Santa Clarita youth hockey team wins championship days after deadly Colorado crash
Just days after they were involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-70 in Colorado, which left one father dead and several players injured, a youth hockey team from Santa Clarita took home the league title on Sunday.
The tournament was hosted at Edge Ice Arena in Littleton, Colorado, taking place over the weekend to determine the champion of the Western Girls Hockey League.
The Santa Clarita Lady Flyers opted to continue playing in the tournament despite the tragedy, and thanks in large part to the support of other teams, emerged triumphant on Sunday afternoon.
"It wasn't just about a championship," said Todd Stelnick, the team's coach and a father of one of the Lady Flyers. "It was about being with your teammates, being with your family on the ice, sticking together win or lose. They knew they were fighting for each other."
The girls fought through six games in the three days following the crash after deciding on their own to remain in the tournament, Stelnick said.
"There's lots of emotions going in all of our heads and our hearts," said one player. "We felt nervous at first. ... I feel like we just needed the support to keep on going."
"Once we decided we were playing, we were all running on pure emotion. A little bit of Sourpatch Kids too," said another player. "It didn't matter about the score, we just wanted to do it for the family and for Manny."
The crash happened early Thursday morning as several families and members of the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers 12-and-under team were traveling to the Western Girls Hockey League tournament. They were about 50 miles from Denver near the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 in Clear Creek County when the crash occurred, Colorado State Patrol officers said.
Ten people were inside the Sprinter van transporting some of the team and their families when they were struck by a Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow that lost control at approximately 7:50 a.m. Two other passenger vehicles were also involved in the crash, which forced the van down an embankment.
The driver of the van, identified as Manny Lorenzana, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Eight others were hospitalized in the collision: three adults and five juveniles, one of whom was airlifted to a trauma center in critical condition.
Family members say that Lorenzana was their hero, a talented artist and a family man to the core.
"He just loved watching his daughter play," Stelnick said.
Other families with the Lady Flyers said that three of the players were hospitalized after the crash and that they were all in attendance at the championship game. One of the players' mothers remained hospitalized as of Sunday evening, but everyone else had been released.
Stelnick said that the league has planned a championship celebration party for the Lady Flyers, as well as a remembrance for Lorenzana, later this week. Loved ones have created an online fundraiser to help the victim's family cover funeral expenses. It can be found by searching for the keywords: "In loving memory of Manny Lorenzana."
