Another week brought two more tough games for the Oxford-Avondale United hockey team. The team took two losses to Berkley and Stoney Creek over the weekend.

On Saturday, Dec. 8, the boys lost to Stoney Creek 8-1 on their home ice.

OA was overwhelmed from the start of the game with just nine skaters against Stoney Creek’s 20. In the first period alone, Stoney Creek put 20 shots on goal. But, senior goalie Aaron Angelo made 18 saves, letting only two pucks through his grasp.

With Stoney Creek leading 6-0 in the second period, senior captain Ben Pratt stole the puck and passed to freshman forward Brian Buddle. Buddle assisted sophomore forward Jake Billis, who sent the puck to the back of Stoney Creek’s net and scored OA’s lone goal. Going into the third, OA was down 7-1.

The boys endured the third period and denied Stoney Creek a mercy win. Angelo blocked 24 of the 25 shots sent his way, ending the game 8-1 in Stoney Creek’s favor.

But, OA was left with another mercy loss the next night against Berkley.

On Dec. 7, OA fell to Berkley 8-0. Berkley and its 17 skaters went into the game with a 3-4 record and put the puck in OA’s net just minutes into the first period. In the first period alone, Berkley put up 21 shots on goal and scored five points.

With the aggressive offensive efforts, Berkley scored three more goals to end the game in a mercy in the second period. In the loss, sophomore goalie Austin Spivey blocked 26 of the 34 shots that came his way and was noted to have made some big saves in the game’s first period.

In both games, OA’s nine skaters were up against over 15 players on the opposing teams. With a small roster this season, the squad’s offensive and defensive players are routinely up against better rested skaters, to which coaches and fans attribute part of the reason OA has been unable to secure more than one win this season.

After this week’s play, the boys are 1-6 overall and 0-4 in the OAA white. They’ll be back on the ice on Dec. 13 to take on Port Huron, to which they’ll travel.