By Sara Zakaria and Michelle Yin
As this year’s Boys’ Hockey season comes to an end, the team reflects on their performances within the last season with a positive viewpoint.
The season in its entirety brought many different expectations and sophomore Corey Rufo stated that the team did happen to meet their expectations of making states. Senior Captain Michael Giordano added on by saying that their run at states “didn’t go as far as [he] wanted” but is nevertheless “happy with the way [the team] worked”.
Aspects that were different from the previous season, according to Rufo, were that the team was more skillful and the captains also were outstanding with their leadership positions, which contributed to them making it to states. Coach Joe Ciccarello mentioned that although every season brings different players and skills, in this particular season, this year’s group was a “good group of kids that cared and worked hard”.
This season also brought a lot of changes in the team's chemistry. Giordano said that “[the team is] just a family now and [they all] care for each other”, whereas Rufo, in addition, mentioned that the team “was always close” but with the season passing “[they] feel as [they are] brothers”.
Even though everyone on the team contributed and worked hard to make states, some of the players that stood out this year would be senior Michael Goroshko, with his achievement of getting his 99th point in the tournament game, according to Ciccarello. Michael Giordano stated that his brother Marc Giordano “stood out the most this year”, and he was able to see “what a smart mind [Marc] has” and acknowledges how his skills are “amazing”.
Despite the team accomplishing many of their goals this season, there are still some things that team has to work on. Rufo stated that he definitely needs to improve on “not getting penalties”, and stickhandling. Ciccarello asserts that with the leaving seniors, his expectations for his team is for them to “do the hard work in the offseason”. “From being in the weight room to shooting pucks, there are many different skills our players can improve on to fill the void of the graduating seniors”, Ciccarello said. Ciccarello also said that he will “look at why some of the reasons [the team was] inconsistent at times during key games during the year”, in order for them to improve. For Giordano, he believes that everything he does needs to be “faster and harder”, which is something he plans to work on.
On how he works as a coach, Ciccarello said that he already “preach[es]” to all of the players “about constantly look[ing] in the mirror”. His philosophy is to “[not] point fingers, and [to not] blame anyone else”, and he tries to practice this as “a teacher and coach”. He admits that he will “always look back and realize there are things that [he[ wish[es] had gone differently” and “this season is no exception”, but he uses it as a “learning experience to get better for the next season”.
