Tragic HS’s hockey team state champs
Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS actually had reason to celebrate on Sunday when their school’s ice-hockey team won the Florida state championship
Eleven days after tragedy struck, the fourth-seeded Eagles upset top-ranked East Lake 3-1 in the semifinals at a minor-league rink in Estero, near Fort Myers, and then defeated Tampa Jesuit 7-4 in the finals later on Sunday.
Team members attributed their victory to the special bond that developed following the Feb. 14 massacre.
“This wasn’t for us. This was for the 17 victims,” senior Matthew Horowitz told Miami/Fort Lauderdale television station WPLG-TV.
The twin victories on Sunday were especially impressive because the Eagles had suffered back-to-back defeats in the tournament on Saturday.
But on Sunday, “No one was lacking energy in the locker room,” Horowitz said. “We all came.to play. We were all ready.”
Another player, senior Ronnie Froetschel, noted that he was just “glad to be alive.”
Forward Joey Zenobi, also a senior, told told Fort Myers’ WBBH-TV, “Now we get to bring the trophy back to the best high school in America.”
There were 17 members on the hockey team to match the number of victims.
The medals will be displayed at Stoneman Douglas in memory of those who lost their lives.
The Eagles are now eligible to play in the national high-school hockey championship tournament next month in Plymouth, Minn.