The first goal in the New York Tier I 14U girls tournament was lightning quick. The last goal took forever. Ultimately, the Syracuse Nationals won the title and, along with the other Tier I girls winners, heads to the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships later this month in Blaine, Minnesota.

Syracuse swept the round robin to set up a rematch with Clifton Park in the championship game. Clifton Park, whose only loss in the round robin came to Syracuse, got things going immediately.

Gabby Cox took the puck right off the faceoff, skated straight down the middle and shot it into the goal. Nothing fancy. Just sheer speed.

And just like that, Clifton Park led 1-0 after six seconds.

“We knew after the first time we played her, that was the girl we had to watch,” Syracuse coach Paul Michlovitch. “She had a little bit of speed and she showed it right off the bat. We were flat footed. We were flat footed most of the first period. We struggled to get up to speed. I think we did a little better towards the end of the first period, and then we had a pretty decent second period.”

They did manage to tie it up before the first period ended when Mia Coene’s shot from the right slot area deflected off a defender’s skate at 8:19. Coene scored again at 8:40 of the second period when she knocked in a rebound that was lying in the crease after constant pressure by Syracuse.

However, Clifton Park wasn’t ready to give up. While shorthanded at 5:49 in the third period, Madi MacKinnon deflected a shot from Lael Breshears.

“We came out in the third period and dominated most of that period, but again another little mistake gave up a goal,” Michlovitch said.

That little mistake forced the game into overtime. Then into double overtime. It didn’t take long in the second extra session, though, just 1:36, before Syracuse finally won it.

Maddie Coene skated down the right side, shooting from the dot waist high to the far side.

“We were coming into the second overtime, and we knew we had to come out with a lot of energy after the ice clean,” Michlovitch said. “We knew we had to come out strong and end it quick in the second overtime because we didn’t want that game to go any further.”

Michlovitch talked about the upcoming nationals.

“Our goal is just to go out and play our game, execute, and we’ve shown throughout the season we are capable of beating the top teams when we do,” he said.

Other Tier I Action

The other Tier I tournaments consisted of just three teams each in a quick round-robin format. The 16U played all three games in one day, while the 19U played a game per day over three days.

In 16U, the Buffalo Bisons beat the Buffalo Regals 1-0. Perinton then easily beat the Regals in the second game 7-0. This set up the third game as a de facto championship game between the Bisons and Perinton. The Bisons took the contest and thus the title 3-1.

The Niagara Junior Purple Eagles won the first two 19U games, taking the drama out of the Sunday game. NJPE beat the Buffalo Regals 5-1 and the Syracuse Nationals 5-0 in games where the score was actually closer than the play on the ice. Despite the easy wins, Niagara remained focused throughout in an attempt to make it to Nationals for the second year in a row.

“We played Syracuse and Buffalo a few times this year,” Niagara coach Scott Welch said. “We tied Syracuse in one game. You never want to take anyone for granted. So our kids were really, really focused. I thought they would be ready.”

Overtime Goal Propels Potsdam Ice Storm

The 14U championship game was the only one that saw overtime in the Tier II level. The Potsdam Ice Storm came away with the win on the second shift of the extra period.

Potsdam swept through the round robin and semifinals to set up a title game rematch with Monroe County.

Potsdam got on the scoreboard first off a rebound on the power play. Monroe tied it with a shot from the top of the circle off a partial screen. Then Gabby Jones scored the game winner when she skated the puck out of the corner towards the net and from a steep angle took advantage of the goalie committing to the butterfly.

“I thought we dominated the game,” Potsdam coach Ernie Jenault said. “We’ve got a pretty good team. This is the third year we’ve been together. The key to our success is we use our defensemen. We don’t just dump the puck in. And we have a really good defensive corps. We really focus on our skills, and then we integrate systems.”

All the Tier II champions will be traveling to Vermont for the national championships.

“We have a bunch of great kids, hard workers,” Jenault said. “They are eager to learn. And they have some skills, too. Our goal is to be competitive at the nationals. We’re looking to win it.”

The Brewster Lady Bulldogs won the Tier II 16U title. With three shutouts and outscoring their opponents 20-3 heading into the championship game, they finished it off by beating Troy/Albany 3-1.

The small Finger Lakes town of Skaneateles won the 19U title by taking revenge over the St. Lawrence Thunder. Skaneateles had two shutouts versus Rochester Grizzlies (1-0) and Brewster Lady Bulldogs (13-0) sandwiched around a shutout loss of their own, 4-0 against St. Lawrence.

After dispatching Cazenovia 3-2 in the semifinals, Skaneateles once again faced St. Lawrence. They returned the favor by shutting out the Thunder 3-0.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.