The Dimond High School boys JV hockey team shut out the Service High Cougars 4-0 on Tuesday, November 21st, at Ben Boeke Ice Arena. The Lynx started the game with seven shots on goal in the first period and a wrist shot goal by junior forward John Novak near the halfway mark of the period. The Lynx didn’t let up, scoring three more against Service, who only had seven players in the game. After the game, the varsity teams followed with Dimond beating Service 2-1.

With 1:00 left in the first period and Service down 1-0, Service sophomore defenseman Nick Cooley received a two-minute minor interference penalty. With 40 seconds left in the period, Dimond’s Sterling Hayden had a wrist shot in the slot that got past Service goaltender Scotty Willingham. However the goal was called back for goalie interference.

Late in the second period the Cougars successfully killed off freshman Gavin McHenry’s five-minute major penalty for checking from behind, which left them with one man on the bench. Willingham kept the game at 1-0 most of the period until junior Thomas Garrett fired a slap shot from the point, deflected by Hayden into the back of the net with four seconds left. “I knew there wasn’t a lot of time left [in the period] so I just let it rip as soon as I could and it got in,” Garrett said. It was his second goal of the year. The Lynx scored two more goals in the third period, from juniors Sam Sliwinski and Ronnie Fiscus. Assists went to junior center Kyle Aldridge and freshman Tanner Laudon.

“They had more kids than us and so they had more energy. At the end of the game we were just gassed,” Cooley said of the game. With a short bench Service has had trouble generating offense, causing Willingham to face a lot of shots. “He [Scotty] played really well. He only let in four goals and for us only having seven kids and being gassed, he played really well,” Cooley said.

Service’s loss put their record at 1-6, due in most part to their short bench. This is attributed to the varsity team pulling JV players up due to injuries. “We knew this wouldn’t be the toughest game on our schedule but we still came out and worked hard,” Aldridge said of his team’s performance.
The Lynx next game will be December 1st against Service while the Cougars face South High School two days in a row on November 28th and 29th. “We have a pretty long break coming up here, which is good for me because I have to play in a [competitive] tournament over the weekend,” Aldridge said after the game.

While Aldridge and Garrett are on Dimond’s JV team currently, both of them hope to get called up to the varsity team. Dimond varsity head coach Dennis Sorenson has been watching both players to potentially make the jump. “I really hope that I can make the varsity team this season, especially since it’s my junior year and I won’t be eligible for JV next year as a senior,” Garrett said after the game.