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WASILLA - As is the case with many elite goaltenders, the book on West's Blake Mendenhall is short and simple: Crack him early, or prepare to be disappointed.
Theory turned into reality Saturday night when Mendenhall stopped 35 shots to spearhead a 2-0 victory over Dimond that delivered his school's first state high school hockey championship.When the buzzer blared to signal game's end before an announced crowd of about 1,400 fans at Menard Memorial Ice Arena, Mendenhall threw his stick, whipped off his catching glove, shed his helmet and awaited his elated teammates, who mobbed him in the corner.As Mendenhall stood on the ice for a television interview following the post-game awards ceremony, West students serenaded him: "Men-den-hall! Men-den-hall! Men-den-hall!''"It's such a special feeling - I'll never have this feeling again,'' said Mendenhall, a senior. "And it's great, not only for our team and our school, but for all the alumni who have ever played.''After surrendering a pair of soft goals in a 3-2 overtime defeat of Lathrop in Friday's semifinals, Mendenhall said he was so intent on a bounce-back performance Saturday he wanted to pitch a shutout of his teammates in warm-ups.Still, he confessed, butterflies were an issue."This whole day, I've just been shaking out of my clothes I've been so nervous,'' Mendenhall said.Yet he calmly stopped seven shots in the opening seven minutes and that early steadiness presaged how difficult he would make things for the Lynx."They came out and stormed the gates right away,'' said West coach Jeff Carlson. "It was like, 'Yeah, he's ready.' He was tremendous.''The Lynx peppered Mendenhall with shots in a game that carried a physical edge. Yet neither team was awarded a power play. Officials called six minor penalties - three a side - and they all came in coincidental fashion.Meanwhile, Dimond tender Henry Rubey (23 saves) generated a strong performance. But only perfection could match Mendenhall."We had a great year,'' said Dimond coach Dennis Sorenson. "We never gave up. Seriously, Mendenhall has to be the player of the year. (West's Logan) Miller had a great year, but Mendenhall was the backbone of that team.''The Eagles, the Cook Inlet Conference playoff champs, received the only goal they required when freshman Jack Petrino swooped in on his own rebound and rifled a shot low to Rubey's glove side with two minutes left in the second period.The play began with Petrino firing a hard dump-in from the Dimond blue line that went to the left of Rubey's cage and ricocheted hard off the end boards and back into the slot. Miller and two Dimond defenders over-skated the puck and Petrino followed."I just pounced on it and I stuffed it home,'' Petrino said. "(I thought), 'That's my puck.' ''Miller provided some cushion at 2-0 with six minutes to go in the game when he set sail 2-on-1 with Petrino. Miller carried the puck in on left wing and unloaded a rising wrister that zoomed over Rubey's shoulder on the short side and appeared to twice strike iron on its way in and out of the net. Officials ruled the shot a goal and confirmed that ruling after conferring with the goal judge."He can really blister it,'' Carlson said of Miller.Sorenson pulled Rubey for a sixth attacker in the final 71 seconds, but the Lynx could not muster much of a threat as Mendenhall wrapped his second shutout in three tournament games and West students chanted, "Eagles! Eagles! Eagles!''West's title was the school's first in hockey since state championships began in 1983."We were due,'' said grinning defenseman Elliott Langford. "We were due.''As the Eagles paraded the First National Cup around the ice, forward Nick Bruner held the chalice as he carried Carlson's 3-year-old son, Toby, on his shoulders. The Cup tumbled out of Bruner's grasp and fell to the ice.Mendenhall grabbed the Cup and picked it up off the ice.And that put the prize in the most secure of hands.Earlier Saturday, Lathrop and East discovered the ultimate in consolation games: they tied for third place.The teams battled to a 1-1 overtime tie at the Menard Memorial Ice Arena in a game replete with exceptional goaltending.The third-place game is limited to one eight-minute overtime period to keep the scheduled games flowing roughly on time.Lathrop junior Stephon Williams, who backstopped the Malemutes to the state title last year and is the reigning state Player of the Year, again showed why he's the class of the state. He stopped 38 shots and made a slew of acrobatic saves. Perhaps the best came in the final minute of regulation, when he reached behind himself to pull away a rebound shot Alex Jackstadt had banked off Williams' back.In three tournament games, Williams went 1-1-1 and stopped 103-of-107 shots for a .962 save percentage and 1.22 goals-against average. He has nothing left to prove in high school hockey and will likely play junior hockey next season.East's Justin Luiten stopped 25 shots and was only beaten when Lathrop enjoyed a two-man, power-play advantage and Chase Franklin flicked in a rebound with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Jackstadt gave East a 1-0 lead five minutes into the third period when he cranked a slap shot from the left wing that hit Williams in the shoulder before tumbling over the goalie and into the net.South, the Cook Inlet Conference's regular-season champion, earned fifth place by virtue of two goals from Raymond Redmond in a 4-2 victory over West Valley.The Wolverines led 3-2 in the waning seconds and West Valley had pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker when Redmond had a clear breakaway on an empty net but was hooked from behind. He was awarded the goal with 9.4 seconds remaining.Kris Smith added one goal and one assist for South, and defenseman Alex Carle chipped in two assists.West Valley's Logan Wendling scored one of the Wolfpack's goals and assisted on the other.