The Florida Eels are proud to announce that they remain the defending champions of the Florida Cup series. The Florida Eels Elite and Premier teams, were excited about this years’ Florida Cup series and knew that the pressure to defend their Florida Cup title was extremely high. Both Florida Eels teams were given the 1^st seed of in the Florida Cup games due to their impressive 2022-2023 season finish: Florida Divisional Title Holders, Play Off Champions and National Contenders.

This past weekend, the Eels Elite team competed first on October 14^th, 2023 at 9:00am  against the Florida Jr. Blades. This was a very competitive contest between these two cross town rivals. At the end of regulation the score was tied, 2-2, with goals from Rookies Logan Slezak and Teddy Feng.  The Eels had solid goaltending from Nate Haas. After an intense three period regulation game, the Florida Eels Elite and the Florida Jr. Blades headed into Overtime. Tensions were high, and determination filled the arena. Both players from the Eels and the Jr. Blades had one mission in mind, win this game and head to the Florida Cup Final on Sunday. After a brief intermission and start to the Overtime, another Florida Eels Rookie, Aidan Neville scored to close out the Florida Eels Elite win, advancing them forward to Sunday’s championship game against the Tampa Juniors.

On Sunday, October 15^th, 2023 the Florida Eels Elite began their pregame rituals in preparations to faceoff against the Tampa Bay Juniors. The Tampa Bay Juniors coming in with an impressive start to the 2023-20234 season, and an Overtime win for themselves in their first Florida Cup games series match against the Palm Beach Typhoon were just as determined to win the Florida Cup title. As both teams faced off in hopes of taking the Florida Cup title, they battled hard and with a fire in their blood. The Florida Eels Elite team preserved, as they pushed themselves forward: skating harder, looking for different angles and propelled to the finish with an incredible win. The Florida  Eels Elite scored 4 fantastic goals, with Tampa Bay Juniors not far behind with 3 goals, allowing them to defeat their Tampa rivals and once again win the Florida Cup, retaining their champion title .This game was nothing short of impressive and yielded goals from Florida Eels veteran Cole Taylor scoring 1 goal,  new comers Yiourgas Bikakis scoring two goals and  Zayne Haddon- Harris scoring 1 goal as well.  Anthony LaCroix, goaltender, held a great presence in net for the championship game. It was an impressive showing for the Elite team and no doubt a great start to another impressive season to come.

The Florida Eels Premier had a later start to the Florida Cup series with their first contest game starting at 7:00 pm on October 14^th, 2023 as they faced off against their cross-town rivals the Florida Jr. Blades as well. The Florida Jr. Blades took the first point of the game, in the second period, taking a 1-0 lead; however, the Florida Eels fire for the win was lit and they rapidly responded putting away 5 goals. The Premier team was a forced to be reckoned with, and put on a clinic as they lit the lamp. As Dylan Boughen held the Florida Eels crease with his impressive net-minding, Florida Eels veterans Noah Trathen scoring 2 goals, Jared Salminen scroing 1 goal, and new comers Cole Ranta  and Holden Becket each scoring 1goal forged the path to victory. The Florida Eels Premier were headed to the Florida Cup Championship.

After an impressive 5-1 victory, over the Florida Jr. Blades the Florida Eels made preparations to take on the Tampa Bay Juniors Premier for the Florida Cup Championship, on Sunday, October 15^th, 2023 at 7:00 pm. The Premier team, did not let the end of the day game time keep them from their extensive preparations: with an early morning warm up, game video and meetings with coaches earlier in the day, the spark for victory was lit early.  The Florida Eels Premier knew that the Tampa Bay Juniors, were determined to take home the Florida Cup title, and  therefore the Florida Eels came out of the gate with their engines burning. The Florida Eels Premier blazed the lamp with 5 unanswered goals, taking charge of the game: with Florida Eels goaltending veteran Tobias Bell, in net for this game stopped each puck launched in his direction, sealing the game with a shutout. The Florida Eels skill surpassed even the best projections laid out by broadcasting officials early on in the match. Florida Eels Premier Captian Maverick Crupi opened the five goal lead when he clinched the first point of the game. He was followed shortly after by Lorenzo Marchetta, former Elite all-star from last season, clinching his first goal of the season. Sebastian Potter claimed goal three for the Florida Eels putting them on  he clear path to victory. However, it was Jacob Godbout’s fourth goal clinch, and a whopping two\ minute later goal grab by Holden Beckett that sealed the Florida Eels victory against the Tamp Bay Juniors, to reclaim the Florida Cup Championship title. This victory achieved by the Florida Eels Premier was a clear message being sent to other teams in the league of what they intend to achieve this season: winning of a National Championship.

The Florida Eels Elite and Premier were showed incredible talent over the past weekend during the Florida Cup series and were the clear champions amongst their peers. It is an exhilarating start for what is to come over the next few months as we forge our path toward playoffs and nationals. The Eels have sent the message: watch out, we are coming to win!