Tempe’s Oceanside Arena is one of Arizona’s oldest, but the penalty box doors passed a thorough inspection Saturday morning from Belle Tire and Chicago Mission. The 14U combatants combined for 56 penalty minutes in their pool-play finale, with undefeated Mission amassing more infractions, more shots and more goals in a 4-1 victory that propelled them into the championship bracket tomorrow.

“We did try to talk to them about staying composed, not retaliating and skating away after the whistles,” said Anders Sorensen, Mission head coach. “That became our biggest message. It wasn’t even about Xs and Os at that point.”

Both teams lamented the steady penalty procession afterward, but the sting was far worse for Belle Tire, which lost despite not allowing an even-strength goal.

“The penalties killed us,” said goaltender Xavier Medina, who played brilliantly in defeat, stopping 25 of the 28 Mission shots he faced.

Mission’s first two goals, from Thomas Weis and Jack Horbach, came on first-period power plays. The third goal, scored with 79 seconds remaining in the second period, was a short-handed tally, and the fourth goal came as Belle Tire skated with an empty net.

Belle Tire’s lone goal was an even-strength tally from Jack Mesic that bounced off the pipe and barley slid past the goal line midway through the second period. It was one of a mere 12 shots on goal for Belle Tire, despite a bevy of power-play chances, and only the third goal allowed by Mission in three games.

“Overall, I thought we were strong defensively,” Sorensen said. “We were stingy. We didn’t give them much. And our second power-play goal was big, because it gave us some breathing room.”

Medina was stingy, too, battling hard to keep his teammates in the contest. The Detroit native stifled Mission often, capping his first-ever trip to USA Hockey Nationals with a .935 saves percentage in two games.

“I wish we could have played a little longer, but I loved it,” said Medina, a youth hockey forward-turned-goalie whose grandmother immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico.

“We don’t like losing. If you went in that locker room right now, you’d see a lot of very upset players.”

But like his teammates, Medina battled hard throughout.

“I just focused on trying to stop shots and encourage us as much as I could,” he said. “My mindset was that I had to keep my team in the game and hopefully they could build off that.”

But try as they did, Belle Tire just couldn’t crack top-ranked Mission, even on the power play.