AMHERST, N.Y. — Well, Huntsville isn’t called the “Hockey Capital of the South” for nothing.
The 16-under Alabama Thunder defeated Charleston (S.C.) to win the Chipotle-USA Hockey Youth Tier II national championship Sunday. The Thunder, who went 5-0-0 in the tournament, held off the Jr. Stingrays 5-3 in the title game.
“It’s incredible,” said Thunder forward Miles Daehn. “Especially coming from the South, everybody doubting us.”
It was also the state’s first USA Hockey national champion at any age level.
“It was what I expected,” said Thunder coach Lance West, a former University of Alabama-Huntsville head coach and player. “It was back and forth.”
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Thunder saw the Jr. Stingrays even the score in the second period.
But Daehn scored the eventual game-winner in the third period.
“I was down in the offensive zone just grinding it out,” he said. “I saw the puck and just shot it on the net and saw it go in.”
Ashton Lambert scored a hat trick for the Thunder and Owen McDougal also scored. Goalie Kristofer Hatch had 18 saves.
“I liked the way we played all night long,” West said. “Even when we were giving away a little momentum, our guys didn’t panic.”
The clincher came with 49 seconds left when Charleston, trailing 4-3, was trying to pull its goalie. Lambert shot the puck into a nearly empty net as the goalie was scrambling to get back into the crease. That gave Lambert the hat trick and sixth goal of the tournament.
“We’re trying to build a program where kids can stay close to home,” West said. “Excited for the guys to get their first championship.
“Proud to be part of it.”
Red Line Editorial contributed to this report.
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