By Alex Nicoll

Staff Writer

With the season nearing its end, the Coppell Cowboys hockey team faces the Katy Seven Lakes Spartans in the first round of the state playoffs.

The puck drops at 8:15 p.m. tonight at Miller Ice Rink in Farmers Branch.

Coppell closed out the year on a 5-1 run that the team hopes to use as momentum going into the game. Seven Lakes enters the playoff game with an 8-18-1 record.

Junior center Scott Brownrigg  looks to continue his success this season as the leading points scorer for Coppell with 24 on the season.

The Cowboys will have a few threats to their playoff run in junior forward Brandon Bastian who leads the Spartans with 35 points and who has excelled in power play opportunities scoring four goals. Senior goalie Alejandro Duarte has also held opponents to only around three goals a game and has a save percentage of 91 percent.

Another obstacle the team must overcome is not necessarily a player on the ice.

“We have never played them,” junior forward Matt Lasky said. “Most of the teams we have played twice before in the past, but these guys are from around Houston and we do not know their play style. We will have to get accustomed to it quickly”