White Team Miners hockey get the “W” against Alta High School on home ice

White Team celebrates their 5-1 win over Alta. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City High School Miners’ Varsity White Team played Wednesday night with a decisive 5-1 victory over Alta High at the Park City Ice Arena.

Going into the third period, it was tied up at 1-all until, as Head Coach Calvin Asch told TownLift after the game, “The flood gates were opened.” It’s Asch’s first year as head coach of the team after being on the coaching staff for three years.

Watch below as City makes a goal as one getting flipped into the air, only to get right back up again, perfectly personifying the team’s grit.

One of the five girls on the roster of this co-ed team is Kinley Kurchinski. Now a senior, Kurchinski has played ice hockey all four years of attending Park City High School after being a student at Trailside Elementary, Ecker Hill Middle School, and Treasure Mountain Jr. High. She comes from a Park City family of women hockey players, including her older sister, Katie, and her mom, Janell. Over the years, all three have played for different teams and leagues, always finding their “happy place” out on the ice.

Kurchinski told TownLift after the game, “This has been a good season, so far.” 

Her teammate Olivia Fanciullo, a sophomore, just moved to Park City this summer with her family from Upstate New York, so, she’s no stranger to hockey culture. She told TownLift, “After playing hockey for the last 14 years, I’m having fun on this new team.”

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All photos and videos: TownLift // Michele Roepke

There was one additional Miners shot on goal that appeared to many both on the ice and in the stands to have gone in. The goal was ultimately called back and never appeared on the scoreboard. After the game, Coach Calvin and the referee crossed paths near the locker rooms and briefly discussed the call. The two respectfully agreed to disagree, then shook hands, smiled, and told each other they looked forward to their next matchup.

Student-athletes who witnessed the exchange saw their coach model good sportsmanship both on and off the ice.

Players in this league regularly make contact with the boards, sticks and one another. That said, the instant a play might evolve into a pro hockey-style fight, the whistle blows and the penalty box is utilized and occupied.