The year 2020 is one most athletes in general would like to forget, but high school athletes are really being affected by the pandemic that has been running rampant throughout the country. While professional athletes are still being paid portions of their million-dollar salaries, high school competitors are just looking to play their sport in some capacity.

Norwood hockey player Jake Russo is a senior captain for the Mustangs in an abbreviated season where there will be no tournament play. Not exactly the way he was hoping to end his high school hockey career, especially after the Mustangs had some unfinished business in the Division 2 South Tournament.

After completing the regular season with a 14-3-3 record, Norwood was awarded the three seed in the tournament only to be knocked out by Westwood, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season, 3-2 in double overtime. It was a tough way for the seniors to have their season end, but the rest of the team was looking toward the next term and avenging that upset loss. Unfortunately, Covid-19 would have something to say about that.

As the season neared, Russo was still playing for his club team to get ready for the season; looking forward to getting on the ice with his teammates and help contribute to a winning campaign.

“After the way our season ended last year, we really wanted to come back strong and prove that was not us, but for the longest time we didn’t even know if we were going to have a season,” the Norwood captain said. “Once we found out we were having a season, we were excited but then we were told there would be no tournament. That was really tough to be told. We knew when our season would definitely be over, and we couldn’t do anything about it.”

 

Prior to skating with his Mustang teammates, Russo had attended Catholic Memorial during his freshman year but decided to transfer to Norwood the following year. Russo, who also played lacrosse up until last season, began playing hockey in the Norwood Youth Hockey Leagues and at the age of 13 joined the Boston Junior Huskies. It was around the eighth grade when he started to receive phone calls from schools looking for him to come play hockey for their programs. 

If this wasn’t enough to prove to himself that he could play the game, he was then selected to play for Team Massachusetts in a four-game, seven state round robin tournaments in Minnesota.

“Playing for Team Massachusetts was the best hockey that I have ever experienced,” Russo said. “The game was a little faster than I was used to, but I was able to keep up and play well. It gave me the confidence in my game.”

As an incoming sophomore trying out for the team, Russo found that he knew a lot of the kids on the squad, but still entered the tryouts with some trepidation and was unsure how he would be accepted. Ultimately, he found that he would get some ice time on the first line that year and would lead the team in goals. 

After concluding the season 11-3-6, Norwood made its way into the divisional tournament only to see their run stopped short by Canton, the eventual champion, in the Semi-Finals. While it was not the ending he was looking for, Russo did contribute to the team’s first round victory over Scituate scoring the game winning goal to give the Mustangs a 3-2 win.

Following his sophomore campaign, Russo found himself taking part in a lot of hockey showcase games, attending hockey camps, skated every morning and working out with good friend and teammate Anthony Marchant. All the preparation helped as the then junior was the team’s second leading scorer with 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points. 

As a senior through eight games this year, Russo is continuing the pace once again leading the Mustangs in scoring as Norwood sits at 5-3 at the time of this writing. 

“Jake is a three-year player who has improved on a yearly basis,” Norwood Coach Chuck Allen said. “He’s one of those kids who knows that he is supposed to score and if we are going to be successful, he needs to put the puck in the net.”

According to Allen, Russo is a leader on and off the ice while his best attribute is the way that he carries himself. The senior does it all as he loves the game and breathes hockey. And although his senior year wasn’t the way he had hoped it would go, he knows that he still has three games yet to be played and plans on giving it everything that he has.