Sophomore athlete Miles Joing, through his grit, dedication and years of experience, has distinguished himself as an elite goalie – both on the ice and the field. His achievements and impact in both ice hockey and lacrosse has rightfully earned him the title of Viking’s boy underclassman of the year. Joing has been playing ice hockey nearly his entire life, with ten years of experience in the sport.

Joing had an excellent year, leading the team to an undefeated season after their previous season where they only won three games. He played in thirteen games and only allowed nineteen goals, while having a 0.916 save percentage and two shutouts. Though the team fell in the first round of playoffs, Joing’s leadership and performance, especially as a sophomore, were key to the season’s success.  “I would consider the season a success as we improved a lot from last year…but we still have more work to do in the playoffs,” Joing said. “I think that losing in the first Mihir round will definitely drive us next year, considering we were the best team in the league and we still lost. Now that we have playoff experience under our belt I think I think we can take next year more seriously.”

Aside from his impressive hockey season this past year,  Joing’s rapid rise on the lacrosse field is what sets him apart, showing nothing short of true dedication and natural skill. He only began playing lacrosse last year and had to beat out two senior goalies to earn his spot on varsity. He knew it was going to be no easy task to reach his goal of becoming the starter.

However, his previous experience as an ice hockey goalie provided him with the skills needed to quickly adapt to the role of a lacrosse goalie.

“The biggest part of being a hockey goalie that helped me transition to lacrosse is being comfortable having things shot at me at high speeds and being able to accept the shot rather than avoiding it like your instinct says to,” Joing said.

While having previous experience as a hockey goalie was helpful, that does not mean the transition to becoming a lacrosse goalie was an easy task.

As a coach, making the decision to start a sophomore over two seniors is no easy call. However, Ed Hattler, Paly lacrosse’s head coach, saw Joing’s potential from the start.

“Miles was a natural on JV last year and some of the other coaches and I thought he had a chance to become the starting goalie on varsity after last season,” Hattler said. “At the start of the season, there wasn’t much clear separation among the goalies. The three of them were very close and each game it was a hard decision about who would start. Miles emerged as the starter continues to get better. He has been fantastic the past few weeks!”

Hattler also talks about where he has seen Joing grow the most since becoming a lacrosse goalie.

“Miles was dropping down on shots like a hockey goalie, giving up goals on high shots, which he has largely corrected,” Hattler said.

Miles Joing’s hardwork and determination have helped him succeed in both ice hockey and lacrosse leading him to be boys underclassman of the year. His strong performances, and ability to rise to new challenges show just how bright his future is. Joing is just getting started, and both ice hockey and lacrosse will be relying on him to keep leading the way.