“It’s pretty special,” said Konrad Reeder, head coach of the Rushmore Thunder. “[My assistant] and I have been with these guys since they were about 6 years old, so to get to follow them all the way up and then to have the year they had, to go undefeated in South Dakota, and then to get here, it’s unbelievable to win six games in five days. ... To play our best hockey at the end of the year, just really special.”

You could tell what it meant to Reeder, who had tears in his eyes as he made sure to get a photo of his son Wyatt with the national championship banner as well as securing game pucks from the semifinal and national championship games.

Aside from Knoll, Wyatt Reeder and Cameron Ritter also scored for Rushmore, while goaltender Brody Lee recorded 12 saves. Michael Chenier and James Naffziger scored goals for the Warriors and Tyler Bellot had stopped 23 shots.

Rushmore took the drama out of the championship game as Knoll scored his third goal at nationals during the first shift, just 1:05 into the game. Ritter made it 2-0 with 5:43 left in the first period, then Wyatt Reeder scored his goal 3:43 into the second and Knoll extended the Thunder’s advantage to 4-0 at 7:43. The Warriors quickly bounced back, with Chenier scoring 17 seconds later and Naffziger with 4:12 left in the second to pull within 4-2.

Rushmore was more or less in control throughout. Knoll secured his hat trick with some nifty stick work 5:41 into the third period and Ritter capped the scoring with 1:56 remaining.

“Just unbelievable for a senior to go out like that,” Konrad Reeder said. “His last game of real competitive hockey and to get a hat trick in the national tournament in the national championship game. Pretty special. He’s went through a lot this year, and he’s just continued to come back and battle and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”

Rushmore entered nationals dealing with an injury to one of its two goalies. Wyatt Simmons injured his knee in the state championship game. That left Lee as the only goalie the Thunder had for a grueling stretch at nationals. He finished the tournament with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. That included a 4-0 shutout of the Colorado Bruins (CO) in the quarterfinals.

“It was hard because I’ve been goalie with him for 10 years or so,” Lee said. “Such a big moment and the goal that we’ve been trying to get to together. It’s kind of hard to take it by yourself because you want to go through it with him so bad.”

One thing going for Rushmore was massive fan support. Most teams had a good representation in the stands, but a few of the Rushmore faithful stood out. A good number of the hockey moms were wearing glimmering gold jackets with black shirts underneath. A few dads got into the act, too, rocking sheer gold pants.

“That’s just their style,” Knoll said. “They like to dress up and it really hypes us up.”

“It shows that they’re all supporting [us] and it means a lot to them, just as it means a lot to us,” Lee said.

The last five days are ones many of the Thunder won’t forget.

“What a special group,” Reeder said. “I mean, they lost one hockey game all year. That’s pretty special — 30-1 in a hockey season against some good teams. And then, not only good hockey players, but better people. We’re about to get on the bus for 24 hours straight and that’s great, because they’ll all love each other and they’re good kids and they’re great to be around. I just couldn’t say enough about them.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.