A tear-jerking loss ends the season for the Golden Hawks. After an eventful season, the Riverdel triop, Emerson, Westwood, and Riverdel (8th seed) played their last game against Wayne Hills (9th seed) with the chance to advance in the JSIAA North Jersey, Public Co-Op tournament on Tuesday, February 19 at Ice House, Hackensack.
The loss sent players back to the locker room with the realization that this would be the last time some of them ever play high school hockey again. Despite the loss, the season was not without some important highlights. The team had their first win over Ridgewood in five years and made it to the Gold Cup semi-finals, where they lost to the Passaic County Technical Institute Bulldogs.

The starting lineup for the Golden Hawks included seniors DJ Terwilliger (defender, Westwood), Ryan Jarski (forward, Westwood), Mateo Marinic (defender, Westwood), and Liam Freel (Goalie, Riverdel). Juniors Collin Bender (forward, Westwood) and Andrew Duran (forward, Westwood) also took their places on the ice.
In the first period, the Hawks started off with one goal made by Andrew Duran and one assist by Marinic. However, in the second period, Wayne Hills rallied up one goal scored by Nate Ashkinazi with two assists by Joey Capizzano and Michael Brogna. In the third period, Wayne Hills gained another goal from Micheal Potter and another two assists by Michael Brogna and Joey Capizzano. Wayne Hills goalie, Lucas Egan, had a shot average of 21 and shots let in being 1. Riverdel goalie, Liam Freel, had a shot average of 31 with 3 shots let in.

Sophomore, Nick Meltzer (Emerson, forward), played his second season with the team and had nothing but positive comments to make. According to Meltzer, team bonding is a extremely crucial part of the team’s ability to play.