The Parkland High School ice hockey team fought from behind to eventually tie the game, but some unfortunate luck on a shot late in the game gave Nazareth a 3-2 victory last Friday night in Lehigh Valley Scholastic Ice Hockey League action at the LV Ice Arena.

It was the second consecutive setback for the Trojans (5-4-1 overall) after not dropping a game since Nov. 30. But they know that they can be better and are motivated to do so with two games left in the regular season.

“We really fought hard as a team and showed our grit and determination,” said senior forward Alex Doe. “We battled back in the third to tie the game. Unfortunately, we got a bad bounce and the puck ended up in the back of our net with a few seconds left on the clock. As a team we are going to use this as motivation moving forward. I am confident we will bounce back and return stronger than ever.”

The first period nearly went scoreless, but Louis Inserra scored the game’s first goal from either team off a pass by Josh Bower to put Parkland out in front 1-0 with 0:36 left in the opening frame.

The Blue Eagles would tie the score late in the second period before Luke Yocum broke the deadlock and gave his team the lead once again with a goal with 1:27 to go in the second.

Nazareth evened the score just 0:41 into the final period.

The back-and-forth scoring took a break, and it all but looked like an overtime period was coming. Nazareth’s Owen Ferguson, however, took a shot on net that sneaked into the Trojans net with just 0:23 remaining to win the game.

The Trojans offense has been balanced all season, with eight players scoring multiple goals and 10 players with at least one. They just fell one goal shy against the Blue Eagles.

“Our offense has been doing a great job putting up goals every night,” Doe said. “It’s great to see a lot of the guys doing their part. We have seen a lot of younger guys scoring their first goals and it’s exciting to see the future leaders step it up.

“I try to be a consistent scorer by putting the puck on net. It feels that when I shoot recently good things are happening so I won’t let up.”

Goalie Colby Rosen finished with 11 saves for the Trojans.

Parkland concludes its regular season with two games in four nights, beginning with a matchup against rival Emmaus next Friday night, followed by a game against Easton the next Monday.

“With two games left in the season, we are looking to finish strong,” said Doe. “We want to win our last two games and make a strong push for playoffs. Currently the team is working hard on the ice for the upcoming weeks. We want to control our own destiny and two wins to end the season would give us great momentum heading into the post season.”