For a brief moment, the members of the Crestwood Comets varsity ice hockey team were upset.

Disappointed.

After becoming the first team from the region to earn an invite to the Flyers Cup and advancing to the semifinals as the 19th and lowest seed, the Comets remarkable run came to an abrupt halt thanks to a 9-3 loss to Bayard Rustin, the second-ranked team in the tournament.

But after the game, the emotions that come with losing were soon replaced by pride. The Crestwood team who came into the Flyers Cup as an unknown and an underdog proved they could play with the powerhouse teams from the Philadelphia area.

The team that wasnt expected to win its first game had opened eyes and made believers out of their opponents. The Comets ended up winning the first three rounds, knocking off third-ranked Hershey and 6-seeded Garnet Valley along the way.

We were upset after we lost, but we were also proud of ourselves, said senior Michael Thamert, who scored four goals in the last two games. We had a strong team and we knew we would go far, and I think what we did really opened up a lot of eyes when it comes to Crestwood ice hockey.

The Flyers Cup was the icing on the cake for a season in which the Comets dominated on the local level. They rolled through the regular season of the NEPA Scholastic Hockey League with a 12-0-1 record, good enough for first place. In the playoffs, the Comets breezed through three rounds to win the championship with a convincing 7-0 victory over Back Mountain.

During the three rounds, Crestwood outscored their opponents 28-1 with goaltender Gavin Lewis earning two shutouts.

When the invite for the Flyers Cup came, the Comets were ready.

By the end of the playoffs the rumors came out that we were getting an invite to the Flyers Cup, head coach Paul Eyerman said. All the way back in October we knew we had a very competitive, strong team this year so we were anxious to keep playing.

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Crestwood opens eyes in the hockey world