When the hockey season began a few months ago, Juan Diego coach Phil Jung was concerned his talented team might not be pushed or challenged enough.
The Soaring Eagle were assigned to the southern division of the Utah high school hockey league as more teams necessitated the creation of a third division. Playing against a handful of experienced teams but also a handful of hockey newcomers, Juan Diego breezed through the regular season relatively unchallenged.
"I was afraid that might hurt us in the playoffs when we had to play some of the better teams," Jung said. "I knew it was going to be a little different for us to play good teams like they have in the other divisions."
Jung was right to be worried. But he was also right to have plenty of confidence in his team.
Juan Diego captured its second straight state championship last month with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Brighton. The win avenged a 5-4 overtime loss the Soaring Eagle suffered to the Bengals the night before in the double-elimination tournament.
"That is a very good hockey team we played," Jung said. "We knew they would give us a great game."
The loss to the Bengals in the first championship game was the only defeat the Soaring Eagle suffered all season. The two wins over Brighton in the semifinal and final rounds were also the only losses the Bengals were dealt.
Juan Diego was led by a talented line of skaters. Alex Wee, Alex Dunning, Alex Halloran and Mike Vrtis may be the most imposing line of puck handlers in the state. That they are also among the fastest skaters in Utah makes them more dangerous.
Dunning led the team with 76 points on 31 goals and 45 assists. Vrtis chipped in 29 goals and 26 assists while Halloran had 22 goals and 30 assists. Not to be overlooked, Wee contributed 23 goals, 24 assists and a rugged body to bang around while clearing things for his team.
Andy Hill had a splendid season in the net for Juan Diego. The youngster allowed more goals than usual to the Bengals but held his own in the other games with only 20 regular season goals allowed.
Throw in 6-foot-6 junior Todd Potempa (14 goals, 13 assists) and the Eagle had a team full of vital cogs to the championship machine.
"We've played as a team this year," Jung said. "It'd be easy to let these guys just go and play and we'd probably still win a bunch of games. But we played together and that makes a big difference."
As the state champion, Juan Diego will represent Utah — along with Brighton — in the Rocky Mountain District Tournament in a couple of weeks. The tournament will feature state champions from Utah, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico and will be played at the new ice sheet in Bountiful.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com