Daniel Altschuler ’22 scored his first goal as a Choate hockey player last week against Hamden Hall. Photo courtesy of Danielle Capri
Boys’ JV Ice Hockey added another victory to an already successful season on February 8 with a 10-1 home win against Hamden Hall Country Day School.
Going into the game, Choate boasted a strong record with eight wins, three losses, and two ties. The team had a rare loss to Hotchkiss a few days before the game and wanted to revive its winning streak against Hamden Hall.
Choate played hard for all three periods, getting every player involved on both offense and defense, and achieved its goal. “I thought our guys did a nice job of getting off to the right start,” Captain Jonah Feldman ’20 said. “It’s always fun when we are playing well and we get the win.”
Choate started the first period with good scoring opportunities from Hugh Zanelli ’20, Daniel Altschuler ’22, and Mac Cady ’23, but the team was unable to sneak one by the Hamden Hall goalie. However, with 12 minutes on the clock, Patrick Yowan ’21 managed to score the first goal for Choate.
The home team quickly went on a scoring run, with Henry Kops ’22 and Cady putting two more in the net. However, towards the end of the period, Hamden Hall took some momentum from Choate and threatened to score. Goalie Charlie Tait ’21, unwilling to concede a goal, positioned his body and saved several shots by Hamden Hall’s offense. At the end of the period, Choate held a commanding lead of 3-0.
At the start of the second period, Choate kept up their energy with another quick goal from Yowan, making the score 4-0. Hamden Hall was finally able to sneak one by Tait to put themselves on the scoreboard with six minutes left. Altschuler and Mark Hong ’23, fueled by the opposition’s goal, each scored a goal during a minute and a half, to put Choate up 6-1. Altschuler’s goal was especially meaningful as it marked the first of his Choate career.
Altschuler said, “I got a good pass from Dallyn Rai [’20] and simply put the puck on net. It felt good to finally get that monkey off my back after not scoring all of my freshman year.” Boys’ JV Hockey then ended the period with a series of solid shots on goal but was unable to increase its lead as the game headed into the third period.
Choate continued the scoring run in the third period. In the first few minutes, Cady scored again, giving Choate a 7-1 lead. Cady’s goal was immediately followed by another goal from Bradley Wang ’21.
With two minutes left, Choate scored twice to put the finishing touches on the game. Ultimately, Choate prevailed over Hamden Hall by nine goals, which also marked the team’s largest winning margin of the season.
Thomas Barton ’22 said, “We started out fast and continued to compete until the end of the final period.”
Boys’ JV Hockey wants to end their season strong. The team’s game against Loomis Chaffee on February 26 will be especially important, as the schools will play for an orange traffic cone at stake each year in the “Grim Cup.”
