Late on Thursday, February 11, the Harriton boys’ ice hockey team went head to head with Marple Newtown, whose team was celebrating their Senior Night. The Rams sensed an even match, but missing their captain, Skyler Thomas, and coming off of a string of disappointing games, they were unsure what to expect.

It became clear early on that Marple Newtown was an atypical opponent and the Rams would have to adjust. Rather than trying to dominate with skill, Marple players tried to physically dominate the Rams in order to generate offense. This resulted in a multitude of penalties.

Capitalizing on this, Sam Kirby was able to score a power play goal midway through the first period. This would be the only goal for Harriton that period, while Marple scored a power play goal of their own and managed to score again with just seconds left in the period.

Marple kept their offense coming, dominating the first half of the second period and scoring 2 more goals. With Marple leading 4-1 and continuing their intense physical play, the Rams began to lose both faith and composure.

However, after a well-timed time-out in the middle of the period, they were able to jump back. With their heads back in the game, the Rams were able to score two power play goals by the end of the period – one from Nick Wert and the other from Jake Gross – thus making the score 4-3 going into the third period.

Despite their goals from the previous period, the Rams could not keep their momentum in the third. Instead, Marple was able to score two quick goals early in the period, making the score 6-3. Wert scored another goal soon after this, making the score 6-4, but the Rams were then unable to score for the better part of the period.

The Rams continued to fight, though, and late in the period, Kirby was able to score once again, drawing the Rams within one goal of Marple. This would prove too much though. Even with their goalie pulled in the final minute of play, Harriton was unable to score the final goal needed to tie the game. The final score was 6-5 in favor of Marple.

This is the latest in a series of disappointing games for the Rams, which can, at least in part, be attributed to injuries. However, the Rams look to finish their season on a high note in their final two games next week.