Bishop Stang boys hockey bounces back after loss to Old Rochester

It was anyone’s game on Dec. 20 when Bishop Stang boys hockey faced Middleboro High School at the Hetland Arena in New Bedford.

The second period ended 2-2, setting the stage for a tough third period. But the Spartans shot into the lead with three goals to win the game 5-2 against Middleboro. Bishop Stang’s victory comes on the heels of its 2-6 loss to Old Rochester Regional High School on Dec. 16. 

“I thought we played well,” said Bishop Stang Head Coach Ken Gouveia. “We bounced back … At this point in the year, we’ll take whatever we can get.”

It’s still early in the season, and Gouveia isn’t ready to make any predictions yet. 

“We have a schedule that’s full of games that could go either way,” he said. “So we’re gonna have a lot of nights when we go into the third period tied.”

Onset resident Tim Ikkela, whose son Eli plays forward, feels good about Bishop Stang’s season so far. 

“I think they played pretty good,” Ikkela said. “I think they were resilient. I think their goal-tending held up, and I think they had some timely scoring.”

Middleboro Head Coach Steven Chamberlain said power outages caused by the Dec. 18 storm kept his team from practicing before the match.

“Bishop Stang is always a team on the schedule that we know is always going to come ready to play,” Chamberlain said. Middleboro will face Bishop Stang again on Feb. 19 at the Bridgewater Ice Arena. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we won’t bounce back,” Chamberlain said. “We look forward to playing them again.”

Bishop Stang next plays Southeastern Reg Vocational Technical High School on Dec. 23 at 7:10 p.m. for an away game