Through their grief, the students and faculty of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have stood together in a bold #NeverAgain movement to ensure that the Feb. 14 massacre will be America’s last school shooting. They’ve slowly picked up the pieces — and when the Stoneman Douglas boy’s hockey team won the state title Sunday night, they dedicated their victory to the 17 lives lost.
The Stoneman Douglas Eagles were the lowest seed going into Sunday’s elimination round but made a comeback and ended their championship match with a 7 – 4 win against Jesuit High School.
The team will move on to Nationals, which runs from March 22 – 26 in Plymouth, Minnesota, according to NBC-2.
Entering the day as the bottom seed, the Marjory #StonemanDouglas hockey team has pulled off the unthinkable, rallying to win two games, in commanding fashion, to become State Champs!!! Hear from them tonight on @ABC7SWFL and @NBC2 pic.twitter.com/EL2nlZ0ua9
— Andrew McDevitt (@AMcDevittTV) February 25, 2018
“We came into the game knowing we had to give it our all to get the win and that’s what we did and now we get to bring the trophy back to the best high school in America,” senior Joey Zenobi told NBC-2.
“This wasn’t for us. This was for the 17 victims. We played for them,” he continued. “So passionate — so emotional — it’s all for them.”
“I’m glad to be alive,” senior Ronnie Froetschel said. “I live for them now.”
Another senior, Matthew Horowitz, said they plan to bring all of their individual medals back to Stoneman Douglas, adding that “there’s 17 of us on the ice,” so there is one medal for “every single person who passed away.”
Watch an interview with some of these Stoneman Douglas hockey players below:
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas hockey team just won the state championship and are now advancing to nationals despite the tough road leading up to this moment. Hear what the players had to say: pic.twitter.com/9auw6lkq8e
— Chris Grisby (@ChrisWinkNews) February 26, 2018
A glimmer of hope for Stoneman Douglas
A day later, teachers returned to Stoneman Douglas for the school’s first official work day since the mass shooting. Staff members, ready to plan for the students’ arrival on Wednesday, were greeted by what seemed to be a sign of better things to come: a beautiful, arching rainbow.
Gorgeous rainbow over Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS this morning as teachers pull back into campus for first official work day since mass shooting @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/A2Ps1ngZNJ
— Erica Rakow (@EricaRakow) February 26, 2018