CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Building a program to compete at the national level takes time, but St. James (VA) Hockey is defying that.

St. James launched its hockey program seven years ago. Now Kyra Herbert has helped St. James do more than just make it to nationals in only her second season behind the bench.   

On Sunday, St. James shut out the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers (PA) 2-0 to claim the 1A title of the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 14U National Championships.

“We're a pretty young program, so we didn't expect it to come this soon,” Herbert said.

Fittingly, two Virginias stepped up for St. James.

Defender Virginia Purkey scored both of her team’s goals in the championship game. Although Purkey led St. James with seven goals in the tournament, she was quick to hand out credit after winning the title.

“Our goalie kept us in it, and she's done that a lot this year,” Purkey said of Virgina Gilliam. “It feels nice to score, but I don't think I was the sole reason we won; big shout out to Virginia.”

Gilliam stopped all 32 shots she faced in the title game, which is nothing new for her. In four starts at the tournament, she allowed only three of the 188 shots she faced to get by her — good for a .975 save percentage.

Purkey continued to give her coaches and teammates praise and was so grateful to where they have helped each other get to leading up to today’s game.

“When I couldn't do it, they came in and they stepped up, and they're a big part of the reason why we're here,” Purkey said. “My coaches, every day coming up with practice plans, watching film, doing everything they can to help us get better. They especially helped me grow a lot with my mental game, physical game, and every part of it.”

After seven minutes passed in the first period, Purkey scored the first goal of the game, assisted by Ella Vogel and Katherine James.

After a scoreless second period, the third period got off to a slow start as well. The excitement quickly picked up, though, as Purkey scored her second goal of the game, this time on the power play.

From there, it was Gilliam’s show. Despite being outshot 32-15 in the game, and 19-5 in the third period, Gilliam proved to be unbeatable on Sunday to help see out the win for St. James.

After the horn sounded, the whole team rushed the ice, threw their gloves and helmets in the air and jumped for joy.

With players like Purkey and Gilliam now setting the standard for St. James at nationals, Herbert expects this to be the first of many titles for the program.

“We're so excited for what it's going to do for the program,” Herbert concluded. “We are just so proud of everybody and hope that it really gives us a push to get better and come back here and expect this to be our outcome every time.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.