But all along, the team's goal was a state championship, and the Patriots were good and confident enough to pull it off. With today's 6-2 victory over Hunting Valley University School, Olentangy Liberty not only won the school's first-ever state title in hockey, the school in Powell became the first Central Ohio school to lift the state championship trophy in the sport.
"These guys know I'm pretty hard on them," head coach Kevin Alexander said. "I try to get them to play the right way. They want to do what's called 'buzzfest.' They like to buzz. They've been telling me all year, 'Hey, be positive. We got this.'"
And they did. The win at the downtown jewel of a venue, Nationwide Arena, was a victory for the Patriots, but also the entire Central Ohio hockey community.
Thomas Worthington became the first Columbus-area team to qualify for the OHSAA state final four in 2003, but even with the establishment of the Columbus region in the state playoffs, it took until 2019 when Dublin Jerome beat University School in a semifinal for an area team to get its first victory in the final four.
But you can draw direct lines from the start of play for the Blue Jackets in 2000 -- not to mention the predecessor Columbus Chill -- to the growth of the sport in the Central Ohio area, and teams from the region have consistently made strides. Jerome's overtime win over the Preppers four years ago was a big step, but there had been close calls before that, and Upper Arlington played tight games each of the past two years in semifinals but was unable to advance.
This year's Olentangy Liberty team, though, seemed destined for success. It's a talented squad of athletes from a hockey community, many of whom -- including leading scorers Charlie Hughes and Jake Struck, plus key components like Carson Reynolds and Andrew Leonard -- went directly from the school's regional final football squad to the hockey rink.
Add in a core of dedicated key players like captains Jacob Kempa and Vinny Rengel as well as USHL draft pick Jack Hamilton plus key veterans Eric Bauermeister and Brian Savage, and the Patriots had the talent and depth to make it all the way.
Even after the team won the Blue Jackets Cup in February, the goal was for much more.
"It's a great steppingstone for sure," Hughes said at the time. "For us, we really think we can win a state championship, and we're just going to keep working every day until we do that."
For a squad whose reputation had become always being the bridesmaid and never the bride -- the state tournament bid was the school's first since 2017, and the Blue Jackets Cup win the first since 2011 -- that belief proved to be well-earned.
"These guys don't have a problem with confidence," Alexander said. "They are a cocky little group. I think that's what makes us good."
