“We’ve had a very rough year,” said men’s hockey Head Coach Doc DelCastillo last Friday. “But honestly our guys play so hard. I’m tremendously proud of how hard they play and what they do for their teammates [and] how they represent the university. I think it would only be fitting for this team to finish on a positive note.”

Last weekend the Pipers played their final series against St. Mary’s to close out the 2013-2014 season. On Saturday, the team traveled to Winona to face the Cardinals in an overtime thriller.

The Pipers opened the game with an early goal by sophomore Kevin Novakovich as he scored off a deflection by the opposing goalkeeper. The Pipers defense managed to shut out the opposition to finish the period 1-0.

In the second period, the Cardinals scored back to back goals in a hurry to take the lead 2-1.

First-year Andrew Carlson took advantage of a power play and scored to tie the game at two. The goal was assisted by Novakovich and junior Andrew Herbert.

The goal’s momentum led to two more goals before the second period ended.

Sophomore Brandon Zurn recorded his second assist when he led Novakovich to another goal. Sophomore Anthony Wolfe received a point after sophomore Cody Mason scored the Pipers fourth goal of the game, to put them up 4-2 going into the third period.

Midway in the third period the game, i was tied at four, until Herbert scored on a goal assisted by first-year Dan Bartkowiak, and the Pipers regained the lead 5-4.

The Pipers held a one goal lead and were seconds away from a victory, but the Cardinals managed to score with 17 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. In overtime, the Cardinals scored again to win 6-5.

In the final stretch of season, the Pipers came close to pulling out a few victories but one-goal deficits including overtime losses had blocked them from winning.

“It’s been tough because we played so well down the stretch and have been in a lot of one-goal games that we just couldn’t find a way to win,” junior captain Joe Rubbelke said.

DelCastillo said he’s proud of the effort the team puts up each night.

“They give us everything they possibly can and as a coach when guys are working hard and sacrificing for each other, that’s all you can ask,” DelCastillo said. “At times I wish there were a couple bounces here, a couple bounces there. Games would end differently but that’s just not the way it went.”

DelCastillo said “perseverance” was an adjective he’d use to describe his squad. Enduring tough situations was the story for the Pipers all year. Having to postpone their final home game added to their challenges.

DelCastillo said playing at Oscar Johnson Arena was one of the highlights of this season because the team finally had a stadium close to campus, which was convenient for the Hamline community to support the team. They also had their own locker room and personalized Hamline decorations around the arena.

While their final home game scheduled for last Friday was postpone to Sunday, due to weather conditions; they had to relocate to another venue because Oscar Johnson Arena had been booked for other events.

“It obviously stinks to not be able to play at your rink, but it’s what had to be done to get our game in,” Rubbelke said.

The Pipers lost the final game 5-1 and finished with a record of 2-22-1, 1-14 in the MIAC.

Although the Pipers only recorded one more win than last year, DelCastillo believes this year’s team has improved more than their record shows.

“I think they’ve learned a lot this year. It’s an unfortunate sport sometimes because you judge success on a scoreboard and that’s not necessarily always fair,” DelCastillo said. “It’s a reality, but it’s not always fair.”

However, DelCastillo said he is excited to see what this team can do in the future.

“The future looks bright and we have a lot of contributing young players on the team,” he said.

He mentioned the team got the majority of their scoring from their underclassmen and said a strong offseason would benefit them as well.

Rubbelke is optimistic the Pipers can restore the success they had in years prior, when they were a powerhouse in the MIAC and even won a MIAC Championship. Rubbelke left a message for the team’s supporters: “The year didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but we have a great group of guys that are dedicated [as well as] determined to turn our program around and bring it back to the top of the MIAC. Just like it was a few years ago.”