By César González Cabrera Staff Reporter

Captain Jack Riley on the ice. Photo by Xiang Li

The Prep Hockey team has big dreams this year to capture the New England championship. Even with the high competition level in the Division I, the Cardinals think that this year is going to be successful for the team.

Prep Hockey is currently 14-5-1 overall. The team had its first official home game Dec. 4 against Avon Old Farms School, which is the number one ranked hockey team in the division. The Cardinals fought to win throughout the whole game.  However, South Kent lost in overtime, 3-2. But the players think that Avon could be the rival to beat in playoffs and they are ready to beat Avon this time.

Forward Sotirios Athanasopoulos, who is a Sixth Former from Canada, said Prep Hockey has come together as a team.

“I feel like we get along well and that will just help us on the ice with good chemistry,” he said. “We have the potential to go all the way.” The Cardinals have the potential to beat any other team, and they are motivated to win the championship, he said.

The team has eight international students, five from Canada (Joe Deveny, Holden Anderson, Joseph Manno, Alex Murray and Sotiri Athanasopoulos), one from Germany (Steve Maier), one from Finland (Miika Majava) and one from Italy (Gianluca Vallini) and this international mix of players could be the right combination that will lead to success.

Forward Zach Fox, from Sandown, NH, thinks that the team could win the championship.

“The team is really good this year, and we have the potential to go all the way” he said.

The hockey players are very motivated to work hard for the Coach Eric Soltys, who is able to shape the Cardinals from the beginning of the year. The players also recognize their coach is working hard with the team to achieve the championship goal. The players feel good with the coach, Zach said.

“I think the team has a real chance on winning this year, because (of the) recruiting Coach Soltys did, and I think he is a very good coach. He knows the ring of hockey really well.”

Also, they like the training sessions, because they think that are very helpful for the team, and they are trying to have a better ranking in the nation this year.