Coming into the playoffs as the number six seed, the Ludlow Lions boys hockey team were set to take on the number three seed, the Longmeadow Lancers, for their first game of the playoffs on Feb. 25.

The Lions came up short, losing 4-3 to Longmeadow.

“I think it was a good effort, shaky at first, but we started to pick it up towards the end,” said senior captain Jason Wegiel.

Ludlow had a rough start to the game when Longmeadow had a couple of quick goals, giving them and 2-0 lead over the Lions.

It wasn’t until the second period when junior Brad Garete scored for the Lions, cutting Longmeadow’s lead to 1.

The last period of the game is when the Lions managed to score 2 more goals, both scored by Wegiel, keeping the score within 1.

Being a senior on the team, Wegiel said that it’s probably the worse feeling to have knowing that you aren’t coming back next year. “Playing high school hockey, especially at this school, were where I had my best memories,” he said.

Even though they put so much fight in at the end of the game, they weren’t able to advance to the next game in the playoffs.

Looking into next year’s season, the boys still have hope for the team, even if they are losing four seniors.

“I hope that everyone works hard in the off seasons to get ready to give it another good run next year,” said junior Tyler Diotalevi.

Even losing some of their key players next year, the boys aren’t giving up on the hockey team and it’s talent.

“We got a lot of great young talent that stepped up this year,” said Diotalevi, “They will play a bigger role next year.”