Nearing the end of their season, the Oxford-Avondale United hockey squad picked up a little momentum this week. The boys came back from a 9-0 mercy loss against Birmingham United to pick themselves up and win against Marysville the next night.

On Jan. 16, the skaters faced off against Marysville on the road and took its fourth victory of the season in a 4-2 game. Marysville, having a similar record, was an even match for the OA squad.

After a scoreless first period, senior forward Ben Pratt scored OA’s first goal of the night early in the second. When Marysville tied up the game a few minutes later, Pratt immediately answered with a second, unassisted goal. But, Marysville had the game tied 2-2 by the end of the second.

To pull ahead in the game’s final period, sophomore forward Jake Billis and freshman forward Brian Budde both scored to put the OA up 4-2. Sophomore goalie Austin Spivey was also instrumental in the victory, making 51 saves throughout the night and playing the game’s final minutes against an extra Marysville skater when the opposing team pulled its goalie.

The night before, the boys fell to Birmingham United 9-0 in a two-period game. Birmingham had the advantage going into the game, defending their division title this season with a roster packed with upperclassmen. Within the first period alone, Birmingham got three points on the board.

Going into the second period, Birmingham pounded OA with 24 shots, getting six more through to end the game in a mercy. In the loss, senior goalie Aaron Angelo blocked 41 of the 50 shots thrown at him.

The boys are now 4-14 overall. They’ll will be back on the ice when they travel to Bloomfield on Jan. 24.