A year removed from a heartbreaking overtime loss in the Greatland championship game that crowns the state's small-schools hockey champion, Hutchison held off a late Tri-Valley rally Saturday to earn a 4-3 victory and lift the First National Cup at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena.
The Hawks piled atop goaltender Hayden Nilson in the neutral zone during a celebration kicked off by the final horn signaling game's end.
Still, the Hawks didn't do things the easy way.
Last year, they led Glennallen 3-2 before surrendering the tying goal with 0.9 seconds left in regulation and losing in overtime.
This time, the Hawks built a 4-1 lead when Dorran Masters and Matthew Daniels scored goals less than two minutes apart early in the third period.
But the Viking Warriors used power-play strikes from Sterling Shreeve and Bailey Brewster to cut that cushion to a dicey 4-3 with five minutes to go.
"To tell you the truth, I thought it was last year all over again,'' Masters said. "We held 'em off, and we're state champions.''
Nilson (23 saves) said he likewise experienced a flashback -- "It just brought back memories of last year, and I hoped it wouldn't be the same,'' he said -- but said the players often practiced while exhausted this season to simulate game stress.
"We worked at skating under pressure,'' Nilson said.
Besides, he said, last year's awful experience lent ample motivation this season.
"It probably made us want it more than any team in the state,'' Nilson said.
In the consolation game, Eathon Gebauer and Donovan Drew each furnished one goal and one assist, and Justin Carpenter made 19 saves to spearhead Delta Junction's 4-1 win over Monroe.
Monroe's James Duncan stopped 40 shots.
Find Doyle Woody's blog at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
First National Cup
At Menard Memorial Ice Arena, Wasilla
State High School Hockey Championships
Greatland Conference
Championship Game
Hutchison 2 0 2 -- 4
Tri-Valley 1 0 2 -- 3
First Period -- 1, Hutchison, Baggen (Matthew Daniels, Masters), 1:58; 2, Tri-Valley, Vacura, 5:14; 3, Hutchison, Stutzke (Matthew Daniels), 11:57 (pp). Penalties -- Hutchison 1 for 2 minutes; Tri-Valley 1 for 2.
Second Period -- None. Penalties -- Hutchison 0 for 0; Tri-Valley 0 for 0.
Third Period -- 4, Hutchison, Masters (Katechis, Teets), 1:55; (pp); 5, Hutchison, Matthew Daniels (Masters), 3:42; 6, Tri-Valley, S. Shreeve (Townsend), 6:43 (pp); 7, Tri-Valley, Brewer (K. Cizmowski, Vacura), 10:07 (pp). Penalties -- Hutchison 4 for 16; Tri-Valley 2 for 4.
Goalies -- Hutchison, Nilson 11-6-6--23; Tri-Valley, Maciver 10-14-14--38.
Third-Place Game
Monroe 0 1 0 -- 1
Delta Junction 2 1 1 -- 4
First Period -- 1, Delta, Drew (E. Gebauer), 8:59; 2, Delta, J. Gebauer (D. Carpenter), 12:30. Penalties -- Monroe 2 for 4; Delta 1 for 2.
Second Period -- 3, Monroe, Coiley (Keys, Rauenhorst), 3:23; 4, Delta, Pinkleman (Drew), 5:55. Penalties -- Monroe 0 for 0; Delta 2 for 12.
Third Period -- 5, Delta, E. Gebauer (Williams, Terry), 14:47 (sh). Penalties -- Monroe 1 for 2; Delta 5 for 10.
Goalies -- Monroe, Duncan 16-14-10--40; Delta, J. Carpenter 3-9-7--19.
GREATLAND ALL-TOURNAMENT
Drew Baggen (Hutchison), Eathon Gebauer (Delta), Parker Vacura (Tri-Valley), Matt Daniels (Hutchison), Sterling Shreeve (Tri-Valley), Dorran Masters (Hutchison), David Townsend (Tri-Valley), Hayden Nilson (Hutchison)
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