This weekend, the inter-school, LPS hockey team faced off against Mountain Vista. Ending the game 3-2, players for the Heritage side (the name the LPS team plays under) came close to tying Mountain Vista, scoring a goal in the last 48 seconds of the third period. The game was chock full of other dramatic encounters, as well.
Throughout the game, tensions ran high between the two teams, with fist fights erupting on several accounts. During one skirmish, right after the boys scored their second goal, a referee was knocked over and two Heritage players were escorted from the ice. Though fights are not uncommon in ice hockey, the number of penalties and tiffs seen the game through speaks to a higher level of animosity than that typically associated with friendly competition.
In fact, even Asher Goerdt, the sole Littleton High School player on the team, engaged in a fight. A mild-mannered individual at school, Goerdt is quick to defend his team on the rink, physically or verbally.
“If we come out prepared, we can beat any team in the state,” Goerdt boasts, and with a 13-5 record to support him, it seems his confidence is not misplaced. As Goerdt puts it, while the team experienced some “good moments” they simply didn’t “play [their] best,” Saturday night.
Nonetheless, victory or not, fans on the LPS side were loud and proud of the game, cheering for their team with a fervor unlike any other and packing the stands in a sea of red. For a Saturday night game, the atmosphere and play certainly did not disappoint.
