The game is against Lewiston Middle School and Tripp Middle School. Everyone knew it was going to be a dog fight as the top two teams would play each other. Stepping into the warm air of the heated locker room soothed my cold skin from the rink. Looking around, I saw faces getting ready and serious for the hockey game against Lewiston. After strapping on my helmet, I and my teammates headed for the smooth surface in the green and white jerseys. During warm-ups, it was like having stare down, but when it was game time, the real skill was put to the task.

In the first period, the game was played in the neutral zone most of the time. The teams were shown they were evenly skilled. Then, there was a play that decided the game. Tripp’s defender, Shelbea Russell, passed the puck up to winger Connor Violette, who then passed it to Tyler Hutchinson. He took the puck down through defense men and scored top corner on the Lewiston goalie, Noah Hutchinson. The final score of the first period was 1-0.

The second period looked like a replay of the first. Both of the goalies didn’t get many shots because, once again, the puck went in the zone and then back into the neutral zone. After a face off, Tripp scored on a breakaway by Tyler Hutchinson, assisted by Jacob Gladu. The final score of that period was 2-0.

Going into the third, both teams were sluggish. Tripp kept bringing up the intensity and speed, but in the final minutes slowed down due to only having 10 players. Tripp scored once again by Kara Violette. With two minutes left, Lewiston managed to find the net and score. The score ended 3-1 as Tripp rolled onto their fifth straight victory and moved past Lewiston into second place.