DRAPER — In only their second year, the Juan Diego Catholic High School Eagle Hockey Club soared to win the 2006 State Hockey Championship March 6, in the West Valley Acord Ice Arena. The final score was 3-1 over Brighton High School in the double elimination final game. Juan Diego beat Brighton 5-2 in the first round. The Eagle record for the season was 19 wins and two losses. In 2005, their record was 21 wins and two losses. The losses were in the tournament games in the quarter finals, which placed them fourth in the state in their first year in existence. The Utah High School League has been in existence for 31 years. "This year, we lost our last two season games, which ended up being timely," said Phil Jung, Eagle hockey coach. "The team had been winning easily, and the losses put us back on level and forced us to play as a team and win as a team." For the past five years, Jung has been trying to get the hockey program off the ground. He did not have enough players to make up a team, until he started recruiting players from the lacrosse team. The games are similar, and they are both physical sports. The first year they had a total of 13 players, and this year they had 22. Their home ice is the Cottonwood Heights Ice Center. "It is such a joy to see the players who did not really know how to play hockey, or skate that well come full circle," said Jung. "Team Captain Chris Jung, and assistants Michael Vritis and Alex Wee did a top notch job teaching the other players how to skate and handle the stick and the puck." The Eagles are not ranked into a class. They play all class level high school teams throughout Utah because not all high schools have hockey teams. This year the northern teams in Utah played the southern teams. Jung said what made the season even better was the support they received from students, parents, and faculty members who supported them during their games.
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