Tigers hockey team suffers back-to-back losses
The Taos Ice Tigers lost backto-back games against the Albuquerque Bears on Friday (Feb. 10) and against Alamosa on Saturday (Feb. 11).
The Ice Tigers faced off against the Albuquerque Bears on Friday (Feb. 10) at the Youth and Family Center, with the Bears dominating the Tigers: 7-1.
The Bears dictated the match from the get-go with an early 4-0 lead over the Ice Tigers. Albuquerque attacked in numbers when they moved forward. From a wide position, one of the Bears would pass the puck to a sleuth of Bears posted front and center of the Taos goal.
Taos had counter opportunities, but the Bears were quick enough to track back and disrupt the Ice Tigers’ fastbreaks. When the Tigers were down 6-0, David Vargas managed to break through and score a tough unassisted goal against the Bears. Taos forced the issue more in the third period than they had in the previous periods combined, but Albuquerque’s Jaxson Baca saved a number of shots and kept the score at 7-1.
After the loss, coach Shawn Cisneros spoke with the Taos News on what was missing from the Ice Tigers’ performance on Friday.
“Kids didn’t come to play tonight. I mean — it showed,” he said. “And, hopefully, they’ll bring it tomorrow. And we practiced hard all week. I thought we were ready. But their attitude showed that they weren’t ready to play tonight.”
The Tigers went on to lose again the following day against Alamosa: 10-2.
“The biggest thing we’ve been working on is getting kids in front of the net,” Cisneros continued. “We got some fast kids and they’re just not taking advantage. You know, it’s like both of them being down there taking that first shot and then being there for the rebound. And the Bears are good. They have some really good players. And we’re a young team. So, yeah, next couple years — we’ll bring it together.”