Cling, Clang, Clash. These are some of the sounds that were heard at the girls and boys hockey tournament, as well as the scratching of the pavement and some of the coaches yelling instructions to the players.

On Saturday,  January 29 the MacArthur hockey team won third place overall. The tournament was held at Valley High School and was coached by Special Education Teacher Mr. Jason Callanan.  They won their first match against McFadden Intermediate, 2-0.  They also won their second game, and then they lost their third game against Carr Intermediate.

“I feel good about coming in third place, it was fun, all the players played hard and gave it their all,” said Callanan. “I was excited.  I played hockey growing up and I still do, so I love the sport which is why I did it. All the players played hard and gave it their all.  I was feeling good and ready because of the hard world we put into practice for the tournament.” 

The first match was played against McFadden, and MacArthur won 2-0. The second match was played against Esqueda K-8, which was also a victory after the team won in a sudden-death overtime.  Finally, the last game was played against Carr, but MacArthur’s time ran out and lost 2-3

“Carr was the hardest team to play against because they had better players, we lost our good players,” said seventh-grader Kristopher R., a player in the hockey tournament. “I gained a good amount of friendships out of being in the tournament,”

The tournament was held at Valley High School. The hockey sticks and pucks were provided by the Anaheim Ducks, a professional hockey team. The first match began at 8:30 AM and finished between 1-2 PM. They played on basketball courts with padding on the edges to prevent the puck from getting hit out of bounds.

Two years ago, the MacArthur’s hockey team coached that year by P.E Teacher Mr. Tim Frederickson. won fourth place overall in the tournament, after losing to McFadden 3-4. Overall the outcome improved after a year off during distance learning.