The Pinnacle Pioneers dominated the D1 hockey state playoffs from their opening first-round shutout against the Centennial Coyotes to their final championship victory, clinching the title with a score of 5-1 against the Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions on February 1st at Mullet Arena to win the D1 Arizona High School Hockey Association (AHSHA) Championship.
Going into the championship, the Pioneers were favored to win after shutting out both the Centennial Coyotes in the first round and the Hamilton Huskies in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Mountain Ridge only won by one point in both games leading up to the championship, going 2-1 against the Horizon Huskies during the first round and 5-4 whilst facing the Desert Vista Thunder in the semi-final.
Pioneers Forward Alexander Ihling was named MVP of the playoffs after scoring two goals and having one assist in the championship game.
Ihling scored the game’s first goal with just 10 seconds left in the period to put his team in the lead.
He then assisted Pioneers Forward Logan Chytka on the game-winning goal.
Pinnacle Forward Carson Kamin led his team in points throughout the playoffs with eight points in three games, assisting the first and last goal against Mountain Ridge in the championship.
Pinnacle Goalie Mark Michelson had a .986 save percentage with 70 saves and averaged only .32 goals across the three-game playoff run.
Mountain Ridge Forward Noah Gallo scored their only goal during the second period to make the score a 2-1 game going into the third period.
Mountain Ridge Forward Camden Babin led his team in having 5 points in the 3 games.
Mountain Ridge Goalie Easton Stiller had a .861 save percentage with 72 saves, averaging 10 goals against him, with the two last playoff games they played being high-scoring affairs.
At the end of the second period, Mountain Ridge was asked what their team was going to do going into the third period while being down by just one goal and Gallo said, “We’ve been down games before; we just have to capitalize.”
Going into the third period, Mountain Ridge knew they were still in the game and needed to come out hard.
Gallo commented that they’ve been down before because they won against Desert Vista 5-4 in the previous playoff game.
In their previous game, they went into the third period down 3-2 but turned it around, tied the score, and later won in a shootout.
Gallo and his team were hoping to come back in the third period, only down by one like they did in the previous game but Pinnacle got better bounces and ended up scoring three goals in the final 17 minutes.
After the game, Ihling was asked about what happened in between periods to make it go from a 2-1 game to a 5-1 game in the matter of the last 17 minutes of the game.
He said, “It was because in the locker room we were riling together getting ready for the third period so we came out hard and fast coming out with a huge win.”
Going into the third period up by one goal, Pinnacle was roused up but knew it was still anyone’s game and Mountain Ridge would come out hard trying to tie it up.
Pinnacle Coach Chris Ihling said the bench was visibly tense in the third period until they got that third goal where everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The team expected it to be a one-goal game, as it was throughout the first and second periods, but Coach Ihling said, “We got a couple of good bounces there in the end that helped us.”
After the third goal for Pinnacle, they could relax more and play their game which helped put them further in the lead.
While Sunnyslope doesn’t yet have a hockey team, there are 12 teams across the state who have varsity programs.
For many fans, the season offers an opportunity to get a taste of high school athletes competing in an internationally renowned sport.
Sophomore Jack Smith said, “The district should have a team.”
He explained it was unlikely Slope had enough players to make a team for itself, but it is likely a team could be formed with the whole Glendale Union school district.
Some Sunnyslope students went to support highschool hockey this season, such as Senior Noah Levine, who said, “I thought Pinnacle dominated Mountain Ridge, their defense wasn’t as good as they usually are.”
Junior Sophia Pappandurous said, “I think we should have a team of our own,” but thought it was good the district was at least promoting highschool hockey.
All in all, it was a hard-fought playoff between the two teams, but only one could reign supreme: the Pinnacle Pioneers.
