The Miners Red hockey team had two goals to begin their season: win their third-straight state championship and advance to the semifinals of the national championships.
With the state title already won in late January and the national championships berth secured in mid-February, Park City was able to lock in on the semifinal appearance goal.
So last week, the Miners Red jetted off to Plymouth, Minnesota, to compete against the nation’s best high school teams.
Park City started off their national championships run Wednesday with a 3-1 victory over Edwardsville of Missouri. The Miners Red took a commanding 3-0 lead against Edwardsville on the backs of Jayden Jacobs, Luke Stocker and Pierce Adams goals. Colton Hoffman was in net.
Following the opening win, Park City got their bells rung Thursday by the eventual 1A division national champions: New York’s St. Francis. St. Francis had a commanding 6-0 lead heading into the third period.
Then, with a quarterfinal berth on the line, the Miners Red fell to the Northern Kentucky Norse 3-2 in overtime Friday.
Park City Head Coach Mike Adamek said his team controlled that game, up until the end, where they gave up the final two goals of the game in the third period and overtime. Jacobs had both Miners Red goals against the Norse.
That loss ended Park City’s season.
Teams from Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming joined St. Francis in the quarterfinals.
“I don’t feel great about the showing,” Adamek said. “But, I also feel like we gave it our best. … It was a couple bounces that didn’t go our way and maybe some mistakes.”
Adamek said his team was high on confidence entering the St. Francis game.
“They were very physical and mean,” Adamek said in complementary fashion about St. Francis. “It was a bad game for us. We got our butts kicked.”
Adamek believes St. Francis, who won their six games by an average of just over five goals, may have been better suited for the higher-level 2A or 3A brackets at nationals.
The Miners Red will look to copy some of St. Francis’ speed and toughness next season, as they’ll look to make the semifinals again.
Park City will also look to have players play more club hockey, where the game is a bit rougher, this offseason. Next season, the team will look to schedule some opponents like Bishop Gorman and Gillette, who advanced to the quarterfinals from Nevada and Wyoming, respectively.
“We have to have more of a working relationship with the youth organization to have more kids playing club and high school hockey,” Adamek said. “If we had more kids playing at that level, they’re going to be put in those situations. … They play East Coast, smash mouth, beat your guts in and then talk crap to you after they do it kind of hockey. We don’t really experience that here in Utah at the high school level.”
Adamek told his players how close they were to advancing to the quarterfinals in the locker room Friday. He wants them to keep working hard at everything they do, whether that’s club hockey or other sports like lacrosse this spring at Park City High.
The Miners Red have a strong crop of players like Hoffman, who they believe will help get them back to the state championship and nationals stages next season.
Before taking off to Minnesota, Park City tabbed Mitchell Berry, the program’s leading scorer, as their MVP, goalie Alex Harhi as their unsung hero, and Hunter Jacques and Hunter Hutchison their best leaders.
“They won three state championships,” Adamek said about his senior class. “They’ve given everything to our program.”