Varsity champion JSerra

JSerra Catholic High School defeated Santa Margarita Catholic 3-2 to capture the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League (ADHSHL) championship on March 6 at Honda Center.

More than 1,000 fans watched the varsity and junior varsity championship games, the latter of which was won by Damien HS over Long Beach Prep, 4-2.

Santa Margarita went undefeated in league play (8-0), finishing atop the league and earning a bye to the championship game. The Eagles were the highest scoring team in the league with 46 team goals. JSerra advanced to the finals after defeating Servite High School, 2-1, in the semifinal contest on Feb. 25.

JSerra came into the championship game as the underdog but jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a goal from Joseph Pauluzzi, but  Santa Margarita came back to tie the game with a power play goal from Kyle White.

Santa Margarita jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the second when Kyle White capitalized on the power play with his second goal of the night, but JSerra answered five minutes later with a goal by Chandler Cole. The game remained tied going into the 3rd period and was back and forth throughout until JSerra’s Blake Reeves scored late in the third to take a 3-2 lead. Santa Margarita came back with a lot of pressure late in the game, but JSerra was able to hold on.

JV champion Damien High School

JV champion Damien completed its regular season with a 12-2 record, and followed with victories over Bishop Amat/Upland Christian and Edison in the quarterfinals (Feb. 25) and semifinals (Mar. 3). Long Beach Prep concluded its regular season with an 8-6 record, advancing to the championship game with a quarterfinal win over Servite (4-2) on Feb. 25 and semifinal victory over JSerra (6-1) on Mar. 3.

The JV game was tight throughout and remained scoreless after the first period. Second period goals from David Macgregor and Daniel Gallo gave Damien some breathing room, with the score 2-0 at the end of two.

Long Beach Prep got on the board early in the third on a goal by Michael Thomas, but Damien responded with a goal from Samuel Bell less than 20 seconds later. The score remained 3-1 until Long Beach Prep scored on a power play goal from Jacob Toro midway through the third period. Damien was able to hold off Long Beach Prep and add an empty net goal with less than 10 seconds left to secure the victory.

Teemu Selanne was in the crowd to watch son Eemil play for Santa Margarita.

The Ducks launched the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League on July 1, 2008 with JSerra (San Juan Capistrano) as its charter member with Santa Margarita closely following in 2009. The league swelled to seven clubs for the 2010-11 season, with the addition of five teams and three new schools: Servite High School (Anaheim), Damien High School (La Verne) and Lutheran High School of Orange County (Orange). The ADHSHL entered the 2011-12 season with a membership of eight schools and 11 teams, including newcomers Bishop Amat/Upland Christian Academy (Upland), Huntington Beach Edison (Huntington Beach) and Long Beach Prep (Long Beach).

For more information on Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League championships, please visit www.anaheimducksgoalhighschoolhockey.com.