The Parkland ice hockey team found itself in an unfamiliar position in last week’s game against Northampton. Throughout their perfect season thus far, the Trojans had been pretty much cruising to victories.

Last Friday night, however, Northampton trailed by just a goal with five minutes to play after three unanswered scores. Nerves started to settle in for Parkland, but the Trojans never lost their cool on the ice at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena.

Jake Nimeh halted Northampton’s scoring spree with a goal in the final two minutes to give Parkland a two-goal lead and eventually a 5-3 win. The Trojans advanced to 11-0 with the win.

“This was a real test,” Nimeh said. “Northampton is a really strong team. They have a lot of good players. I think Northampton called a timeout at the end. Coach told us to just go out there and get it deep and match their intensity.”

For Nimeh, a junior, his insurance goal came on a move he’s worked on over the years.

“I saw a lane on the outside, so I just put my head down and skated deep with it,” Nimeh said. “That’s sort of my signature move. I go wide on the back end and I usually rip it high top shelf. This time I got fortunate enough to bounce it in.”

Early on, despite missing a number of its top players, Parkland looked to be cruising to yet another victory. Parkland got on the scoreboard early in the first period on a Jacob Kosden goal. Then, Tim Doe made it a 2-0 Trojan advantage just 30 seconds into the second period.

Kosden and Doe each scored two goals through 27 minutes that put Parkland in commanding control with a 4-0 advantage. The Konkrete Kids struggled to generate anything on the offensive end.

“I think we handled the game pretty well,” said Gus Schwartz, a defender and forward for the Trojans. “I know we were shuffling around our positions because we had a few key players missing. Overall we played good team defense and only allowed them to score twice. We pulled it off as a team.”

Northampton, however, was fortunate enough to get on the scoreboard when a Kids shot deflected off a Parkland stick and past the outstretched glove of freshman goalkeeper Matthew Yankanich. That only seemed to swing the momentum over to the Konkrete Kids.

Anthony Belsky scored back-to-back goals not even 10 minutes apart in the third period that brought Northampton within a goal at 5-4 with 5:26 to play. But that’s when the Trojans’ defense clamped down, and Nimeh was able to score two more points that added to his league-leading tally.

“We never want to let up in a game against these guys because we know what they are capable of,” Schwartz said. “We know they can come back and score quickly on us. Near the end we knew how to shut them down and came up with a late goal.”

“That insurance goal was huge,” Doe said. “We really needed that. They had momentum after scoring their goal. So it was huge getting some insurance.”

For a team that has won seven games by four goals or more, it was a pleasant sight to see how the Trojans could also handle a matchup with a close third period.

“It’s nice to know that we can play close games with teams because later on in the season, come playoffs and hopefully the Flyers Cup, we’re going to have tougher competition,” Schwartz said. “The games are going to be fast-paced. It’s nice to know that we can compete and pull of a win.”

Parkland next faces Freedom on Monday at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena at 7:45 p.m.