Photo Credit: Purav Bhanot ’28

Flint Hill and Calvert Hall face off in the neutral zone.

On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at Haymarket Iceplex, the Flint Hill Varsity Ice Hockey team went up against Calvert Hall at home for their first game of the season. It was an entertaining and close game, coming down to the very last seconds of play. Calvert Hall was victorious, winning 5-4 and giving Flint Hill their first loss of the season.

Flint Hill wanted to set the pace quickly, and they were very successful in doing so. In the first three minutes alone, they were able to go up two goals. Calvert Hall was not going to go down without a fight, either, and scored two goals on a long power play. For non-ice hockey fans, a power play is when one team has a temporary man advantage on the ice, primarily because of penalties.

Penalties ended up being a pivotal weakness for the Huskies throughout the game. Flint Hill was not very disciplined, taking multiple penalties throughout the game. Some of the most important were a 10-minute major penalty and a 5-minute minor penalty. A minor penalty involves less severe infractions; however, a major penalty almost always involves more serious offenses like fighting or reckless hits. Another difference is that, unlike minor penalties, power plays from major offenses do not end even when the team scores a goal, allowing them to come back and potentially flip the game.

During their long power play deriving from the 10-minute major penalty, Calvert was able to score two goals, tying the game at 2-2 as their power play ended. After that, the game remained very close and competitive. When Flint Hill scored, Calvert Hall was able to match it. Flint Hill went up three goals to two, then Calvert tied it again. The momentum went back and forth until Calvert Hall went up 4-3 with very little time remaining in the last period. Flint Hill smartly called a timeout with a couple of minutes left, setting a play for their best players to execute on the ice. Then, Flint Hill’s Colin Barnett was able to score and tie the game at 4-4, threatening overtime. Unfortunately, Calvert Hall regained possession for a 1 on 2, and they scored with just 3.6 seconds left, winning 5-4.

Regarding the outcome, Jonathan Houser ’28 said, “The main thing was we took way too many penalties. I think if we had stayed out of the penalty box more, the game would’ve gone differently.”

Even though Flint Hill had a tough loss, they have a good season ahead of them and capable players to show up when the team needs it most. Flint Hill will hopefully learn from this loss and improve for future games to come.