The boys hockey team won its first game of the year against section opponent Montour on Thursday by a decisive score of 9-1.

The team believes this dominating win was a result of preseason work and a powerful desire to win.

“We’ve wanted this since the beginning of summer,” senior and assistant team captain Vinny Episcopo said.

The Highlanders felt that they had a commanding presence on the ice the entire game.

“As soon as the puck dropped we had more will than them,” senior James Dulya said. “It was the first game in a while that we wanted to win that bad.”

Aside from being emotionally prepared, the team excelled at many of the more technical aspects of the game.

The team played well both offensively and defensively, Episcopo said, and they had a lot of success when killing penalties.

“We had great puck movement the whole time,” senior Tanner Cindrich said.

Senior Paul Zmuda and sophomore Lorenzo Shipley both had standout games.

“(Shipley) played the body really well and got some big hits, and Paul got a hat trick,” Episcopo said.

The team hopes to carry this momentum into its game against West Allegheny on Monday.