The Owensboro 14U Puckhogs follow suit of their senior team, the Owensboro Rampage, and won their own state championship Friday in Louisville.
The Puckhogs won the Kentucky State Championship Friday after beating Louisville in a shootout. The game was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation before the Puckhogs put the game away.
Puckhogs coach Terry Jones said it was an exciting matchup and he’s glad to see all the hard work pay off.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said. “I’ve had this group of kids for several years. I’ve coached them at a pee-wee age level and now a bantam age level, at a Double-A.”
Jones said being in Double-A has been a jump as the talent level is more competivitive than in Single-A.
“We are one of the only Double-A teams in this area,” he said. “It’s taken a ginormous amount of practice of just getting these kids to a certain level to compete at that level. When we start traveling north, the talent is everywhere, the population is so much bigger. These double-A teams are more everywhere. Down here, in this area, between southern Indiana and Evansville and us, we’re the only one.”
Jones said he felt they were the stronger team in the title but he knows at that level, anything can happen.
“For it to go to overtime and then to a shootout, was unexpected but my goalie was just an absolute beast,” he said. “He shut them down every shot and our kids came through. We scored two of our goals at the end and during the shootout. It made for a huge moment for the moms and dads and the people watching. But as a coach, when you come down to those shootouts, you’re like holy moly, what’s going on.”
Jones said they drew inspiration from the Rampage’s title a week prior.
“I’ve worked with some of those kids over the years with Jason (Link),” he said. “To watch our senior group go and not win it just one year but two years in a row, it absolutely amped the kids up.”
The Puckdogs will now advance to the national championship in April when they travel to Dallas.
