Our Winning Journey

Miracle on Great Park Ice

by Alex Ha

We aren't even supposed to be here. This thought constantly lingered in my head throughout the duration of our playoff run. Game after game, win after win — our success was unending.

However, we entered the playoffs with a mediocre season with the odds not in our favor. Our team initially lacked chemistry despite our having many great players. We had a collection of talent that made for a perfect overall team, with dominant scorers from various elite club teams, intimidating enforcers with great size and strength, incredible goalies holding down the fort, and glue guys who helped piece together all loose ends. We were built for success, and it seemed like we had the season wrapped up before it even started. But, we had many strong egos on our team, which made winning difficult. This was a result of lack of chemistry and trust with one another.

High school hockey is incomparable to any other hockey program I have ever played for. Guys are bigger, plays mover faster, and you have to keep your head on a swivel at all times. It’s similar to playing on an international team — you have a sense of pride for your school, and will do whatever it takes to win. In club, players are looking for individual growth, and goals and assists are valued more than team success. You are stuck with your high school until the end; if you can’t succeed on your club team, you can leave at any time. You would assume that high school teams would have more of a sense of teamwork and chemistry, but it’s almost the opposite. The age gaps in high school hockey make it more difficult to click with your older or younger teammates. As a freshman, my only thoughts were to get playing time on what was a considerably older team. I felt as if I was a boy amongst men — I was still playing with toys while the others were talking about finances. This sort of age gap creates a disparity amongst the teammates that makes it hard to generate success. On top of that, high school hockey sees much less ice time than club, with seemingly half the amount that club gets. Practices are crucial to the team’s overall success. Not only is it a time to develop your individual skills, but it’s also a time to create chemistry with your team. You have to quickly be able to understand your teammates like the back of your hand: where they want the puck off a one-timer, which side they prefer, what position they like. I didn’t feel confident or comfortable until my junior year, and I knew this would be how our younger guys during last season would feel too.

Our first opponent was Beckman, the returning champions, who were hungry for another deep playoff run despite their lack of star power. We went down early 1-0 with a goal midway through the 1st period. We were unfazed; nobody was ready to back down. We put on a clinic shutting them down defensively in the 2nd period, and then a pair of unanswered goals in the 3rd to close out the game. This would become the repeating narrative of our absurd playoff run. After this victory, we already started turning heads, but it was only just the beginning.

As crazy as it sounds, our mindset heading into games was not what you would expect. We would go in hoping to win each game rather than having a high level of confidence in ourselves. I guess you can say it was a happy accident of sorts.

Reflecting back on this title run, I can firmly state that playing at the Great Park rink tremendously helped us gain confidence and composure. We knew that we had to protect OUR house and we made sure that challengers were aware. On top of that, the new rink attracted local fans as well as our classmates and friends from schools all across Irvine. This was something we had always dreamed of — playing in front of a crowd. We wanted hockey to be treated like other sports, and the combination of the new rink as well as the fans made us finally feel entitled.

It all came down to this. We were finally starting to pick up some momentum and confidence, realizing that we could win the whole thing. We received our first banner when we succeeded in winning the division over North County 3-2, and this only motivated us more. Our win secured our spot in the Commissioner's Cup Championship game.

Words can’t even describe the feeling when our very own senior, Evan Kordovi, scored the game winning goal with 40 seconds left on the clock. I can vividly remember that moment. It almost felt like it didn’t happen. My mind and body hadn’t registered what had just unfolded. Following tragic injuries to some of our top players like Ryu Suzuki and Jake Trujillo, most of us thought we were toast. And to be fair, I’d say I somewhat felt that way as well.

Players were jittery, impatiently waiting for the clock to hit double zeros, and the buzzer to sound. All of us were ready to clear the bench and throw our gloves into the air and celebrate. This is a moment that can NEVER be replicated.

As we all know, Team USA in the 1980 Olympic games accomplished the unthinkable, defeating the powerhouse Soviet Union team in a comeback victory. We also proved a lot of people wrong (and maybe even ourselves) when we were able to gel into a championship team despite our initial lack of chemistry and unfavorable odds. This is a moment that will never be forgotten.

Do you believe in Miracles…