Starting February 3rd, the Adams Hockey team will be participating in the annual South Bend City Tournament. A total of seven teams will be participating, including cross town rivals St. Joe and Penn. The tournament will be held in a double elimination format, with the winners of the tournament taking home the city trophy and bragging rights until next year. 

The Eagles have had a strong season so far, led by senior captains Adam Klaybor and Rhys Gulotta (La Lumiere) amassing a 21-12-2 record and are currently ranked 7th overall in the state of Indiana. This past weekend the Eagles made the trip down to Indianapolis where they went undefeated on the weekend while outscoring their opponents 17-4. Their opponents included Hamilton Southeastern (won 6-3) ranked 6th in the state, Evansville (won 6-1) ranked 16th, and Zionsville (won 5-0) ranked 9th. Senior goalies Aaron Graybill and Taylor Kinkade (Mishawaka) were between the pipes for the Eagles. Gulotta led the team with eight goals on the weekend along with David Hornback who lit the lamp four times. 

As the city tournament begins, Adams aspires to bring home the trophy for the first time since 2020. The Southwest Michigan Blades and St. Joe enter as the favorites to win the tournament, but with the way Adams has been playing lately, they should be a top contender as well. The tournament includes all seven teams that participate in the Michiana High School Hockey League. Lakeshore-Saint Joe (MI), Riley and Valpo are also members of the league. In league games, Adams has gone 7-9. Despite the below .500 record, the Eagles have been hot lately and are looking to take that momentum into the tournament that starts next week. The tournament will conclude with the championship game on February 12th. 

After the tournament the Eagles will look ahead to the Indiana State tournament which holds the championship games in Indianapolis and playoff games in Fort Wayne and South Bend. Adams has a veteran team with nine seniors, five of those seniors being Adams students: Adam Klaybor, Ethan Breiler, Jacob Burford, Aaron Graybill, and team manager and exchange student, Benedetta (Benny) Soro from Sardinia, Italy. The remaining four seniors are from surrounding area schools, Taylor Kinkade (Mishawaka), Rhys Gulotta (La Lumiere), Mason Zimmerman (Northridge), and Mason Neulib (Laporte). Together these seniors have provided veteran leadership and skill that has been vital to Adams’ success this year. 

As the Eagles prepare for the tournament, you can catch them in action this weekend as they take on the Southwest Michigan Blades on Friday, January 27th at 7:45pm and the Lakeshore St. Joe Warriors on Saturday, January 28th, at 4:30pm. Both games are at the Ice Box in South Bend. These will be the final two games before the team participates in the City Tournament for the coveted city trophy.