Two hard-fought hockey contests took place Wednesday night at the Capital Clubhouse in Waldorf. 

The first game, a Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League contest, saw St. Mary's Ryken score four goals in the third period to come out victorious against Mount St. Joseph of Baltimore, 6-3. In game 2, a Maryland Student Hockey League Southern Conference contest, Leonardtown led 4-1 after a period against Charles County Coop and ended up with an 11-4 win.

"It was pretty good. We started off slow, but we sped up at the end and started scoring," said Knights sophomore forward Austin Groff, whose goal put the Knights back in the lead for good. "I bounced it off the boards to Liam DeLong and he passed it back from right behind the goal and I just tapped it in and that got us into the lead. They were pretty fast. Sometimes we just let the lead go, but it was a good finish. I want to get as high as we can as a team." 

The win for St. Mary's Ryken (3-2-1 in league play, 6-9-1 overall) was it's second in a row.

"It took us a while to get going. I believe it's the first game of the season that we've been scoreless through the first period," said Knights head coach Matt Billman. "It took us awhile, and we were sleeping there at the beginning. But I think Colin Lombardi our goalie played really well. We tightened up a bit, and once we did it was our game. Williams and Groff played well. We have two league games left, and we're sitting in a playoff spot right now." 

St. Mary;s Ryken and Mount St. Joseph were scoreless through one period. Then less than a minute into the second period, the Knights struck first with a goal from senior forward Josh Stevenson. One minute later, Mount St. Joseph junior Matt Deshong slid a shot past Knights goaltender Colin Lombardi (14 saves) to tie the game at 1.

The Gaels took the leading on a blazing shot from freshman Tom Rybinski with 10 minutes 21 seconds left in the period. Near the end of the stanza, the Knights Tied the game at 2 with a goal from senior defenseman Matt Williams.

Mount St. Joseph opened the third period with a goal from junior Zachary Rozgonyi, making it 3-2, but St. Mary's Ryken scored four unanswered to pull away.

Senior forward Pete Behrens snuck one past Gaels sophomore goaltender Jake Williams (16 saves) to knot the game at 3 with 11:25 to play. Groff's goal then put the Knights up for good at 4-3, then Stevenson and Shane Gregan provided insurance goals for the win. 

St. Mary's Ryken heads to Tampa Bay, Florida to play in a tournament this weekend.