By STEVE SINCLAIR

Maine West students finally have the opportunity to compete as a team in the fast moving sport of ice hockey.

Since hockey in Illinois isn't recognized as a school sport, the Warriors Hockey Club was formed. The only connections between the club and the school are the students who participate and the Warrior name. Because of this, people such as Mr. Pat Esposito, Mr. Don Murray, Mr. Tom Maguire, Mr. Ray Cardona, Mr. Don Miller, and Mr. Bruce Terry were instrumental in forming the Warriors Hockey Club.

At the moment the club is fielding both a varsity and a junior varsity team, but they would also like to give a team to the freshmen

Since the decision to form the club came after the start of the season, the varsity squad was unable to get into a league, so this season they are playing an independent schedule. As for the J.V.,

they compete in the Northwest Junior Varsity League out of the Face-Off Hockey Center in Schaumburg and the Carol Stream Ice Arena.

At the varsity level the basically inexperienced Warriors are showing great improvement each time they hit the ice. The Warriors are cur rently playing with a 1‑win, 3‑loss record with the lone victory coming over the Niles North Vikings in a 3‑1 contest. The three losses were at the hands of the Loyola University J.V., the Warrior's opener, 7‑4; the established Palatine Pirates, 5‑0; and the struggling Forest View Falcons, 2‑1.

The J.V. seems to be enjoying themselves as they have already been honored by capturing the Face‑Off Christmas Tournament. The Warriors were ranked second at the end of the round-robin play but stunned the Barrington Broncos in the final with a 2‑1 double overtime victory on a goal off the stick of Ed Rybarczyk. The J.V. has a 12‑win, 1‑loss overall record and are undefeated in league play.