Coming into the season we were confident that we had one of the best hockey teams LPHS had seen for quite some time, coached by Mr Norton and managed/coached by Dr T, the team was looking strong.

On the day of our first game of the season, nerves were high as we were starting out with quite a different team lineup from last year, and we were unsure how we would perform. But as the game progressed our nerves diminished, as we started to flow as a team, ending the game with a 4-1 win. This game set us up for the season, from which we continued this winning streak all the way to the end of our seasonal games. Finishing top of the table, undefeated, we were seeded to play Tokomairiro High School in the semi-finals. As the semi-final commenced the boys put out an incredible performance scoring three goals by halftime. And into the second half scoring one more and conceded one as well, finishing the game with a 4-1 victory, putting the team into the finals. The boy's 1st XI had not played in a very long time, the pressure was on. We were set to play the JMC U15 A-Team whom we had beaten several times earlier that season so the odds were in our favour. Coming into the game all the boy's nerves were pretty high, most of them having never played in a final. As we began to warm up the supporters started to arrive cheering us on. The game began, we started out very rough struggling to get the ball out of our own half, leaving us 2-1 down at halftime. Mr Norton and Dr T told us the game wasn’t over yet, we had come back from being down before and we could do it again. As the second half progressed we played with more confidence, but it was still not enough, unfortunately conceding three more goals, finishing the game with a loss of 5-1. This was a heartbreaking loss for everyone, however, the boys could still be very proud of themselves for what they accomplished, coming second place, and having the most wins and goals out of any team in the division.

It was needless to say that coming into the Ashburton tournament having lost the final was hard. Nobody knew what to expect, having not played most of the teams at the tournament it was a lottery on how we would do. Our first pool game was against Waitaki Boys, winning 2-0. This was a really important game for us because it was our first win since the loss in the final, putting everyone's spirits high. Our second pool game was against Ashburton Combined, whom we bet 4-1. And our final pool game was against Taieri College which we had struggled to beat during the seasonal games back in Dunedin. We went down 1-0 but managed to claw it back to 1-1, securing us a place in the crossover semi-finals, and the top of our pool. In the semi-finals, we were set to play Middleton Grange School which looked like a very competitive team. When it came to playing them, Micah Duckles scored an early goal in the first quarter giving us the win, 1-0. We had made it to the finals, playing Rolleston College. Everyone was pretty nervous after what happened in the last final we played in, but we had been playing some really good hockey over the week and were looking sharp. As the first quarter began we went down 1-0 to a penalty stroke, but shortly after Kieran Black scored a goal from a penalty corner to equalize. In the second quarter, we went down again, 2-1. As time went on, we had made it to the last quarter, still down 2-1, but two minutes into the last quarter Kieran Black scored another goal from a penalty stroke, putting us back into the game. Then with 7 minutes on the clock, Hector Howard managed to score the game-winning goal for us, finishing with a score of 3-2. The boys were stoked with the result and their new shiny gold medals, celebrating the victory with some well-deserved pizza.

Big thanks to all those who came out and supported the team throughout the year, and big thanks to Dr T and Mr Norton for coaching and managing!