STRONGVILLE, Ohio -- Premier Prep White Yetis (MN) and Northern CT Lights (CT) each entered Sunday’s 2A title game of the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 19U National Championships undefeated.  

The Yetis will go home as the only undefeated team in the tournament, as they prevailed 2-1 to win a national title. 

“The mindset [heading into the game] is that we need to continue what we have been doing,” said Premier Prep White head coach Bob Sherry. “Their top line was playing quite a bit so we tried to wear them down and I think that’s what we did.”

The Yetis struck first in the final three and a half minutes of the first period, with Gisella Harder scoring her second goal of the tournament. 

Harder then assisted Taylor Lesnar’s goal in the second period, which proved to be the game winner. 

The Northern Lights struggled to get anything past Yetis goalie Isabelle Deutz, but they showcased the same competitive spirit that got them to the championship and bunkered down after the first two periods. Liliana Ficaro scored her eighth goal — tied for the most in the tournament — with 4:17 remaining.

The Northen Lights kept attacking after that. With 1:35 on the clock, they sprung through the Yeti’s defense and got a breakaway against Deutz, but she pulled off a glove save to secure her side’s one-goal lead.

“I’ve been a goalie for a long time and you have to be confident in yourself,” Deutz said. “I was just like, ‘This is not going in because we’re going to win this one.’”

With his team up by one with 1:01 remaining on the clock, coach Sherry called a timeout and huddled up his squad before the final minute. 

“The first thing I tell them is to take a deep breath and that we’re not changing anything,” Sherry said. “I also tell them to have fun and don’t get any stupid penalties, but the mindset stays the same the whole tournament.”

The Yetis played until the final minute, not celebrating their triumph until it was set in stone. 

Coach Sherry will now end his tenure with the Yetis as a national champion. 

“This is my last year, I’m retiring after my eighth year,” Sherry said. “I went out on a bang.”

Deutz, who stopped 23 of the 24 shots she faced, summed up her team’s excitement with a simple statement. 

“The last quote is that we’re natty champs!” said Deutz. 

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.