Call this a solid season overall. The Central Indiana Knights improved as the 2023-2024 season continued, turning in a successful postseason. They were close to being even better than that. Under the circumstances, those were big positives. “I thought we did really well,” Knights coach Rob Pozzebon said. The Knights – a high school hockey team of players from Cathedral, Noblesville, Guerin, Fishers, Park Tudor, Hamilton Southeastern and Bishop Chatard – qualified for the postseason in Class 3A in 2023-2024. That’s the state’s second-highest classification, with Indiana high school hockey teams earning their postseason classification with regular-season results. The Knights made the semifinal round of the Class 3A state tournament after entering as the eighth seed. “We weren’t playing great going into the end of the year, and we just kind of figured a way to start playing well,” Pozzebon said. The Knights opened the state tournament with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded and eventual Class 3A champion Leo, then followed that with a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Adams. They lost in the semifinal to second-seeded Lakeshore St. Joe, 4-2, after an empty-net goal at game’s end. “We were right in there until like the last 20 seconds of the game,” Pozzebon said. “Had the order of state tournament games been a bit different, we might have ended up as the champion or in the finals, but we ended up in the semis. I was pretty pleased with that. “Everybody wants to win the medal. Everybody wants to win that championship. It's just really hard to do. You have to have a little bit of luck. Things have to go your way and you have to play your best at the best time. “We played well and I just thought we ran out of luck a little. I think honestly if the game was 10 minutes longer, I think we would've won the game.” The 2023-2024 Knights were a young team that was strong offensively throughout the season, and that improved defensively as the season continued. They were led by multiple strong Cathedral seniors, including team Most Valuable Player Jack Bedich and leading scorer Joe Konesco. “We were probably a little bit better offensive team at the end of the day than we were a defensive team,” Pozzebon said. “One of the things we really had to work on all season was being a better defensive team, which we proved to be at the end of the year. We weren't giving up a ton of goals at the end of the year, which was nice. “I thought the team really progressed nicely, quite honestly. As a coach, it's exactly what I want.” Cathedral players on the Knights in 2023-2024: *Bedich, a four-year player and 2024 captain who was named 2023-2024 Knights MVP. He had two assist in Hoosier League with two goals and five assists in crossover games. “He does so many good things,” Pozzebon said. “He's one of those guys that doesn't necessarily show up on the stat sheet all the time, but we miss him when he is not around.” *Senior forward Grant Goodburn, a four-year player who switched to defense as a senior and had a a goal and two assists in crossover games. “He played a ton of minutes, played really well, was just everywhere we needed him to be,” Pozzebon said. “He did everything we asked him to do.” *Junior forward Charles McCormick. Named a team captain for his senior season, McCormick was key in the first-round victory as he blocked a shot and turned in the game-winning goal late in the game. “That’s a microcosm of exactly what Charles is,” Pozzebon said of McCormick, who was named the Knights’ Unsung Hero for 2023-2024. *Senior Joe Konesco. He had seven goals and six assists in Hoosier League with nine goals and 12 assists in crossover games. He was the offensive player of the year for the Knights. “He played his best hockey at the end of the year,” Pozzebon said of Konesco, who had six points in three postseason games. *Senior Max Engel. He had five goals with two assists in Hoosier League with nine goals and 12 assists in crossover games. “He probably played his best hockey the last three or four weeks of the season,” Pozzebon said. “He was second on the team in points and I think he had a point in every game in the state tournament.” “It's going to be a little disappointing to see some of these guys leave,” Pozzebon said. “The seniors that are leaving, they're a little disappointed they didn't win, but they also know they played their best. They understand. There are a lot of life lessons. You don't win everything you do. Sometimes, you can do your best and not get the result you want. They just beat us and sometimes that’s the way it works. “Next year, I've got 12 kids coming back next year and we're going to be fairly young. It's good for those young kids just to see how far you can get and what it’s going to take to get to that next level. What's good is I think they're ready.”