Hawks battle, but Monroe claims 3A state hockey title

WASILLA — It wasn’t the first time this season Houston head coach Mike Styers watched Monroe Catholic take a three-goal lead against his Hawks. But Saturday Styers saw something very different from his team.

Despite falling behind 3-0 midway through the second period, the Hawks continued to battle. And that’s what the longtime Houston mentor took away from his team’s 3-1 loss to Monroe during the ASAA/First National Cup 3A state title game Saturday afternoon at the Menard Arena in Wasilla.

“When we played them in Fairbanks and they got three goals we quit. They went up 3-0 and you saw the life went out of them. Here, I reminded them of that, they stepped up and they worked and worked. I don’t think they gave up at all,” Styers said after the loss. “A couple of plays and we’re right there.”

Boosted by a pair of breakaway goals in the first period and a strange play in the second, Monroe scored its second 3A state hockey title in four years. Monroe senior Dylan Steele notched a pair of breakaway tallies within a five-minute stretch of the first period to give Monroe the early lead.

“We gave up three or four breakaways, and it turned into two goals,” Styers said.

Steele had three breakaways by himself early in the first period. The first came in the opening minutes, but Steele’s attempt was thwarted by Houston senior goaltender Caleb Beauvais. When Steele broke free again, he was able to beat Beauvais at the 11:45 mark to give the Rams the 1-0 lead. With just more than seven minutes left in the period, Steele wheeled up the right side, found plenty of open space to record his second goal of the game.

“The first two goals were our mistakes,” Styers said.

But Monroe’s third goal left just about everyone scratching their heads, except Monroe senior Grant Olson.

With just less than seven minutes left in the second period, and the puck in the Houston defensive zone, Olson had the puck on the right wing side when a high-pitched sound rang throughout the arena. Just about everyone on the ice stopped.

Everyone but Olson.

The senior took advantage of the pause and fired a puck into the net.

The Hawks stood stunned as the Rams celebrated.

“Everybody thought there was a whistle. Both teams stopped,” Styers said.

But despite the breakaways, and the bizarre goal, the Hawks played on.

“I thought we battled with them, we outshot them,” Styers said. “I thought for two periods, the second and the third, we outplayed them. We just had a tough time getting the puck in the net.”

Houston also continued to battle, despite losing three players to injury during the game.

“We lost key players, but still maintained,” Styers said.

Sophomore Reed Humphries put the Hawks on the scoreboard with 4:03 left in regulation. The defenseman powered the puck up the left side of the ice, and snuck a puck past Monroe goaltender Nate Jankowski.

The Hawks outshot Monroe 28-22 in the game, and 22-14 during the final two periods. The Hawks had 13 shots in the third.

Beauvais made 19 saves for the Hawks, and stopped all nine shots he saw in the third period.

“Caleb played great,” Styers said, noting the goalie’s remarkable improvement during his career.

Saturday marked Houston’s fourth straight appearance in the 3A state title, and third meeting against Monroe in the championship bout during that span. Last season, Houston earned the championship with a 3-0 win over Monroe. The Rams beat the Hawks in the 2013 state title game.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Monroe Catholic 3, Houston 1

3A state championship

Saturday, Menard Arena

First period — 1. Monroe- Steele (unassisted) 11:45; 2. Monroe- Steele (Michel) 7:13.

Second period — 3. Monroe- Olson (unassisted) 6:27.

Third period — 4. Houston- Humphreys (unassisted) 4:03.

Shots on goal: Monroe 8-5-9—22, Houston 6-9-13—28; Saves: Monroe- Jankowski 6-9-12—27, Houston- Beauvais 6-4-9—19.