This season has been relatively different than past seasons for the hockey team because they missed out on the playoffs. But the team can be content with ending their 3-6-3 season with a win.
“It feels great,” said junior goalie Andrew Himonas. “The last game was the way a season should end.”
The team enters the offseason with the loss of five seniors to graduation, including top goal scorer senior captain Daniel Cohen. Coupled with the retirement of head coach Charlie Vinal, next year’s team will be facing great adversity from the start.
“[Coach] Vinal has four young kids, three of whom are already playing hockey,” said parent manager Jenny Smith. “He wants to get more involved with his kids’ hockey, and that was hard, if not impossible, to do when he was also coaching WJ’s team.”
The team needs to address its goalie situation. Junior Jake Euler was replaced midway through the season by Himonas, who had no prior goalie experience.
First team all-star Cohen, senior forward Julia Simanauer, junior forward Zach Abelman, junior defender Isobel Kraft and sophomore forward Parker Smith will represent WJ at the MSHL Academic All-Star game on Feb. 27 at the Laurel Ice Gardens.