Isabelle Chiu
and Sean Mcdonald
Sports Editors
A late comeback seemed feasible at one point, but the Mustangs’ dreams were eventually crushed as Beverly Hills took the lead.
Mira Costa’s boys hockey team was defeated, 8-6, by Beverly Hills High School on June 2 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. Beverly Hills was dominant early on in the game as it got on the scoreboard first, but the Mustangs eventually clawed their way back to within two goals. However, a late goal for the Normans ultimately sealed the game.
“Beverly Hills just had a really good start, and we probably should have been better prepared for the game,” senior captain Ryan Ng said. “They also had two players who played for team United States of America, so the talent level on their team was good.”
The first period saw Beverly Hills jump out to a big lead to end the first period 5-1, with the only Costa goal scored by Ng.
“As a team, we had a very slow start,” junior defender Jack St. Ivany said. “We weren’t sticking to our game plan of scoring without getting any penalties, but in the end, we were put back on our heels by Beverly Hills’ speed and skill.”
Both teams scored in the beginning of the second period. The Mustangs had a defensive lapse later in the second period that the Normans capitalized on, scoring two goals and extending their lead to 7-2.
“After the first period, we began to settle down and we started to focus on doing the small things correctly, which gave us more success,” St. Ivany said. “I think it was a matter of getting into a rhythm and making sure we were connecting on passes and concentrating on each and every opportunity we had to score more goals.”
The third period was Costa’s last chance to prove that it had come to play and would not roll over easily, St. Ivany said. With the help of St. Ivany and senior Wyatt Light, the Mustangs brought the game within two goals when Beverly Hills and Costa each tallied one more goal before the period ended, finishing the game 8-6.
“Beverly Hills is a really tough team,” Costa hockey coach Trevor Oystrick said. “If we’d played how we were playing during the third period for the entire game, I think we could’ve pulled out a win.”
Costa ended its season 9-3 overall and finished first in Bay League with an 8-2 record. There is a lot of young talent on the team, so if Costa can make some adjustments to the team and practice hard, the Mustangs could perform very well next season, sophomore Mattias Sholl said.
“During the offseason, I think our team really needs to focus on being more explosive in the beginning of games, because often we would start our games relatively slow,” Sholl said.
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