The Warwick Vets Hurricanes beat the Mt. Hope Huskies, 7-4, Friday evening on senior night in what was their last home game of the regular season. D.J. Kowalik had a hat trick for Vets and Warwick had four power play goals in the game.

“D.J. has been like that for us all season,” Warwick head coach Mike Boyajian said. “Game in, game out. He’s one of the first guys on the ice in practice. The kid works his butt off. We’ve almost come to expect it from him. He’s got a big game in him almost every single night. He’s been an absolute pleasure to have.”

Josh Belleville was in net for the ’Canes. He would stop the first two shots he saw, which came from Nathan Cordeiro and Cam Rancourt. But one minute and three seconds into the game, Mt. Hope scored when freshman defenseman James Marshall lit the lamp to give it an early 1-0 lead.

Thirty-six seconds later, Warwick suffered a two-minute minor penalty when forward Dylan Tindle was thrown in the sin bin for elbowing. Mt. Hope would immediately take advantage. After Belleville stopped a shot from Ryan Cordeiro, Nathan Cordeiro found the back of the net with a slapper, making it 2-0 Mt. Hope, two minutes and 51 seconds into the first period.

However, Belleville didn’t crumble, instead he stepped up his game.

“That was a good sign for Josh,” Boyajian said. “He took a little while to get in a groove, but once he got into it, he was fine for the rest of the game.”

Kowalik retaliated while making it look easy. He took the puck the length of the ice while dangling past defenders and put it past Mt. Hope goaltender Kyle Depoy for a power play goal to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 10:52 left in the first.

Ninety seconds later, after a roughing penalty was called on Mt. Hope’s Nathan Cordeiro, Kowalik took advantage of the power play and put a slap shot past Depoy to tie the game at 2.

Warwick would continue to attack, but shots from Andrew Canning, Brandon Major and Kowalik were denied by the Mt. Hope netminder. But, with 3:06 to play in the opening period, Tim Chaffee put the biscuit in the basket with an assist from Jacob Mitchell and gave Warwick a 3-2 edge.

A minute later, Warwick would stay on the offensive. After a slap shot from Collin Csoszor went wide, Mitchell dangled in front before putting it past Depoy to put Vets up 4-2.

Midway through the second, Depoy made a spectacular glove save on Csoszor. But, soon after, Kowalik would come through on a slapper for his third goal of the game and a 5-2 Warwick lead.

Warwick struck again two minutes later. This time, Major found Chaffee in front for a lamp-lighter and a 6-2 Warwick edge.

Warwick wouldn’t stop there. Csoszor later had a shot, but Depoy made a glove save. Csoszor kept on the attack. He shot again and again it was stopped. However, the third time was a charm. Csoszor received the puck from Mitchell and scored on a wraparound with 4:57 left in the second period and gave Warwick a comfortable 7-2 cushion.

With 2:24 left in the second period, Rancourt scored a power play goal with assists from Austin Hogan and Ryan Cordeiro, pulling Mt. Hope within 7-3.

Warwick had a couple chances early in the third period, but it couldn’t extend its lead. Belleville did help Warwick though, when he made a stop on a shot from Mt. Hope’s Nathan Cordeiro. Though, not long after, Keegan Hanley would light the lamp for Mt. Hope, cutting the deficit to 7-4 with 6:13 remaining in the game.

Warwick started out in a hole, but senior forward Dylan Tindle and Kowalik weren’t worried and were happy to get the win on senior night.

“It feels good,” Tindle said. “When we get down, I know we come together more as a team.”

“We needed a playoff push and the win tonight,” Kowalik added. “I knew we would come back if we worked together as a team.”