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Members of the MHA Mustang Lightning pose with their championship trophy following their 3-2 overtime win over the Eagle River Glacier Bears in the State Tier III title game Monday at Ben Boeke Ice Arena. The team scored with 14 second left in regulation to force the tie, before member Jacob Lord scored the game-winner in overtime.
PHOTO BY DAVID MORSE
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The Mustang Hockey Association Lightning saved their best hockey game for last, edging the previously-unbeaten Glacier Bears 3-2 in overtime in the U16 Tier III State Championship game Monday at the Ben Boeke Ice Arena in Anchorage.
The tournament ran four days, with round-robin play Friday through Sunday and the title game Monday.
In addition to the Lightning and the Glacier Bears, participating teams included the Jr. Avalanche (Wasilla), the Anchorage Hockey Association Comets, the Boys & Girls Club Glacier Dogs, the South Anchorage Mighty Moose and the Boys & Girls Club Wolfpack.
The Glacier Bears, coached by Scott Hulse, had come through the tournament unscathed with a 6-0 record, including a 3-1 win over the MHA team Saturday. The team's only blemish had been a tie to the same MHA team early in the season.
MHA coach Jocko Younger called his team the self-proclaimed underdogs for the championship final.
Only 90 seconds into the contest, the Lightning scored first with Robert Walgren finding the twine behind Glacier Bear netminder Zachery Eastham. Eastham started the season with a bantam club (ages 13 to 14) but had moved up to play midget (15-16) hockey, Hulse said.
Eleven seconds later, the Glacier Bear's Brandon Burmeister scored the tying goal off the assist from Dominic Thompson and Tyler Viens.
After the brief scoring flurry, the score sheet was idle, but not without several stellar saves by Eastham and the Lightning's keeper Patrick Walgren.
The MHA keeper kept his team in the game, stopping several pointblank attempts, including a few breakaways from Bear's standout forward Bradley Voice.
Then, with 4:38 remaining in the third period, the Glacier Bears, who out shot their local opposition 29-18 for the game, scored the go-ahead goal and an unassisted tally by Morgan Payovich, the team's only girl.
The Lightning, labeled the “Cardiac Kids” by Coach Younger, didn't respond too well, picking up a pair of penalties to go down to a two-player disadvantage, 5 on 3. However, the team weathered the storm, again on some good goaltending by Walgren.
With time winding down, the Lightning got the miracle they needed, when a shot by J.J. Cross slid between Eastham's pads and into the back of the net with 14 seconds left on the clock, forcing the overtime game.
“We've been doing things like that all season,” said Younger. “We'd get behind by a goal or two and have to fight our way back into the game.”
The ploy didn't always work, however, as the team carried a 19-11-2 record into the title game.
The tournament featured an eight-minute, four-on-four sudden victory format for the overtime period, with the possibility of a following shootout.
Although the Glacier Bears had dominated play, according to shots during the regulation game, the Lightning sensed victory was lurking. After a pair of shots by the Bears, the MHA team got the break they needed with Dacota Wood pushing the puck along the boards to forward Jacob Lord, who slid behind the Bear defense on a streak down the left side. The fleet-footed skater broke left to right across the face of the Glacier Bear's net, getting Eastham to commit, then lifted the puck into the vacant goal.
Seconds later, Lord was at the bottom of a heap at center ice, as the team dog piled atop the goal scorer.
Both coaches Hulse and Younger said it was a good game for a championship final.
“We had a really great year,” said Hulse.
“I'm not disappointed. We had a good season,” he said, acknowledging one loss and one tie, both to the Lightning, since the season's start in late October.
Members of the championship MHA Mustang Lightning included Christopher Robinson, J.J. Cross, Brian Stroble, Erik Gunderson, Bryce Campbell, Lord, Wood, Ashley Blair, Cole Younger, Tyler Cross, Patrick Walgren, Hayden Wells, Robert Walgren and John Phillips. The coaches included Jocko Younger, Levi Younger and Jeff Wood.
Members of the Glacier Bears included Joel Cage, Voice, Vinny Lewis, Payovich, Mikai Hulse, James Klepzig, Viens, Burmeister, Cody Graham, Aaron Niva, Russell Urekar, Thompson, Casey Volk and Eastham. The coaches were Hulse, Ben Streff and Eric Johnson.
Reach the reporter at news@alaskastar.com.
