UNION, NJ- The Governor Livingston Highlanders varsity ice hockey team took to the ice looking to get back on the winning, as they faced off against the Summit Hilltoppers for the third time this season. The end result, the Highlanders couldn’t get anything going, losing by a final score of 8-1 Friday afternoon at Union Sports Arena in Union.
As the game started, the Highlanders were able to generate early pressure, going on the power play just 44 seconds into the game, after Summit’s Johnny Puskar was called for a high-sticking penalty. Governor Livingston moved the puck around at a fair manner, but Summit was able to kill the penalty off.
“At moments, I thought, throughout the game, we moved the puck pretty well,” Governor Livingston senior co-captain Brian Gray said. “We were making crisp passes across the ice and we were looking pretty good. We had chances, but we didn’t capitalize on most of them.”
The Hilltoppers got a major rush into the Highlanders zone and senior J.P. Jacobello cashed in for the game’s opening goal at 3:51 of the first period, as Summit took the 1-0 lead.
Despite the early pressure from Governor Livingston, Summit was able to withstand it and keep them off the board. Summit got rewarded a power play a few minutes later, with Governor Livingston junior Cole Wahlers called off for a hooking penalty.
On the special teams opportunity, the Hilltoppers connected, with sophomore Jake Pushar making it 2-0 Summit with a power play goal at 7:22 of the first period. Summit went into the first intermission with the 2-0 lead.
The second period would be where Summit would put the game out of reach, as they went on an offensive tear.
