The Wolf Packs Path to the CIF
Championship
14-3-1 was the West Hills Wolf Packs final record at the end of the 2012/2013 regular season. An unbelievable season for the boys of winter.
At the beginning of the season nobody expected the Wolf Pack to have this much success especially after getting defeated by St. Augustine in the first game of the season, a much weaker team than them or so what they thought. It was a historic loss for the pack since theyve never lost to them ever and last season going 10-0 in league play, the season wasnt looking to promising for the boys. The next game they had ended in a tie against the Cathedral Dons another team they usually beat, everyone looked out of sync and after that nobody was expecting them to do anything this year. After having a couple weeks worth of games the boys record was 2-3-1, not a good start at all. Soon after that downfall something magical took place and the boys started to click and looked like the old Wolf Pack from the previous seasons. The pack was winning game after game taking down opponents by a 10 goal margin, I guess you could say the pack was back. One of their bigger victories came against Rancho Bernardo a team that was 9-0 before they faced the pack that is. That night they boys played amazing, there passing was crisp, there shots were on, and their goalie played his heart out that, 4-3 victory felt like winning the stanley cup to the boys. Knowing they could take down them, the pack knew they could take down anyone and were out for blood. The team was on a roll and nobody could stop them not even god himself people might say. There final record was 14-3-1 with 175 goals scored, 63 against, a shocking record and plus minus. They were headed into playoff on a hot 12 game winning streak.
The first round of playoff the boys had a bye and were waiting to see who would win between Del Norte and Southwest. Eventually they soon found out Del Norte was going to be there first opponent in the quarterfinals. Earlier on in the season they were suppose to play the Nighthawks (Del Norte) but never actually did because the one time they were going to face off the Nighthawks forfeited against them. So the pack had no idea how they could do against them and going into a sudden death game they couldn't take them lightly.Taking out the big guns and showcasing their talents the Pack destroyed the Nighthawks by a score of 12-6. They knew their opponent already after the game, it was the Cathedral Dons.The series record between them this season was 2-0-1.They knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, they were going to take it serious and play like their lives depended on it.The first few minutes of the semis against the Dons was rough. The Dons came out forceful and put in two quick goals before the pack could even get settled in. Down by 2 goals already the pack struck back with Brad Majeski scoring two qucik goals in one shift to tie the game up. After being tied for aboiut 3 minutes the pack shot off and never looked back, they scored and scored and scored till the final whistle blew and the game was over. Final score from Escondido Wolf Pack, being the dominate force they were, 10 Dons 5, another key worthy defeat for the boys in blue and placing them a spot in the CIF championship.
Later that night the Rancho Bernardo Broncos faced off against the Poway Titans. Close but not close enough the Titans couldn’t prevail and pull off the upset over the 1st seeded Broncos. Broncos beating them 3-2 earned them a spot to take on the pack in the championship game. The season series between the broncos and pack was an even 1-1 with both teams beating each other and losing to one another. It was the perfect setup, 1 seed vs 2 seed everyone knew it was a must watch game and knew each team would battle it out till the bitter end.
Wed night 7:45 pm, game time as both teams took their respectable sides the game was on. Wolf pack jumped to a early lead by a goal from David Baldwin assisted by Brad Majeski. Soon after Rb answered with a quick goal themselves. 1-1, and just like that the game was all tied up. That was pretty much the story of the whole game with each team answering back to one anothers goal until the pack raced ahead by two goals from Zach Peters to make the score 5-3. With a two goal lead the pack felt comfortable, but a two goal lead is one of the hardest leads to maintain in hockey and just like that Rb came back and scored two unanswered goals. The final buzzer rang and the game was all tied up an so it was time for overtime. Both teams had many chances to score in the ot but then with about 4:26 left in overtime the tie was broken. Ryden “Doodoo” Kerr put the puck upper left over the goalie's glove side to give West Hills its first CIF title. It was an amazing scene after that puck hit the back of the net, fans got crazy, players were celebrating and people were just getting nuts after that. It was one of the most exciting, best games to witness said the fans after the game. For the first time in history the Wolf pack roller hockey team finally captured that elusive title after coming in 2nd and 3rd in the past two previous years.It was one of the biggest wins in school history because West Hills hasn't won a boys CIF title in over 10 years. After that night the boys of winter won the title and won the respect they deserved in the school as they were known as champions.
