Parkland Hockey Team Wins State, Earns Trip To Minnesota

Less than two weeks after a gunman killed 17 people and injured many more on their school's Parkland campus, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's varsity boys hockey team pulled off improbable victories to clinch the Florida state title. The team began as the worst seed in the state tournament.

Skating with dyed yellow hair in honor of shooting victim and friend to the players Joaquin Oliver, the Eagles took down top-seeded East Lake High School in the semifinals and Jesuit High School in finals.

The team will travel to Minnesota in late March for the 2018 USA Hockey National Championship to be played in Plymouth.

"We almost didn’t even come here, because we didn’t know if we wanted to play or not," senior Ronnie Froetschel told WBBH. "I was glad to be alive, and I live for them now," he said of the victims.

The high school hockey national championship will be played from March 22—26.

Photo: People sweep the grounds for evidence as law enforcement officials continue to investigate the scene at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 19, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested and charged 19 year old former student Nikolas Cruz for the February 14 shooting that killed 17 people. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)