Only having nine forwards and three defencemen, making three full forward lines, and only one full defense line, Liberty wasn’t able to win against Fort Zumwalt East Jan. 4 at the St. Peters Rec. Plex.

“I  think despite the amount of players, we played strong,” Dylan Handlan (12) said. “We gave it our all, even when were were down one goal at the end.”

In the first period, East opened up the scoring at 8:07, getting the only goal of the period. Greyson Haworth (11) got a 2-minute minor penalty at 10:36 for holding. East also got a 2-minute minor penalty at 5:58 for hooking.

In the second, Liberty was able to get on the board. Connor Casella (10) got a goal at 8:12 with an assist from Mason Nickler (9). This was the only goal of the period as goaltender Ethan Eager (9) stopped all shots from East. There were no penalties given this period.

“I think my rebound control could be a little bit better,” Eager said. “I played the puck really well though.”

In the third, East was able to get the game winning goal at 9:08, which was once again the only goal of the period. At 1:10 Garrett Katz (10) got a 2-minute minor penalty for cross-checking.

Varsity’s record is now 6-7-2.