How MBA won first Predators Cup hockey championship since 2021
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Amidst the celebrations, Montgomery Bell Academy's Matthew Moore and fellow senior Trace Graham embraced in a hug, five years in the making.
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The pair first took the ice for MBA hockey as eighth graders, and year-after-year the season ended agonizingly close to an appearance in the GNASH Predators Cup championship game. The wait made this season's finish all that more special on March 4 when Moore, Graham and MBA claimed the 2026 Predators Cup trophy with a 3-0 win over Nolensville.
It was the MBA's first Predators Cup hockey championship since 2021.
"It's surreal. I don't even know what's going on," Moore said with tears of joy in his eyes. "I've been dreaming of this since eighth grade and every year we've gotten knocked out early. I never really thought this game was possible for us, but we got here. We made a statement and we did something that I never thought we could do. I'm so proud of these guys right now."
Moore, MBA's captain, spearheaded a group of six seniors which not only prepared MBA's underclassmen for the biggest stage in Tennessee high school hockey, but also served as their motivation throughout the postseason.
The senior group had come up short before, and this year's underclassmen made sure it wouldn't happen again. Freshman Conner Mazzoni was awarded the Mitchell Mielnik MVP trophy. Sophomore Henry Berk and juniors Cortland Klett and Andrew Frech scored the goals which secured the title.
"Winning for these seniors, it's everything," Mazzoni said. "Just pushing us to keep going, knowing guys like James Lehrman and Trace (Graham), (Ethan) Sides, Matthew (Moore), they've never experienced this and this is the last game they're going to play in this uniform, for this school. So it just kept us going, kept us fighting."
Fight is exactly what MBA had to do on its path to the hockey championship, having been knocked to the elimination bracket after a 2-1 defeat to Nolensville in the first round of the Predators Cup. The Big Red emerged from four elimination games to secure a rematch against Nolensville, defeating the Knights 2-1 on March 2 to force a second and final game for the Predators Cup.
"I was nervous even before Monday; I was nervous Thursday of last week after that win over Franklin," Mazzoni said. "So there were definitely some nerves, some jitters, but mainly excitement. Just excitement to be able to do this with my brothers, with our family and just makes these older guys proud."
MBA doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon, returning the majority of its roster next season under second-year coach Max Wutzke, who's made quick work of turning around a Big Red program which was in transition upon his hire. And while Moore and his fellow seniors will now depart the program as champions, they expect plenty more titles to celebrate in the years to come.
"I think the Big Red are looking to go back-to-back next year," Moore said. "We have a new, young core that (surprised me). They came out, showed up for the playoffs and I'm really excited to cheer these guys on in the future."
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How MBA hockey won GNASH's Predators Cup championship