Urbana Ice Hockey drops a close one against Washington County

Max Donaldson, Reporter

Frederick MD; Last night, Urbana dropped a close one in overtime to Washington County 2-1 in the Monocacy Valley Hockey League Final in front of an energetic home crowd. Sadly Washington County opened up the scoring with an unassisted goal by Jason Cantor with a little under 5 minutes to go in the first period. The game stayed that way till 5 minutes into the second period with a Corey Heflin goal, assisted by Chris Rerko and Andrew Landry. The game went into overtime still tied at 1, sadly it was Washington County who got the next goal. Almost 9 minutes into the overtime period Sammy Caesar scored the game-winning goal with an assist from Klayton Barr and goalie Mason Widener.

The game was a very physical affair with big checks on both sides. Urbana seemed to be in control of the boards for a majority of the game led by Senior Captain Andrew Landry. Urbana was able to keep the puck down in their offensive zone and had 29 shots on goal compared to Washington County’s 20 shots on goals.

They were many Urbana students at the game tonight, loudly and proudly cheering on their school. The players seemed to feed off the crowd according to Head Coach Toby Heusser and it “means a lot to the players” to have students out to support them. Senior Captain Andrew Landry said that it shows the spirit of Urbana as well as it was amazing to see many students out there supporting the team. The Urbana crowd was loud and brought a lot of energy, especially after Corey’s goal, any big hit or big save. Many of the students said that it was their first hockey game at UHS but were having lots of fun there.

With the season winding down it starts getting where the seniors and coaches start to reflect on the last four years and what they have meant. With 8 seniors, coach Heusser said that all 8 seniors are special to him and every player he coaches feels like a part of his family. Andrew Landry said that the last four years have helped prepare him and achieve his college goals, he is committed to play for Salisbury starting next season. He viewed his four seasons as an amazing time and credits coach Heusser for helping him reach his goals.

The good news for Urbana is that they had already qualified for the State tournament after Mondays win over Carroll County. Their next game is Wednesday but Urbana is waiting on who they will play in the first round of the state playoffs.