The varsity hockey team rebounded from their first loss of the young season to defeat Midland-Dow 4-1 on Wednesday, Dec. 1.
Junior Nick Hocker got the crowd going early, scoring two goals in the first period, one shorthanded and assisting on senior Matt Reid’s goal, the fourth of the night for the Wildcats.
Sophomore Brennen Orr gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead when he scored the Wildcats second shorthanded goal of the evening before Midland-Dow’s Eric Abel scored their lone goal of the evening.
Sophomore Oscar Alexanderson stopped 22 of 23 shots for Oxford.
‘I was real proud of our boys tonight,? head coach Dave Hague said. ‘We kept the pucks deep in their zone and our work ethic was a big difference.?
Oxford then packed their bags and traveled over to Canada to test their skills against some of Canada’s best schools.
‘We knew going in that it was going to be tough…it was a good test for our boys,? Hague said.
They squared off against Waterloo Collegiate on Friday, Dec. 3. Just like the Swartz Creek game, the Wildcats outshot their opponent, but couldn’t find the back of the net and lost 4-1.
Hocker scored the lone goal for the Wildcats, assisted by junior Nolan Chapman and sophomore Stephan Fritz, in the second period.
They continued their two game Canadian road trip when they played Forest Heights on Saturday, Dec. 4.
Oxford found themselves trailing 2-1 with less than 10 minutes left in the third, but Heights scored three goals to pull away from Oxford. The Wildcats lost 5-1.
Reid scored Oxford’s only goal early in the third period. He was assisted by senior Tim Perks.
‘I thought our guys competed well,? Hague said. ‘You can never be ok with a loss. Being that it was on the road against an experienced team like that, we certainly competed well.?
Oxford gears up for another big game as they will skate against Troy at the Big House in Ann Arbor on Thursday, Dec. 9.