CRANBERRY TWP — Screaming Eagles make a lot of noise — especially on the national dek hockey circuit.

The Screaming Eagles traveling dek hockey organization in Cranberry Township recently won two national titles at the U.S. Dek Hockey Federation Championships in Leominster, Mass.

The organization won championships in the Penguin division (ages 7-9) and Beaver division (ages 10-12). The Screaming Eagles have won consecutive national crowns in the Penguin division.

“This program has come a long way,” said Mike Benkart, Director of Hockey Operations and founder of the Screaming Eagles organization in 2015. “We started with one team and 16 kids in 2015.

“Today, we have five teams and between 100 and 115 players.”

The Screaming Eagles have two Penguin Division teams, one Beaver division squad, a Chipmunk team (ages 4-6) and a Cadet squad (ages 13-15). There is also a Freshman division (ages 16-19) they don't have a team in.

“But as these kids get older, that will change,” Benkart said. “Dek hockey is extremely popular now. A lot of kids don't have the ability or the money to play ice hockey.

“My son plays ice and it costs about $1,000 a year. Dek hockey is $300 a year.”

The Penguin and Beaver division teams both defeated host Leominster in the national finals. The Screaming Eagles' Penguin team won by a 4-1 count while the Beaver team claimed a 3-0 victory.

The bulk of the organizations' players come from local dek hockey leagues at Graham Park and off Rowan Road in Cranberry.

“There are a lot of kids playing,” Screaming Eagles' Beaver coach Mike Battista said. “Our organization has done a good job of identifying kids and their parents, and getting everybody involved with the travel aspect of the sport.”

Benkart described travel dek hockey as “a totally different game.

“It's a culture shock when these kids first do travel dek hockey,” he said. “The games are played so much faster, there are line changes on the fly ... things the kids just aren't used to.

“But we did this the right way. We got everybody acclimated. We built it from the ground floor.”

Only it wasn't easy — or pretty — at first.

“Our first year, we didn't even score a goal in some tournaments,” Battista recalled. “It was tough on the kids and their families.

“Everyone had to swallow their pride a little bit. It was all part of the bigger process and it's paying off now.”

Six of the Screaming Eagles' Beaver division players were among 75 nationwide invited to Swansea, Mass., to try out for the U.S. Dek Hockey Association's U14 team, which will travel to Finland next June to compete in the world championships.

“Swansea, Leominster ... Those were the small towns where dek hockey got started back in the 1970's,” Benkart said.

Three of the Screaming Eagles — Jacob Battista, Cohen Nackrelli and Josh Morin — were selected to be on the national team. Ethan Lindberg, Boomer Nikoljski and Xavier McCurry also tried out.

Starting next month, the U14 national team will get together for five camps in preparation for the world championships. Center Ice in Delmont will host a camp Aug. 17-18. Philadephia and Boston will be sites of other camps in coming months.

“Those cities, along with Pittsburgh, are where most of the (U14) players who made the team are from,” Battista said.

“Early in the program, we played established teams and took our lumps. The kids were embarrassed in some of those games ... not anymore.”