Big Red Captains Preview 76th Annual Lawrenceville Invitational Hockey Tournament

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Big Red Captains Preview 76th Annual Lawrenceville Invitational Hockey Tournament

By Sam Vachris ‘27/Big Red Sports Network Reporter

While Lawrenceville students return home for winter break, the boys’ varsity ice hockey team will stay on campus and compete in the 76th annual Lawrenceville Invitational Hockey Tournament. This three-day, eight-team tournament is one of the most prestigious and oldest independent preparatory tournaments featuring teams from the United States and Canada.  Tournament games will begin on Friday, December 20 at both Tsai Field House and Hobey Baker Memorial Ice Rink at Princeton University. Each team will play round-robin style in their division. The winner of the two divisions will then compete on Sunday, December 22 for the championship trophy.  See full schedule here.

Big Red’s Fifth Form Co-Captains Ryan Ding and Oliver Clarke have played in this tournament for the past three years and they are both looking forward to taking the ice this Friday. With school being out, they each mentioned enjoying staying on campus, focusing on hockey, and bonding with their team.  Ding explained that he finds “spending the last couple days before break with teammates and competing alongside them has always been something special” to him.

As they prepare, Clarke mentioned that the team is “looking to improve our puck movement and cohesiveness in general.”  Although they both commented that the Big Red team is young this year, Clarke explained that the older players “push our teammates to be courageous and to stand firm against the older competition.”  He also stated that “we are excited to see how far we can go.”

In 2022, in the tournament’s 74th year, Lawrenceville won its first championship; and last year Big Red fell in the championship game to Belmont Hill. 

All games are open to the public. Tickets are available at the rinks -- $10 for the entire tournament, $5 for day passes. Lawrenceville students can attend for free. Can’t make it to the rinks? Stream the games on LocalLive.

Learn more about the 76th annual Lawrenceville Invitational Hockey Tournament and the Big Red boys’ varsity ice hockey team.

Photo credit: Liam Barnosky ‘27/Big Red Sports Network Photographer

For additional information, please contact Lisa M. Gillard H’17, director of Public Relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.