This was good season, a competitive season. The Central Indiana Knights in Ron Pozzebon’s sixth season as head coach turned in a balanced schedule of close games in 2025-2026 – and while the season ended earlier than hoped, it was defined by camaraderie and progress. “I’m happy with the players; I’m happy with the player development,” Pozzebon said. The Knights, a hockey team made up of players from Cathedral and other Indianapolis area high schools, went 20-20-1 in ’25-26. The Indiana State High School Hockey Association structures its postseason based on regular-season records, with the Knights competing in ’25-26 in Class 2A postseason – the third-highest of four classifications. “We had pretty much a perfect season from a coaching standpoint,” Pozzebon said. “There can be a lot of emphasis on winning and playing to win, and we did that. We played to win more this year than we have in the past. I always feel like the best seasons are the ones where you're right around .500, where you don't play in a lot of games that are blowouts and they’re one- and two-goal games for the most part. “We finished 20-20-1. We scored two more goals than we gave up all season. One of our goaltenders was 13-13-1 and the other was 7-7. We just ended up on the wrong side of a couple of losses.” The Knights lost in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament, 2-1, to the Fort Wayne Vipers on February 20. “Our team was that way kind of all year,” Pozzebon said. “We played great games against really tough opponents, then found ourselves in spots where we're playing equal opponents and can't score. I'm a little disappointed with the outcome, but I'm happy with the season. The season went well.” The Knights in addition to the season-ending loss, lost three late-season close games in the Hoosier Championship tournament, with Pozzebon calling scoring “our Achilles Heel for the latter part of the season.” “Ultimately, it's nobody's fault when you can't score,” he said. “We were doing all the things that we should be doing to score. Sometimes the puck doesn't go in the net. “When you look back, there were five or six games we possibly could have won. We didn't win them, but we could have won our last three games that we lost. I think we were the better team than most of them, but we really struggled to score goals after the end of January. “In tough games, we had a hard time putting a puck in the net.” The late loss ended a season in which the Knights played solid defense consistently, and one in which their team chemistry and energy allowed them to be competitive despite often being significantly younger than some larger-class teams. “We did a good job on the defensive zone and maybe next year we've got to focus on that and maybe a little bit more on the offensive side,” Pozzebon said. “But you can't win games if you're giving up four, five and six goals a game. Playing better defense is a way to get there.” Cathedral players on the Knights’ A team included: *Senior Daniel Michael, an Academic All-State selection who won the ISHSHA Dr. Jeffrey X Wyatt STEM Academic Achievement Scholarship Award and the Knights’ Hobie Baker character award. “He played well pretty much all season,” Pozzebon said. “He’s a good, solid hockey players and a great kid.” *Sophomore forward Noah Hiott. “He had a really good season and worked to be better defensive player,” Pozzebon said. “That part of his game was better than it had been in the past. He did a nice job for us overall. It was tough to ask too much more of him.” *Sophomore defenseman Quinn Ridgeway, who was named the Knights’ Most Improved Player. “He took leaps and bounds forward this year,” Pozzebon said. “He did a great job of becoming one of our mainstays at the defensive position.” The trio was key to a team on which the locker room and togetherness was “really good.” “It was pretty cohesive,” Pozzebon said. “Our player leadership was good. The kids worked hard to do the things we wanted them to do. There's disappointment for sure, for losing those games, but in a sports term, we didn't lose. We got beat. “We played well. We played well enough to win and then it just didn't work out.” Cathedral players on the Knights’ B team include junior forward Cash Miramonti, freshman forward Ben Kreuter, freshman forward Ethan Farrar, sophomore defender Harrison Pastrick, freshman defender Mary Webb and freshman forward Max Webb. Those players could be key and contribute moving forward on a Knights team that Pozzebon said should continue to grow in 2026-2027. “We retain a lot of our top goal scorers,” Pozzebon said. “We look good from that perspective. I think we'll be at least as good and maybe a little bit better next year.”