As the hockey season begins at Briar Woods High School, the Falcons take home a win against the Riverside Rams 8-3 on Nov. 1. In the first period, Riverside’s senior Andrew Salva scored the first goal of the game. The Falcon’s responded quickly with a goal by senior Niko Feliciano. Two more goals were scored for Briar Woods later in the period by junior Karson Abel and sophomore Brendan Heflin.  

In the second period, Briar Woods scored a total of 3 goals, while Riverside scored 2, which were the last goals they scored in the game.While the game was high scoring, there were also penalties that set-up advantages and disadvantages for both teams. Two Riverside players, Ian Flemming and Gregory Minchenko, were penalized in the first period for interference and slashing, with many more penalties to come later in the game. Meanwhile, Briar Woods only had one penalty given to junior Grant Leeds for tripping. Additionally, the Rams received 2 more penalties, both to Gregory Minchenko, who already had one penalty from the first period. Minchenko could have been kicked from the game if he received another penalty. 

Finally, in the third period, Riverside was given three more penalties for head contact and tripping 

Briar Woods scored their last two goals, leaving the rink with an 8-3 win against the Riverside Rams. 

Jason Hall, the head coach, says, “the team played as a collective unit for the full 45-min of game time. Every player made an impact and our new captain Hayden Leeds and alternates, Conor Dietz and Niko Feliciano, did a great job leading the team to victory. Considering this was our first game since March, I was really impressed and excited for the rest of the season.”