From March 20-22, 2024, the Jesuit Dallas Hockey team traveled to West Chester, Pennsylvania to play in the 2024 High School Division 1 National Championship Tournament. The Rangers left the tournament with a 1-2 record and encountered some of the best competition in the country.
Game 1 – North Broward (FL)
On Wednesday, March 20, Jesuit faced North Broward Preparatory School at the Ice Line Arena. The game was very intense, remaining scoreless in the first period, with both teams putting up a strong defensive effort. The momentum shifted in the second period, as North Broward took advantage of the Ranger’s defensive lapse and scored the first goal of the game. Midway through the third period, North Broward put up another goal, but the Rangers continued to battle for victory. At the end of the game, the Rangers finally scored on a quick faceoff play by Will Hubbell ’26 to Max Reynolds ’27.
Despite the Rangers’ defeat, they would use the loss as motivation to continue into their second game, playing against the Oakdale Bears.
“Although this was a heartbreaking loss, it fueled us to find success later in the week.” – Team captain connor Parro ’25
Game 2 – Oakdale Bears (MD)
On Thursday, March 21, Jesuit Dallas played the Oakdale Bears in a closely matched game. The scoring was intense throughout the game, with both teams exchanging goals in a back-and-forth battle. The first, defensively tight period saw the Oakdale Bears take the lead with a goal at the end of the period, quickly followed by a second-period response from the Rangers’ Jack Bowdich ’24.
The third period proved to be decisive, as Jesuit defenseman Wade Bryan ’26 secured a power play goal, assisted by Andrew Theisen ’25 and Conor Parro ’25. After taking advantage of the two-minute tripping penalty on the Bears, Jesuit Dallas continued the offensive push in another goal from Jack Bowdich ’24, sealing the victory for the Rangers. While Oakdale was able to score another goal at the end of the game, it was not enough to overtake the Rangers, who had just won their first game of the National Championships.
“After a disappointing showing at nationals last year, this game showed us that we made significant strides as a team and could compete with anyone at this tournament.” – Jackson Deininger ’24
Game 3 – Brookings Rangers (SD)
On Friday, March 22, the Rangers played the Brookings Rangers in their final USA Hockey National Championships game.
The Jesuit Rangers displayed remarkable determination despite falling short in a 4-2 loss. Down by one goal in the first period, the second period saw a tremendous effort from Jesuit Dallas. On a blue line pass from Jack Bowdich ’24, Wade Bryan ’26 scored a goal to put Jesuit on the scoreboard. However, Jesuit’s defensive liabilities allowed Brookings to retake the lead with another goal in the second period.
The third period, a must-win period for Jesuit Dallas to move on, was highly offensive. The Brookings Rangers took advantage of the ending moments of a Jesuit penalty to score again, and Jesuit eventually decided to pull goalie Misha Saratovtsev ’24, leading to a final Brookings empty-net goal. Despite losing 4-1, the resilient Jesuit Rangers continued to work hard, as Connor Sughrue ’24 scored the final goal of the game, assisted by Asher Yarbrough ’24.
“The scores were not representations of our games. It was cool to see how competitive we could be with these teams after hard work all year.” – Andrew theisen ’25
Conclusion
While the 2023-2024 Jesuit Dallas Hockey season has come to an end, the team was able to play against the nation’s top high school hockey competition. The team is looking forward to competing in the upcoming AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League Summer Season, and to hopefully perform even better in next year’s State and National Tournaments.
Stay tuned to the Jesuit Roundup for more Jesuit Hockey coverage!
