Starr’s Mill and McIntosh added a new chapter in their ongoing heated rivalry. Everybody knows about the Panthers and the Chiefs’ constant battles on every field, court, and diamond, but few know about a decade-old competition that has been playing out at the Kedron Fieldhouse on a roller rink.

The two schools’ roller hockey clubs recently battled it out in a closely contested match with the Chiefs winning, 3-2.

Junior Cameron Serapiglia scored both goals for the Panthers.  “I think we played well,” Serapiglia said. “We got in a hole early and battled back the entire game. We never gave up.”

The Chiefs scored in the first few seconds on a breakaway to take an early 1-0 lead. Panther sophomore goalie J.P. Wiggins deflected about 21 more shots the rest of the game. “I’ve been playing goalie since I was 4,” said Wiggins, “and goalies are kind of like the quarterback for hockey, so I liked the idea of that.”

The Chiefs extended their lead in the middle of the second period with a slap-shot goal by senior Hunter Baynes from quarter rink. Serapiglia said that didn’t get him or his teammates down. “I knew it was early in the game, so I knew we could come back,”he said.

Serapiglia put the Panthers on the board with a wrist shot straight into the net halfway through the second period to cut the Chiefs’ lead in half, but McIntosh responded with a goal halfway through the third period to extend its lead to 3-1.

Serapiglia scored his second goal when he hit the puck out of the air directly in front of the Chiefs’ goal, and it made its way into the net to close the gap to 3-2 with about five minutes left.

The Panthers didn’t have another opportunity to score.

The three-division league is composed of 15 high schools. Since the nearest ice hockey rink is in Atlanta, the teams decided to turn instead to roller hockey because of its low cost and the convenience of local roller hockey rinks.

Panther coach Delmar Prowant has been coaching the club for four years. He has a passion for the game and two sons on the team, freshman Mitchell Prowant and senior Austin Prowant. “It’s great having my dad as a coach,” said Austin Prowant. “He knows what I’m going to do because he’s been coaching me since I was 8.”

Although the team plays under the school’s name, it is not an officially recognized school sport and has no official team captain, but it is a high-speed, high-action event.  The injuries certainly are real. Sophomore Kyle Meyhoefer broke his left clavicle when he was slammed into the boards by a Lambert player during their game Saturday, Feb. 28, in Forsyth County.  “I felt like someone screamed in my ear because the noise from the collision was so loud,” he said. “But I didn’t realize I was hurt until I looked down to see my jersey stained red.”

Meyhoefer already had a broken toe from previous game, and earlier in the season, he suffered a concussion in yet another game.