Highlight reel goals, flashy speed, dizzying moves—- that is what the boy’s hockey team is known for. Rarely are they put in the position where they have to win by pure grit and outlasting the opposition. That changed quite quickly on January 7, 2014 in a phenomenal comeback over St. Thomas Academy.

“To be very blunt, we were pretty brutal for the majority of the night,” said BSM’s head coach Ken Pauly. That was fairly apparent through the first two periods, where STA built up a 2-0 lead, and seemingly had full control of the game. The effects of 4 days without practice seemed to be taking its toll—-that is until Junior defender Ben Newhouse capitalized on a powerplay cutting the deficit to 2-1. However, STA promptly responded minutes later, creating a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead.

However BSM wasn’t deterred. With only 7 minutes left in the game, the pure grit and will to win set in, and 2 more goals were put up by Jacob Holmers and Chase Jungels respectively. The final 4 minutes were tension filled, and eventually sent the game into overtime.

Just before the halfway mark in overtime, Carter Roo shocked STA by burying the finalizing shot and sending BSM into a frenzy. The boys didn’t play their best game, that is certain, yet they showed a side that fans rarely see, that being a great resilience and a determination that is necessary when the playoffs roll around. “You have to win in a lot of ways,” Pauly said. “You have to win when you’re bad, too.”