WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. – The Shattuck-St. Mary’s (MN) juggernaut keeps rolling.

Top-seeded Shattuck topped Rochester Youth Hockey at BK Selects (NY) 3-0 on Sunday to win the 2024 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier I 16U National Championship at AdventHealth Center Ice.

While goaltender Morgan Stickney made some nice saves, Jilian Klein and Nina Rossi scored goals 1:17 apart in the second period to take control of the game. 

“There were some nerves but we knew what we had to do,” Rossi said. “Morgan, she’s unreal.”

This is the 34th national championship for the Faribault, Minnesota, school in girls and boys hockey.

There are just 400 students in the Faribault, Minnesota, boarding school, but students come from all over the world to develop their hockey skills, first-year coach Ellie Williams-Doherty said.

“It’s a school that allows kids to pursue their passions,” she said. “There’s a burden that comes with being number one and there’s a target on their backs but it’s a driver for these kids every day. We tell them, ‘If you’re not doing something, somebody else is.’

“Shattuck hockey is really fun, but it’s really hard. It’s demanding mentally, physically, academically and you’re away from your family.”

Shattuck-St. Mary’s has been a top ranked for most of the season, but it did lose to Rochester back in October.

“It’s a little motivational but our message all year long has been it’s been about our team, not the team we’re playing against,” Williams-Doherty said. “Focus on yourself, your game.”

After killing off two penalties in the first period on Sunday, Shattuck St. Mary’s put a lot of pressure on Rochester goaltender Lia Nevo. 

Jane Daley, Rossi and Klein tried to stuff in shots from behind the net but Nevo was equal to the challenge.

In the second period, Klein redirected Lexie Lonask’s shot to give Shattuck-St. Mary’s a 1-0 lead with 9:59 left. Coincidentally, Shattuck reached the championship game when Klein redirected Lonask’s shot in overtime to beat Minnesota Magazine (MN) on Saturday.

Rochester came right back and created traffic in front of the net that led to a penalty on Shattuck. However, Rossi picked up a loose puck after Mila Advani blocked a shot, outraced her defender, then lifted a shot into the net to make it 2-0 with 8:42 left in the period.

Rossi’s short-handed goal totally shifted momentum.

“I’m so excited,” said Rossi, who had four goals and five assists in the tournament. “That gave us the momentum we needed. The puck trickled to center ice, I got by the defenseman and went sniper, top left. My favorite shot.

“It’s definitely the top goal I’ve scored.”

Tess Martin’s empty-net goal with 55 seconds left put an exclamation on the win.

“We talk about riding the wave, not the roller coaster,” Williams-Doherty said. “We stayed patient.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.