The luck of the Irish was with The Saints this weekend, as the U15 hockey team made it to the gold medal game of the SEDMHA International Minor Hockey Tournament.
Expectations were low for Irish team at the start of the tournament, as they were unable to secure a win last year during their first SEDMHA experience.
“To make it this far this year and to make it to the gold medal game is absolutely amazing. It’s more than we could have ever dreamed. It’s a fantastic tournament,” said head coach Paul Cummins.
“Nova Scotia, Halifax, and the people here have been fantastic to us. It’s been the trip of a lifetime for them.”
The team has players from all over Ireland – from Cork right up to Belfast. Some of the children travel up to 10 hours round-trip just to get an hour of ice time.
“They train once a month together, that’s all the ice time we can get because we only have one ice rink on the island of Ireland,” said Aisling Daly, team manager.
“These guys are passionate about it, they’ve committed to the travel, they committed to the team and it’s been an awesome experience. It’s going to be hard for me to get them home.”
Despite a 5-0 loss in the gold medal game, the team is pleased with what they accomplished.
“Second place at SEDMHA in this division is unbelievable. We came over here with the hope of winning a game, but winning the silver medal, oh, man, it’s indescribable,” said Cummins.
“Nobody ever thought we’d make it this far. We came last year and we did not do as well as we did. I am proud of everybody in that locker room. We played well,” said player Molly McGillian.
With seven games in four days, Cummins says most of the kids were able to play more hockey in this one tournament than they will in a season back home.
“They’re exhausted, they’re tired, but they couldn’t be happier,” said Cummins.
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