ANAHEIM – Standing in the shadow of Honda Center shortly after punctuating a perfect league record with a league title, the Santa Margarita hockey players were celebratory, relieved and everything else one would expect. One thing is certain though, as of Thursday night the Eagles are still not content with their accomplishments.
Before defeating JSerra, 4-3, on Thursday for the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League Varsity 1A Championship, the Eagles had already captured the California Amateur Hockey Association High School state championship and booked a trip to the national tournament March 20-24 in Coral Springs, Fla.
Junior forward Brian Desmond said there was a “trilogy” of championships the Eagles were aiming for.
“We won state, won league and now we’re really striving for nationals,” Desmond said Thursday night. “We got two out of three and now we’ve got one more to go.”
Thursday night’s game was a rematch of the 2012 league title game and another chapter in the league’s oldest rivalry.
For the second year in a row the Eagles entered the championship game with a perfect league record. In 2012, the Lions spoiled the Eagles’ perfect run with a 3-2 victory in the league championship game. In 2013, Santa Margarita was determined not to let that happen again.
Goals by Tatu Hiltunen, Eemil Selanne and Max Kilkuts gave the Eagles a 3-1 lead after two periods but they suddenly coughed it up, allowing JSerra to tie the score, 3-3, going into the final 10 minutes. With 6:22 left in the game, however, Desmond smashed home the eventual winning goal from close range.
“Especially for all the guys that were on this team last year … we couldn’t let that happen again,” Desmond said. “This one was for pride.”
With two championships secured, the Eagles now begin preparations for a run at a national title.
“This is our third year in a row going and I know how tough it is to win it; you have to have a lot go right for you,” Coach Craig Johnson said. “At the same time, in saying that, I know our team has what it takes to win it.”
Team captain Branden Vara said the team’s goal “is obviously to win it. … We want to go out there and we want to do our best and we want to win the whole thing this year.”
A year ago in Utah, Santa Margarita advanced through pool play with a 3-0 record but fell, 2-1, to Iowa’s Waterloo Warriors in the quarterfinals.
While the level of play in the 5-year-old league is constantly rising, the Eagles still won games this season by margins as wide as 7-0, 9-0 and 13-0.
At the national tournament, Santa Margarita will face stiffer competition; last year the Eagles’ four games were decided by a total of five goals.
“We learned basically we can’t come out thinking we’ve got it for granted,” senior forward Vara said. “We beat these teams but then we go to nationals it’s a whole different game. We’ve got to come out on top of our game for every single game.”
After graduating eight seniors from last season’s team, Santa Margarita had to rely on younger members who were a part of the 2012 success to step into those vacant leadership roles.
“I think it’s just the boys that we had last year knew that there was a void to fill and we filled it,” Vara said. “The kids that came up really stepped up and they played amazing.”
Desmond, the team’s leading scorer, credits team chemistry for being able to sustain the run of success.
“I think both years, last year and this year, our chemistry is really key,” Desmond said. “We bond really well together.”
