So often when terrible things happen, we want a happy ending. It can be hard to accept that this isn’t Hollywood, and real life doesn’t always have tears of joy in the face of adversity. During a recent trip to Denver, Colorado, to play hockey, the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers experienced a horrific car accident involving one of their team’s vans. A snowplow reportedly lost control and hit the van on January 29. Sadly, they lost Manny Lorenzana, the van driver and father of a team member. It was a heartbreak no one saw coming. “Our 12AA Lady Flyers were on their way to Denver, Colorado, to participate in a WGHL weekend. We ask that you keep our hockey families in your prayers and that you give them time to sort through the details of this tragic event,” Prescott Littlefield, president of the Lady Flyers, shared on Facebook. The Lady Flyers Knew What They Wanted to Do to Honor One of Their Own In addition to Manny’s death, several other parents and players suffered injuries in the accident. The girls, ages 10 to 13, had a big decision to make. The Lady Flyers decided that Manny and the others would want them to play. “We all got around in a circle and we all kind of just talked about if we should play or not, and our decision was that we should play, not for ourselves, but for Manny, who was the father, and for our girls,” said Sophia Boyle, team captain, told ABC 7. The girls not only played, but they did something incredible. They won six games and were crowned Western Girls Hockey Champions. “We had a short bench, and on the fourth game, the young girl whose father who passed away actually showed up on the bench, game four, scored about 40 seconds into the game. As the girls were cheering, she was walking onto my bench with a helmet on. And all the girls hopped over, were giving her hugs because that was the first time we saw her. And I think that just gave all the girls that inspiration to continue on,” head coach Todd Stelnick told the news station. The Lady Flyers did themselves and Manny proud. We’re sure he’s smiling down at them now. This story’s featured image can be found here