At midseason, Northampton head hockey coach Brian Ruff didn’t like the climate and environment of his team.

“We’re not playing team hockey,” stressed Ruff at the time, “We have some kids who are selfish, and they have to figure it out. They will learn it the hard way.

“We have been talking to them until we are blue in the face.”

Fortunately for Ruff and his team, they responded.

The end result was the Konkrete Kids’ first Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League (LVSHL) title since 2013.

The Kids beat the Central Catholic/Bethlehem Catholic entry in two consecutive games, the final game a 2-1 victory.

Ruff saw it as a small change that produced a large result.

“We made some changes and we asked the kids to make some minor adjustments,” said the veteran coach. “We needed to get back to the mindset of working as a team.

“A lot of guys were trying to fix everything by themselves instead of taking a team approach. We all knew it would be much easier doing it that way.

“I just don’t know why it took so long.”

Senior goalie Noah Smargiassi, who posted an overall 7-3 record with a 1.99 goals against average, witnessed a change on the ice at midseason.

“We were in a slump, and we all knew what was at stake,” said Smargiassi, who is a student at Northwestern Lehigh. “As seniors, we knew we had one more shot at this.

“We came together and decided to finish it.”

As a Northampton player over the past numerous seasons, there always is the hurdle of beating archrival Parkland, which has been a nemesis during the regular season and postseason.

The Kids beat the Trojans, 3-1, in the playoffs to advance to the final.

“It feels good just beating any team,” stressed Smargiassi. “But Parkland has been recognized as the strongest team in the league for quite some time.

“They have been a major threat to us for a long time, and this feels awesome.”

Ruff acknowledged the big win over Parkland as well as his goaltender.

“Noah is clearly head and shoulders our most valuable asset and an outstanding goalie,” said Ruff. “He played well all year.

“He was able to make the big saves and cut down the angles.”

Ruff pointed to their 3-1 win over Southern Lehigh on Feb. 8 as a turning point that broke a four-game losing streak and changed the dynamic.

“That was the game,” stated Ruff. “We had a losing streak, and we started playing well in that game.

“We started doing things completely. We did what we had to do.”

Smargiassi agreed. He also is looking to continue his hockey career in college next winter.

“We knew we had to win that game to get to the playoffs,” he said. “Before we went out onto the ice, we came together as a team in the locker room.

“We started working even harder.”

Ruff believes this championship can have a different flare.

“Every championship is special,” he said. “This one is different because of what happened last year. We thought we would win it last year, but we lost Aiden Carey, who was a big presence on the ice. Even though we had COVID this year, it still is a championship to be celebrated.

“We had COVID, but this championship still means a lot to the team,” added Smargiassi. “It is still an unbelievable feeling.”