A local high school hockey team is preparing to take the ice on the national stage.

The boys varsity hockey team at St. Joe High School departed South Bend Tuesday after school. Their destination? The 2022 USA Hockey-Chipotle High School Division I National Championship in Dallas, Texas.

Head coach Chris Kleva spoke about the send off the team received, “When you come from a small school like St. Joe, competing on a National stage, it’s pretty special for the kids to get recognized. Hockey is not a school sponsored sport, or state sponsored sport per say. We are a club sport, but we get tremendous support from the school. Both from the administrative aspect as well as the student support.”

The team is senior heavy, with nine on the roster. Kleva said, “They kind of set the tone for us at the beginning and kind of carried us through the year. We ended up finishing ranked fourth in the state.”

The Tribes first game will be played inside StarCenter McKinney Thursday at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. EST against Pinnacle Pioneers out of Phoenix, Arizona.

To see the full schedule of games, including how to watch, visit the USA Hockey Nationals page.