![Phoenix gets in position to initiate the beginning of an intense game. “It's coming to the end of the season here, so [our goal] is to just focus on working harder,” senior lineman Ryan Abbondanza said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_0042-1200x800.jpg)
On Friday, Feb. 28, the Rock Ridge / Heritage (HRR) boys varsity hockey team defeated the Herndon /South Lakes (HSL) boys varsity hockey team 8-4 at the Provisional Capital Cup League Championship.
The first period of the league championship started off heated, with the HRR boys and HSL boys competing for the puck right from the referee’s whistle. HRR’s penalty kill unit was tested early, one minute into the game, but after a successful kill, Heritage forward Mason Mueller opened the scoring with a flukey wrister from the red line, putting HRR up 1-0.
Following that, the HSL boys led a failed offensive power play against the HRR boys. Quickly after the powerplay, Ethan Hong recovered a turnover in the neutral zone and scored another goal. However, the HSL boys did not falter, and instead scored a goal from forward Calvin Crosson at the five-minute mark. After conceding a goal, the HRR boys locked down on their defense against HSL, and Mueller scored another goal at the five-second mark. The Period ended 3-1.
The second period began with the HSL boys focusing heavily on their offensive plays against the HRR boys. Even with this offensive pressure by the HSL boys, the HRR boys continued to defend against multiple attacks by the HSL boys; however, the HSL boys eventually broke through short-handed, with a goal by forward Campbell Wilkins against the HRR with 13:58 remaining in the period. “I think we didn’t really do the most on offense, but we were doing much better on the defensive side, but I’d probably just say we need to focus more on generating more offense,” Freshman forward Noah Wilkins said.
Instead of breaking the HRR boys’ defense, they retaliated, with Mueller completing a hat trick at the 2:47 mark at the end of the first. Mueller’s top-shelf goal was assisted by Hong. The period ended 4-2.
The HRR boys entered the final period prepared to weather HSL’s attack, resulting in a team effort opening goal from Mueller, assisted by senior defensemen Connor Bultema. Following that, less than thirty seconds later, Mueller scored his fifth goal of the night, assisted by Rock Ridge defenseman freshman Cole Furtek.
However, HSL responded swiftly with two goals, making it 6-4, and creating a newfound pressure that wasn’t present up until this point. “[Their comeback] was annoying, but again, I knew we could score. So I wasn’t worried about it,” Bultema said. This led to the closing of the gap between the teams by just two goals, but even with this close score, the HRR boys didn’t hesitate to regain control of the puck. “We just kept our foot on the gas, kept going, just battled it through,” forward Dylan Lam said.
This led to an offensive charge by Hong, resulting in a goal against the HSL boys. This goal helped motivate the HRR boys to have a stronger defense against the HSL team for the rest of the match. This resulted in the HSL team pulling their goalie for an extra player at the one-minute mark, resulting in a game-sealing goal scored by forward sophomore Chase Christine.
After winning the league championship, the Rock Ridge players were aware of how far they had come as a group. “Our chemistry [has] gotten better over the past years,” Lam said. “We even played with each other for a couple years, so I think the chemistry is definitely there.”
Bultema finds that his final season as a senior is his best year yet. “We played JV with a couple other schools just because we couldn’t get a varsity team,” Bultema said. ”My sophomore year, we played with three people, and we joined Heritage, but we had a bad team. We lost almost every game, so then my junior year, we came back, we had a great season. Then this year we came back and won the whole thing.
