The Santa Rosa Junior College ice hockey team (5-4) suffered back-to-back losses this weekend to the University of California, Davis and Santa Clara University.
Snoopy’s Home Ice Arena filled up Oct. 24 as the Polar Bears played the Santa Clara Broncos. The Broncos defeated the Polar Bears 3-2.
The game started out well for SRJC, as forward Larry Hansen put the team on the board early with a quick first period goal. Center Kurtis Klinger fired in another goal shortly after.
Klinger leads Polar Bear freshman in goals scored this season with seven. “I played juniors the past couple years, and have the mentality to take the puck to the net. I think that has been my strongest attribute right now; just being relentless in front of the net,” he said.
The Polar Bears saw their lead diminish as Santa Clara found the back of the net in each period, ultimately securing them the win.
A problem the Polar Bears face this season is penalties. In the second period, forward Matt Katicich was disqualified for an altercation with a Santa Clara player. This marks the Polar Bears’ fourth disqualification in nine games this season.
“We have to be more stable emotionally. We have a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and we have to keep that level of emotion at the right spot,” head coach Blake Johnson said.
Santa Rosa also lost the day prior to UC Davis, 5-4. Penalties played a big factor in this game as well. The Polar Bears committed six penalties compared to Davis’ two.
On a positive note, Polar Bear forward Jackson Waldron returned to action against Davis, after missing nearly an entire year due to injury.
“It was a huge weight off my shoulders [to come back from injury], but at the end of the day we didn’t get the W, and that’s what matters to me,” Waldron said.
Waldron scored a goal in his first game back, but it wasn’t enough to get the Polar Bears a win.
“It was an unfortunate weekend, but every team is going to face adversity at some point in the season,” Johnson said. “It’s going to show what our guys are made of.”
The Polar Bears look to bounce back and start a winning streak when they face off against Stanford University at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Snoopy’s Home Ice Arena.
