While the Grapevine hockey team did lose by seven goals to Carroll last Thursday, the final score does not tell the whole story.
The Mustangs lost to Caroll 8-1 as coach Laddy Tresl faced his former team for the first and only time this summer season, but Grapevine only had eight players to put on the ice.
"We have not had a full team for a while now," Tresl said. "With only eight players out there, they kind of got tired, but you can’t blame everything on being tired, either. We just didn’t have enough depth, and the team we were playing against had three lines and a full team. That is hard to overcome."
Grapevine trailed 3-0 to the Dragons when Robbie Cooper finally broke through for the Mustangs in the second period on an assist from Dustin Tirey.
Carroll scored five unanswered goals to finish out the game, but Tresl said he is still not concerned about the losses his team has taken and said he is accomplishing what he had hoped for the summer season.
"I’m getting to know the players," Tresl said. "We are getting to know each other a little bit. You win some, you lose some, but I am really pleased with what I have seen so far, and we have quite a bit of talent on the team.
"Hopefully, when the season starts, we’ll be able to put enough horses on the field and really show what we are capable of doing."
Grapevine is 2-4 through its first six games of the summer season, and Tresl said he is beginning to get a feel for who his starters could be in the fall.
"It’s still early, but I am starting to get an idea about who will play where next season," Tresl said. "Who will play on which line and who will be a good fit to play together."
Grapevine will play Coppell at 6:30 p.m. on July 10 at Euless Green Arena.
Over at Colleyville Heritage, things are not going that well as of late either, as the Panthers lost to Keller Blue 4-2 last Thursday and followed that up with a 12-1 loss to Flower Mound on Monday night.
Colleyville Heritage will play at 8:30 p.m. on July 8 against Keller White at the NYTEX West arena in North Richland Hills.