After going winless last year, the boy hockey team now finds themselves in the thick of this year's playoff race. As a young team gaining experience, Wareham can only go up from here.

"We've been better than others expected us to be, but the kids expect to win every game," said Wareham/Carver hockey coach Bryan Erikson.

The Wareham/Carver team beat Norton on Saturday to bring their record to 4-4, miles ahead of their 0-18 record from last year.

Erikson said a big difference has been the fact that last years team had one senior and seven freshman. This year he has two seniors and everyone is more experienced, especially the eight sophomores on the roster.

"All the freshman matured really quickly," he said

He said another big improvement this year are the two goalies that came in this year, including senior Marquies Almeida, who had a shutout in the team's 2-0 win over Norton on Saturday.

There are 15 players on the team from Wareham and five from Carver. Erikson said he dealt with any potential chemistry issues right from the start last year. He took the two captains, T.J Kleuber of Wareham and Craig Lauzon of Carver, and said, "I don't care if you're friends or not, just bring respect to the ice."

Kleuber has since graduated, but Lauzon has carried that sentiment to this year's team.

Lauzon is team captain and leading goal scorer with 10 goals through 8 games. Along with Wareham sophomore Stephen Toal, Carver sophomore Pat Hurley and Wareham sophomore Sean Fagan, the four players provide a balanced scoring attack and are responsible for 27 of the teams 32 goals this year.

Erikson has also seen the team bond over the switch from losing to winning. He said the team was quick to shed their "lovable losers" identity going into this year.

"They want to win every time they get on the ice," Erikson said. "I love it when they're upset after a loss. But they know to move on and focus on the next game."

Right now the team has +5 goal differential and sits in the middle of the standings in division three. To qualify for the state tournament, a team must win 50 percent of its games, a mark the team currently occupies at 4-4.

Erikson said the team is determined and sees the state tournament as an achievable goal. He said that if the team makes the tournament, "I think the kids will be unhappy if we don't advance."