March 29, 2024

BY BRANDON HOMMEL

The Hattrick Swazies brought home gold after defeating The Justice League in intramural ball hockey April 1.

The gym was divided into two by eight large, white panels. Teams making the playoffs as well as teams eliminated stood in the stands, patiently waiting for their turn to play or rooting for their friends. Pre-game shooting and laps were done to get the blood flowing and the adrenalin pumping.

The semifinal game started 15 minutes later than the original 9 p.m. game time because the referee was late. In the semifinals Eberle Hills 90210 was defeated 5-1 by The Hattrick Swazies.

Jeff Norgate, a third-year electrician student, was the only member of Eberle Hills 90210 to score for the team in the game.

“We had a good group of guys who played hard. Unfortunately, the other team brought their A game as well and were victorious,” Norgate said.

The final was a classic rivalry, red vs. blue. The Hattrick Swazies went up against The Justice League, beating them 6-5.

The game was tied 3-3 after the first half of the game. But there must have been something in the water that the Hattrick Swazie members were drinking, because they came in after the half and played harder than ever, scoring back-to-back goals in the first five minutes to take a 5-3 lead.

The Justice League responded, scoring two goals of their own, with the second coming with just minutes left, to tie the game 5-5.

After those two goals, with only seconds left in the game, The Hattrick Swazies went up the court and showed their dominance and skill in the game of ball hockey, scoring what would wind up being the game-winning goal to take home the gold in the Conestoga Cup, as it was referred to the entire night.

The game-winning goal was scored on a backhand shot by Jordan Monahan, a first-year recreation and leisure student.

“Someone passed me the ball and I tipped it in. I scored the game winner and it feels pretty good to have won the championship,” Monahan said.

The referee counted down the last few seconds of the game and as he did so, The Hattrick Swazies shot the ball up the court to guarantee their victory.

Leave a Reply