It was an up and down weekend for the boys varsity hockey team. After defeating Allen Park Saturday night in an 8-1 blowout, they were then shutout 2-0 the next day by St. John Jesuit.

Looking to extend their record on the road, the boys came into Allen Park focused and determined to make a statement, captain Ian Corbett ‘15 said. Dominant on puck possession, out hustling their opponents and creating numerous chances led to an easy win.

The convincing win saturday night provided confidence for an offense that has struggled to score goals so far in the season.

Hosting St. Johns at home, the boys got off to a rough start allowing two quick goals barely halfway into the first period. They were outplayed during the first 10 minutes, but after that, the switch flipped for the Blue Devils and they controlled the game, Corbett said.

“They got a few fluke goals,” Corbett said . “They outplayed us for the first few minutes, but after that it was our game. We were outplaying them the rest of the time. We just had trouble staying out of the (penalty) box and scoring goals.”

After a lackluster first period, South was able to create scoring chances for the rest of the game, but simply could not finish, Zach Kohut ’15 said. St John’s goalie had a total of 30 saves, even stopping a breakaway attempt by Pitters in the third period.

“(They had) solid goaltending,”  Kohut said. “That goalie stood on his head for their team, and we just didn’t bear down when we needed too. It’s frustrating to come out of that game with 30 shots and zero goals.”

Despite going 1-1 on the weekend, the Blue Devils still have a respective 6-3 record that will be tested in the next month against the some of the state’s fiercest competition, Will Barrett ’15 said. Among those teams are Utica Eisenhower and defending Division I state champions Trenton, who eliminated South last year in the first round of the playoffs.

“We are still early in the season and have a long way to go to get where we need to be to be prepared for the playoffs,” Barrett said . “It (tough upcoming games) will definitely help us gauge where we are compared to some of the best teams in the state and will be some of our biggest tests so far this season.”

The boys look to get back on the winning side of things when they square off against Wyandotte this Friday.