With two consecutive Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey league (LVSHL) titles under their belts, and three in the last four years, Northampton’s varsity hockey team knew a transition period was in the near future.

It happened this year.

The Kids went through a 4-4-2 regular season before they lost to the Saints in the opening round of the LVSHL playoffs.

Northampton’s junior varsity, middle school, and youth teams did capture LVSHL titles this season. The middle school and youth teams won back-to-back championships.

For Northampton’s varsity, it was a season in which their youth showed their inexperience, but they also matured along the way for the future.

“We were young,” stated veteran head coach Brian Ruff, who completed his 33rd season at the helm of the program. “We knew we would have to work through some issues.

“We were very happy that our other teams own championships. We figured this year could be a struggle, but we are very confident about our future. We feel we are in god shape down the road.”

The Kids will graduate six seniors, but they will bring the bulk of the unit back. Leading scorer Nick Kotsch (15 points) will graduate, but sophomores Ian Braun (14 points) and Derek Raudabaugh (12) will return.

Junior Ashtyn Dremock posted a 3-4-1 slate with a 4.29 goals against average in his first full season in the nets. Bailen Smargiassi, who had been the Kids’ goalie the past few seasons, is a freshman on the Naval Academy’s team.

Ruff feels positive about the team’s continuing transition for next season.

“We will have a number of JV players coming up to fill some spots,” said Ruff. “We feel really good about them getting into the lineup. Ashtyn had a good year, and I don’t think his inexperience was an issue.

“We were just a young team overall. However, we feel very good about what is in our pipeline.”

Ruff noted that the majority of his players will be playing travel hockey during the offseason. The Kids will begin workouts in the fall.

“Once the kids go back to school in September, we’ll get everybody together,” said Ruff. “We like what we have coming back, and we’ll get back at it soon.”