The Celina Bobcats varsity team earned its first victory 4-3 against Frisco White on Sunday as a special Mother's Day present.
Celina and Frisco White seemed evenly matched on the ice, returning goal for goal, in the second varsity appearance for Celina hockey.
"Last week, we were on the wrong side of it," head coach Cullum Morgan said about the varsity team’s first-ever game. "But we gave a good effort. I thought our team gave great effort today."
Morgan saw areas for improvement, he said, but was overall pleased with the style and pace of play his team displayed.
Celina kicked off the scoring with a goal by Nathan Castanon, assisted by Austin Schaffer, during a powerplay.
Frisco evened the score with a goal by Liam Eslinger, assisted by Patrick Yates and Aiden Rodkey, and then came into the lead with a goal by Finn Shackleton with Rodkey assisting.
Celina answered back with two of their own.
The first was by William Martinez, with Caleb Norman credited for the assist.
The second was Austin Schaffer's, assisted by Castanon and Talan Reid, bringing the score to 3-2 in Celina's favor.
Frisco answered near the end of the second period with a shot by Spencer Scogin, with Zander Poe and Anthony Owens earning the assist, on the powerplay.
With only one minute remaining, Martinez sunk the puck into the net again, with Norman credited with the assist to break ahead.
Despite intense pressure on Celina's goaltender, Blake Renowden, for the final period of the game that ramped up following Martinez' goal, the Bobcats held the lead and notched their first varsity victory.
A familiar face is back on the team.
Dylan Schroeder, of Providence Village, put his hockey career on pause for a year because he aged out of the Celina JV team, but there weren't enough varsity players at that time to field a varsity team.
The program has now grown enough to have the new varsity team and to continue to field a JV team.
"I'm just happy to be out there with the guys again," he said. "I missed last season, but this season I'm happy to be back and wearing a Celina jersey."
The win helped him feel confident in the chemistry among the teammates.
"In the beginning, we were still getting used to each other, but at the end, I think this was a good sign that we're going to be a great team together," Schroeder said. "We coordinated well and were able to get a few goals as well."
Martinez was happy with both his individual contributions to the win as well as the way the team played together.
"We were all pushing through and I think we just wanted it more than they did," he said.
There are some adjustments, moving into varsity play, Martinez said, including powerplays, but he was confident they will work together through those growing pains.
He also had one more important message for the day.
"Happy Mother's Day to everybody!" Martinez said.
