Carbonaro repeats as District 24 hockey champs

See more photos from the event here.

For the second straight year, the Robert W. Carbonaro School got to take home the trophy for the annual sixth-grade holiday hockey tournament. Six teams from District 24, two from each school, faced off in the gymnasium of the William L. Buck School on Dec. 12.

The Robert W. Carbonaro 2 team was undefeated in its three games to keep the trophy in the school’s display case for another year. The six players, Chris Cook, Caitlyn Lopeck, Damon Park, Ian Shanahan, Rodney Suarez and Patryk Wafilewski, defeated the William L. Buck 1 team in the championship game, 1-0. Rodney scored the lone goal of the game on a feed from Patryk.

“They were good,” Caitlyn said of the opposition, “but we were better.”

The players said before the tournament, they worked on various hockey skills including getting to the ball, getting rebounds and working together. Ian said that it was good teamwork that led to the shot that won the game and the tournament.

Rodney said he was only disappointed that Carbonaro 2 did not get to face everyone. “I was wanted to play every team, see how they are,” he said.

Physical education teacher and winning coach Faye Egre noted that because it was a double elimination tournament — when a team loses twice it’s out — the more a team wins, the fewer games it actually plays.

Players added that seeing the trophy at Carbonaro for the last year gave them motivation to win. “We wanted it to stay,” Damon said. And Caitlyn said her goal was to keep the trophy “where it rightfully belongs.”

Before the deciding game, the two teams from the Buck school faced off in an exciting match to see who would take on Carbonaro 2. This game needed more than the required seven minutes to decide a winner. Buck 1 finally prevailed, 3-2 in overtime.

Going into the game, Buck 1 seemed to have the edge over a tired Buck 2 team. Players from Buck 2 had just come off of an overtime victory against the Brooklyn Avenue School 1 team in the previous game.