Alde Nguyen
Online Sports Editor
With the final game of their season at their hands, the Mustangs fell short in their pursuit for the win over the El Segundo Eagles.
The official website of the Mira Costa hockey team
Mira Costa’s hockey team fell to El Segundo High School, 6-1, at the Toyota Sports Center on Thursday. Freshman forward Nolan Lazar was the only player to score a goal for the Mustangs.
Photos: The Mira Costa hockey team faces off against El Segundo High School
“The last game of the season was a bit disappointing because we had started off very slow and didn’t have a good first or second period,” coach Bryan Mark said. “Despite this, we challenged all the teams we played and finished the game strong by outplaying El Segundo in the third period.”
In the first period, both teams remained scoreless the entire period. The Mustangs led a strong defensive effort in the period and senior goalie Donovan Henry had made multiple saves against the opposing team’s shots, freshman Harry Meisel said.
“Donovan had played very spectacular and helped hold us in the game,” coach Trevor Oystrick said. “We lost a step of energy later in the second period because the other team had out skated us and beat us to the puck which was really hard to come back from.”
El Segundo took a 1-0 lead in the game by scoring quickly in the beginning of the second period had began. Throughout the remainder of the second period, Costa’s defense collapsed allowing El Segundo to score five more goals and end the period, 6-0.
The official athletics calendar of Mira Costa sports including hockey
“We had became very tired and began to break down because El Segundo had played very well defensively,” Junior forward Malcolm Bohan said. “When their defense began to get the puck up it was very hard for our forwards to get back and help the defense.”
Lazar began the third period with skating on the outskirts of the rink, managing to score a goal which had brought the Mustangs up to 6-1 trail. Immediately after, Meisel had retrieved the puck from a rebound and scored. The goal was then cancelled because the officials thought Meisel had used his feet to kick the puck into the goal.
“In the third period, we stepped it up a lot and we had a lot more shots on goal,” senior forward Bryce Tournat said. “We also played harder in that period and the younger players helped allow for more offensive chances.”
The Mira Costa hockey team ended the season 1-6-2 overall. The team is planning to focus on developing its skills and improving its young lineup in hopes of doing better next season, Mark said.
“The season was very tough because we had lost a lot of seniors from last year, but we gained a lot more freshman so the future is looking bright.” Oystrick said. “This year was a building year and I was happy on how it went, but it could have been better.”
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