Marc Mero, an LHS alumnus, shakes the hand of team captain Michael Bay. Photo by George Clarke

See the photo gallery here

Tuesday night was very special for the ice hockey Warriors. Alongside the honor of challenging the #1-ranked Wildcats, the Warriors welcomed former WWE wrestler Marc Mero, now a motivational speaker on tour across the United States.

The pre-game ceremony for Mero was rather brief, but fitting. A carpet was laid out across the ice for the former Liverpool graduate. He had the duty of dropping the ceremonial first puck. Mero then posed for pictures with Liverpool captain Mike Bay, and West Genesee captain Ryan Michel. The game then began.

The atmosphere within the Coliseum was intense. Cameras could be spotted at every corner of the arena. The players responded with a lot of determination and hustle. The game was very evenly matched through the first five minutes of the game.

The breakthrough goal came 6:47 into the game from the Wildcats.

“I really should have saved that shot,” said goalie Mike Sportelli.

The rest of this game generally went the Wildcats’ way. The Warriors lost by a score of 1-4.

Although it may seem as if this was not a favorable result for the team, the Warriors played extremely well considering the recent success of the Wildcats. Prior to this game, West Genesee averaged 8.3 goals per game. They also had not let in a single goal all year.

“We played them tough. I would say we did well considering how poorly every other team has done against them,” said Sportelli.

Liverpool’s lone goal came off the stick of Liverpool forward Matt McCaffrey. It was a rather spectacular goal as he took the puck in the crease and brought it around the goalie’s stick. This play was assisted by defensive man A.J. Lamacchia.

The Warriors received good goalie play from Mike Sportelli. He stopped thirty-four out of thirty-eight shots. A few of these saves were remarkable as he stopped a few West Genesee breakaways.