LAUREL — LAUREL - DeMatha senior Chris Chambers remembers what it felt like watching Mount St. Joseph celebrate after the Gaels defeated his Stags last February to win the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League championship. Yesterday, he got even.
Chambers had a hat trick - including the game-winner - to lead DeMatha over the Gaels, 5-3, at the Gardens Ice House.
The game was another in the series between the two rivals. Either Mount St. Joseph (five titles) or DeMatha (eight titles) has won the MSHL Tier I title every year except one since the 1989-90 season.
"When I trained in the offseason, I looked at the picture of them celebrating," said Chambers, one of only two seniors on his team. "I wanted to make sure it didn't happen again."
The Stags (8-8-3, 4-1-0) used Chambers' second goal to take a 3-1 lead early in the third period. The Gaels (6-2-0, 5-1-0) responded, getting a goal from Mike Casey with 9:55 left, and another by Kevin Miller with 5:44 left to tie the game.
"We had the momentum, and I thought we'd win," Miller said. "Then we had a mental breakdown."
Chambers poked a loose puck past a Gaels defender along the boards, then skated in uncontested before firing a wrist shot just over goalie Patrick Street's right shoulder for the game-winner with 2:54 left. Street finished with 32 saves.
"We were outworked," Gaels coach Erv Terwilliger said. "They moved the puck well, and they were getting quality shots. If it wasn't for our goalie, it could have been worse."
"This is a lesson learned for us," Street said. "We came in a little overconfident. We thought we could exploit a weak defense, but it never happened."