The Reeths-Puffer hockey team’s terrific season came to a heartbreaking end with a 3-2 loss to Traverse City West on Friday in the first round of the Division 1 regional tournament in Grand Rapids.
TC West scored the lone goal of the first period. The Rockets pulled ahead in the second period with goals from Jaxon Stone and Croix Klint, then the Titans scored and tied the game 2-2 heading into the third.
Traverse City West stole the victory with the lone goal of the final period. The decisive shot went in the R-P net after deflecting off a Rocket defender. The Rockets pulled their goalie for an extra attacker in the final minutes and applied heavy offensive pressure, but could not score the equalizer.
R-P goalie Tanner Bonjernoor, who stopped 31 of 34 shots in the game.
Tanner Bonjernoor had a good game in goal for R-P, stopping 31 of 34 shots. Tyler Tindall and Connor Stawski both had assists.
The Rockets finished the season with a remarkable 19-6-1 overall record, which was a huge improvement over their 6-18-1 mark in 2021-22.
They started the season with a worrisome 0-2 record, then regrouped and zapped off winning streaks of three, three, four and seven games over the course of the campaign.
Jaxon Stone, who scored R-P's first goal on Friday.
R-P finished second behind champion Hudsonville in the final O-K Conference Fischer Division standings.
"This one stings,” R-P Coach Ryan Martin said about the season-ending loss. “We feel for our seniors, especially. While we didn't play our best game, we were in it until the end. Unfortunately they were able to get one more bounce than us.
“I am so proud of these boys. We had several comeback wins this year, and they climbed back into the conference title race after dropping a couple of early conference games. They were right near the top of the school record books in terms of regular season wins.
“They worked their butts off every day and have a lot to be proud of."
