After the start of their season was delayed due to the aftermath of hurricane Sandy the varsity Raiders ice hockey team opened their season on the road against the Peters Township Indians on November 6.

The Indians opened the game with a goal by Evan Orpeka five minutes into play. They then followed up with another goal five minutes later by Samuel Barnes.

Not to be outdone Seneca’s captain Chris Marziotto scored an unassisted goal eleven minutes into the game. Thirty seconds later the Indians answered that goal with another of their own by Adam Alavi.

After the first intermission the Raiders came out to even the score with two goals later in the period by Marziotto and Luke Reed. The Raiders went into the dressing room hot and kept that spark for the third period coming out and scoring four unanswered goals. The goals were scored by Andrew Gagnon, Peter Kipin, another by Gagnon, and a third goal by Marziotto thus giving him a hat trick.

After the 7-4 win against Peters Township the Raiders geared up for their actual home opener against Cannon McMillan.

Cannon McMillan came into the game hot after a 17-2 win against McDowell and a 6-0 win against Shaler.

The Raiders came out of the room energized and ready to fight for another win. Assistant captain Reed came out of the gate after a Seneca penalty to get a goal just six minutes into the game with assists from Brendan MacFarlane and Luke Roman. Cannon McMillan fought back into the Raider’s zone and scored a goal three minutes after Reed’s. Undeterred, senior Patrick Stough shot up the ice to score an unassisted goal less than a minute later.

Despite attempts from both sides the score remained 2-1 through the remaining two periods.

Before getting to relax and enjoy a peaceful thanksgiving the Raiders still had two more games to play.

First up the Raiders traveled to Center Ice Arena to face off against the Norwin Knights.

Seneca proved that they were up for the challenge and came out of the gate hot with a goal by Reed with an assist from Spencer Schutte four minutes into the game.

Thanks to a Norwin penalty the Raiders’ power play unit was able to get on the board for the first time this season with a goal by  Macfarlane.

Norwin managed to score a goal just 59 seconds before having to go into the locker room.

The last minute goal turned momentum in Norwin’s favor and they managed to score the only two goals of the second period, putting the score at 3-2 Norwin.

Not to be outdone, the Raiders scored two goals of their own courtesy of Jarrett and Macfarlane giving them another win.

In the last game before Thanksgiving the Raiders once again faced off against Canon McMillan. At this matchup Canon McMillan cane out of the gate hot scoring just one minute into the game. The Cannon McMillan defense played a good game for the rest of the first period and kept the Raiders scoreless in the first period.

After a break in the action the Raiders’ Schutte was able to even the score. Cannon McMillan then answered with yet  another goal. Senior Jacob Sarachine evened the game at 2-2. The score stayed even throughout the third period and even through overtime.

After stuffing their faces with turkey the team returned rejuvenated in a late night road game in Erie against McDowell. Despite an early goal from McDowell, the Raiders soon took the lead and never looked back. Four seneca goals in the first period were scored by Peter Kippin, Luke Reed, Peter Kippin, and Darrien Dezarn-sroka.

After a short break in the action Jarrett and Marziotto both scored goals to open the second period. McDowell’s Nicholas Wilcox managed to break up the Seneca scoring spree with a quick goal. The Raiders were quick to put a lid on any sort of momentum shift with a goal by Garrett Frank.

The Raiders shot out of the locker room for the third period after captain Marziotto scored yet another Seneca goal just 49 seconds into the period. The Raiders put two more nails in the coffin with goals by Reed and Kippin to end the game at 10-2 in their favor.

The Raiders finally return home December 4 in a match against Penn Trafford to try and keep their win streak alive.