A group of Mountain View High School boys captured a division title in club roller hockey last Saturday, clinching a win against a Lincoln High School team that had beat them three times in the regular season.
Ranked second in the division, the Spartans had a bye during the first round of the single-elimination tournament. In the second round they faced off against Leigh High School of San Jose.
“For our first game of the night, it was really close,” said senior Kyle Laffey, the team’s captain. “It was back and forth. They scored with like three minutes left and we thought we were going to lose.”
Tied at the buzzer, the game moved into sudden death and then a shoot-out. Spartan goalie Robbie Hinson, a senior, saved every shot on goal. Then sophomore Conner Treuhaft scored, moving the Spartans into the finals against the Lincoln Lions.
“It was a really big game and there was a lot of pressure,” Laffey said, adding that the Lions are known for their end-game. “We came out really strong and scored two goals right away,” he said.
But sure enough, Lincoln put up a fight.
Tied with less than a minute to go, Treuhaft got possession of the puck.
“I don’t really remember it that well,” he said. “I just got the puck, skated around two people, and put it in.”
“We raced out onto the rink and hugged him,” Laffey said, calling Treuhaft the MVP of the night. “It felt so good to finally beat them.”
“My teammates went crazier than I did,” Treuhaft added. “I didn’t realize how little time was left when I scored.”
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