The Pascack Valley hockey season came to a close on February 19 in exciting fashion—with a win against Passaic Valley.

It wasn’t so much the win that made that game special, but rather the emotion behind it and the experiences that came as a result.

That game marked the last for seven seniors, all of whom were visibly emotional after their last game playing for PV. The Indians won 6-2 in the second of two outdoor games at Provident Bank Park.

For the Indians, wins were hard to come by at some points, especially mid-season, but they were able to rebound and finish the season strong.

There was a midseason span where the Indians went 0-10-1 over an 11 game stretch, this led to their final record of 9-13-2.

After that losing spell, play picked up, and PV went 4-2-0 to end the season.

St. Joseph’s Regional High School saw the Indians twice this season. The first game was an 11-1 loss for the Indians. The second game however, warranted a far better result. Though the Indians lost, it was much closer, 8-5, and the Indians actually began the game with an early 1-0 lead, and at one point were able to cut Joe’s lead to just one goal, anchored by Trent Shanley’s four goals.

Matt Truglio was a model of consistency for the Indians this season. He recorded over 100 points in his career, helped by 26 goals this season. There was a stretch of eight games where Truglio found the back of the net in each of those eight games, helping his team to victory.

Three seniors scored their first career varsity goals this season—Alex Sobel and Brendan Bonner on senior night, as well as Evan Brignola.

The Indians were young this season, and often had a noticeable lack of depth. Having said that, freshmen Aidan Tuffy, James Robinson, and Alex Sullivan quited a lot of the doubters and proved that they can hold their own against bigger, more skilled opponents. The consensus is that Tuffy and Sullivan especially will be asked to step up and take on leadership roles.

There are only five upperclassmen next season: forwards Luke Ciocca, Trent Shanley, and Austin Mattessich who will be seniors, forward AJ Helfenbein and goaltender Steve Brennan who will both be juniors.

Twice the Indians played outdoors, winning both games, including a 6-2 win to end their season, and just the experience of playing outdoors was enough for PV, though the two wins helped.