East Lake Hockey Shatters Competition in State Final

The East Lake Eagles hockey squad took out Cypress Bay Lightning with a 7-1 victory in the SAHOF High School Championship over the weekend. 

With a weekend of wins under their belts, the Eagles redefined the word "dominate" in the final match.

East Lake was tied with Lightning 0-0 until the second period, when it racked up five goals, one after another. 

Goals for the Eagles were scored by Alex de la Paz, Alex Estoch, Jake Stewart, Connor Swain and Austin Teall.

"This is a very very good hockey team," said Eagles coach Jim Anna.

According to Anna, who has been the Eagles coach for 13 years, the other teams in the competition have more funding and are able to train at least three times as much as East Lake. 

However, during the tournament, the team proved that passion outweighed the odds.

"The teams down south are pretty strong," Anna said. "The last couple years we've gotten beat up pretty bad, but not this time." 

Winning the state championship wasn't the only major accomplishment for the team this year. They also won, for the second year in a row, the Tampa Bay Lightning Cup a few weeks back.

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