The Calvin men’s hockey team is off to a strong start, winning their first two games versus Xavier University this past Saturday and Sunday.

Junior forward Ryan Racanelli is happy with the team’s start: “It was great to see what some of our new additions could do for the team.”

Fellow junior forward Jordan Duncan shared these sentiments: “We showed improvement from the first game to the second.”

Duncan went on to say that it is important to start off hot and fast; both players are excited to see what the future holds for their team.

Head coach Mike Petrusma had clear objectives for his team and was proud with the result. “Get off to a great start, tactically play better in the second game than the first and play with effort.” Moving forward, the team’s focus is to continually get better at every practice and every game. “We have a talented team and when we combine that talent with great effort we could have a very successful season.”

According to the team, they have three specific goals for their season. First is to keep their goals against average under two per game, second is to win the league title and third is to win the national championship. In order to meet their goals Duncan says that the Knights need to be consistent and never play to the level of their opponents and instead maintain their own high tempo every time they step onto the ice.

The hockey team will take on University of Michigan Flint this weekend. Petrusma knows the challenge they will pose on his team and wants the Knights to remain focused and execute well on the defensive side of the puck.

Racanelli added that he looks forward to playing UofM Flint for the high competition level and the opportunity to try some of the things they’ve worked on in practice.

The Knights travel to Flint on Friday, Oct. 9.