After beginning its season winless, the girls’ hockey team played in a tournament and swept the competition, leaving with three wins and a first place trophy the weekend of Dec. 26-28.

The team began the tournament with a 5-2 win over the Faribault Falcons. It followed this by defeating the hosting team, the Waseca Blue Jays, with a score of 4-1. In the championship game of the tournament, it beat the Minnehaha Academy Redhawks in a shutout of 3-0, in which senior captain Molly Arntson scored two goals and sophomore Elena Basill scored one.

Head coach Donnie Williams said he thinks this tournament win is what the team needed to turn its season around.

“The girls had a rough first half of the season,” Williams said. “This win was great for the kids, they really needed something positive to start the second half of the season strong.”

Arntson said she agrees the championship gave them a newfound confidence as they head into the rest of their season.

“I feel really good about the win,” Arntson said. “We haven’t won any games all season, so the tournament win really boosted morale and proved to us that we can win games if we really try.”

The team will face its next opponent, the Spring Lake Park Panthers, Jan. 11 at the Rec Center.