Celebration and mourning. These were the two emotions that filled the Cube on Wednesday night.
The Santa Clarita Flyers’ girls 12U and 14U teams were honored in a special homecoming welcome.
“We have so much support from home, and we wanted to celebrate with our home city here in Santa Clarita,” said Todd Stelnick, the head coach of the 12U team.
This comes after the 12U team’s emotional championship victory over the weekend in the WGHL playoff tournament.
Their gritty win comes after a deadly motor accident that not only injured three of their own but also took the life of Manuel Lorenzana, a father to one of the players.
“Manny was such a good father,” Stelnick emphasized.
“He was something special to his daughter.”
When asked about Brody, Manuel’s daughter, the bench boss got teary-eyed.
“Hockey is her safe space, and [is] what keeps her together.”
On the other side of the ice, the 14U team was honored for reaching 2nd place in States and a berth in regionals.
With the 12U’s season ending at the top of their league, they now look to move forward.
“Well, we’re going to stay close. We’re going to have some family dogs around the locker room and keep smiles on faces,” said Stelnick.
“We do have the PGHL playoffs around the corner [in] the first week of March, so it’s something for these girls to look forward to and play for.”
Lady Flyer Sophia Boyle, who plays right wing for the club, also commented.
“Once we came back to our hometown, we kind of, like, got a full check of reality, and we’re all emotional, but we’re all doing ok.”
