CHICAGO – The Warriors Hockey Club went into overtime for the second straight tournament game to defeat BGHW, 3-2, to win the AHAI Combined Division State Championship at the United Center on Sunday.
Junior Joe Pijanowski scored the game winner with 12:58 left in the second overtime for his fifth goal of the tournament. Finnegan O’Toole fired a shot towards the goal, and Pijanowski deflected it in.
The Warriors started their comeback from a 2-0 deficit with a James Naffziger goal with 1:44 left in the first period. Ethan Newburg tied it up at 2-2 with 13:10 in the second period. There was no scoring in the third period or the first overtime.
Blake Cesarone, Michael Chenier, Markus Palmertz and Elijah Houlihan were also credited with assists.
Sean DeValk picked up the win, stopping 37 shots on goal, including 13 in the two overtime periods.