’s next game will be played on January 23 against Highland Park HP, ranked third in the league. Allen does have a chance at winning this next game, even though varsity lost their first game of the season against HP. Allen beat them 7-3 in October, scoring one goal during the first period, and another six in the second and third period to cement their lead. Allen does need to watch out for Highland Park’s player, forward Robert Sours, who is leading the league in goals scored with 16.

Senior and center forward Carson Loos explained the short list of priorities varsity needs to work on in order to beat Highland Park, and keep their winning streak going.

“There are one or two guys who score all their goals,” Loos said. “And there’s one dude who takes a lot of penalties. The basic thing is we need to stay out of the box and work on puck movement.”

Varsity Gold previously beat Highland Park 7-3 in October and lost 7-2 in September. Highland Park is on a losing streak over the past three games. HP’s goals for average (3.2) is also lower than Allen’s (4.4).

After their game against Highland Park, Allen has state tournaments against Jesuit, and the best two out of three will advance to Nationals. Jesuit is ranked second in the Metroplex, with a record of 8-5. Allen needs to watch out for Santiago Diaz, who is leading the league with 15 assists and 30 points. Jesuit’s starting goalkeeper, Jack Rhalfs, is injured right now, and it’s uncertain if he will be at the state tournament.

Varsity has improved greatly during the 2019-2020 season. However, there will be a lot of senior turnover after this season. This will affect how the team plays next year since the team will lose key players such as #87 Carson Loos, #96 Mitch Blassingame, #34 Patrick Mccracken, and #4 Robert Bernier, to name a few.

Catch the Eagles on ice at their Senior Night game against Mckinney, on January 30, 9:15 p.m. at Mckinney South rink.