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Tigers Bantam AA Wins State Championship!

By Staff, 03/05/18, 9:15PM MST

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The Tigers Bantam AA emptied the tanks, dug down deep, and skated away with an overtime win to defeat the #1 seed Littleton Hawks in the state championship game!

In their first game, the Tigers defeated the Boulder Bison 4-3.  Miltko, Rayner, King and Bonnett all recorded goals, with the eventual game winner coming with 3:40 remaining in the third period.

In game two, the Tigers faced off against the Littleton Hawks, a team they would face three times in the tournament.  Although the Tigers fought hard, they came up short, losing by a score of 4-2.

In game three the Colorado Springs crew again faced the Boulder Bison in a win or go home situation.  The Tigers fought off a tough Boulder team, and after King posted two second period goals, the Tigers lost their lead by allowing two third period goals.  Deep into the overtime period, Pino netted the game winner sending the Tigers back to a matchup with the Littleton Hawks.

In the rematch, the Tiger squad had to win the game in order force a final game, and win they did.  Barber, Rayner and Bonnett all recorded goals in the 3-1 victory.  Lambert was stellar in net stopping 19 of 20 shots, paving the way to a final and decisive game seven.

Playing on Littleton's home ice turned into a low scoring defensive battle for both teams.  The back and forth game ended just eight seconds into overtime as Vandyk thwarted a Littleton defenseman's attempt to clear the puck from near the top of the circles and then beat the goalie high glove.  Lambert posted the impressive shutout stopping a strong Littleton attack again and again.  Congrats to the 2018 State Champion Bantam AA Colorado Springs Tigers!

The championship earned the Tigers a berth in the National Championships in Amherst, NY, April 5th through the 9th.  This is the second year in a row that the Tigers organization has sent a team to nationals with the 19U AA Girls Tiger team earning a berth in the 2017 season.

Good luck at Nationals!