The Harter Auto Supply 19U Tier 3 girls hockey team won the state championship last weekend at the Eddie Edgar Ice Arena in Livonia. The roster includes Sylvia Aho, Cadence Anderson, Sophia Blake, Baylie Bourdeau, Bethany Garrow, Kylie Garrow, Annika Haugland, Jordan Holombo, Maria Kallenbach, Mazie McPherson, Naudia Meneguzzo, Tessa Meneguzzo, Chloe Mikus, Aili Nelson, Abagail Rozman, Ella Schneiderhan, Chloe Serafin, and Audrie Wakeham. The coaching staff includes Jason Meneguzzo, Doug Bourdeau, Madison Labyak, Arthur Mikus, and Alan Wakeham. (Provided photo)

HOUGHTON — A year removed from a second-place finish in the state tournament, the Harter Auto Supply 19U Tier 3 girls hockey team was back in the championship game on Sunday. This time around, they emerged victorious with a 2-0 win over the Detroit Bulldogs at the Eddie Edgar Ice Arena in Livonia.

Harter scored early in the game, but then had to hold on until they finally put the game out of reach with just 40 seconds left in the contest. Coach Jason Meneguzzo said that it wasn’t until that puck went in that he felt they had the game under control.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel that, until that last goal (with) 40 seconds left in the game,” he said. “There was no relief until we got that second goal. (With) there only being 40 seconds, it was right down to the wire.

“We started to loosen up a little bit there in the middle of the third period, and we had to call timeout because they were just falling apart. That could happen at any moment. It just takes a second for a good team like (the one) that we were playing against, to be able to come down and capitalize on that and see that. So, it was right down to the last 40 seconds. I had a little relief after that.”

Harter’s roster included Sylvia Aho, Cadence Anderson, Sophia Blake, Baylie Bourdeau, Bethany Garrow, Kylie Garrow, Annika Haugland, Jordan Holombo, Maria Kallenbach, Mazie McPherson, Naudia Meneguzzo, Tessa Meneguzzo, Chloe Mikus, Aili Nelson, Abagail Rozman, Ella Schneiderhan, Chloe Serafin, and Audrie Wakeham. Joining Jason on the coaching staff were Doug Bourdeau, Madison Labyak, Arthur Mikus, and Alan Wakeham.

Harter had to play five games in three days in order to win the state championship, and Jason pointed out that his team, which featured a roster with most of last year’s team back, learned a key lesson last season.

“It meant the world to them to get back down there and be able to have a chance at winning it,” Jason said. “To the girls who played last year, and some of the ones that rejoined us, some of the 14U girls joined our 19U team, they aged up, so there was that, plus the two girls from Chassell that we picked up, which were new. It meant the world to them to be able to compete again.”

Labyak had a big part to play in helping the team get ready for this year’s tournament.

“So, that five-game thing was brutal,” said Jason. “Our coach, Madison, she wasn’t able to come down with us, but she’s the conditioner. She knew how much we were struggling on that fifth game last year physically. (She) pushed those girls at the end of every practice, five, 10 minutes of conditioning, and that made a difference.

“There was nobody complaining. There was nobody huffing and puffing. When they got off of their shift. They were pushing, but we were definitely conditioned this year, unlike last year.”

Of the 18-player roster that Harter has, 16 are skaters. Fifteen played in the state tournament, with 14 recording at least a point. Jason could not be more proud of the fact that almost the entire team found a way to get on the scoresheet at some point over the course of the weekend.

“Not a lot of teams, not a lot of highly competitive teams, play their whole lineup, play their whole bench” he said. “We’re happy to say that we do, but I didn’t realize until (my assistant coach) told me just a half-hour ago, out of the 15 skaters, 14 of them had points, which is pretty amazing. That’s not because all of them are equal by any means. There’s a pretty big spread, but our older girls help grow the skills of the younger ones.

“Sometimes they can’t catch a pass, but they’re still passing to them, and trying to work through the whole thing.”

Getting everyone involved meant a lot to Jason.

“I wouldn’t feel very accomplished if I was sitting on the bench and only played one or two shifts the entire weekend,” he said. “I wouldn’t feel like playing hockey again hereafter if that was the case.So, we try to make sure that (we play everyone). I mean, (it’s) evident when 14 of our 15 skaters had points.”

Harter started the weekend off on Friday with a 10-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins. It was their widest margin of victory, and Jason felt it was great to start the tournament off with a big win, which helped the team settle into the weekend.

“We’d rather have that game, that competition, at the beginning of our playoffs, instead of one game before we have to play an intense game like we did,” Jason said, “to get those out of the way.”

On Saturday, Harter opened the day with a 4-1 win over the host Livonia Knights. Then, in the late afternoon, they battled the Bulldogs, the only team that beat them in last year’s tournament, winning this time, 5-3.

Jason knew with how that game went, there was a strong likelihood that his team would see the Bulldogs again before the tournament came to a close.

On Sunday morning, Harter was seeded as the top team, so they faced the fourth-seeded Greater Flint United Phoenix. They punched their ticket to the title game with a 4-2 win, setting up the rematch with the Bulldogs.

With the championship game going the way that it did, Jason admitted that he was not even aware it was a shutout until after the team returned to the hotel. The worst part of that, his daughter Naudia was the one in goal for the game.

“I was back in the hotel before I realized, like, ‘Oh, man, she had a shutout,'” he said. “I didn’t even realize it. I was so focused on a one-goal lead, and I knew that wasn’t going to be enough cushion to be able to beat them. I didn’t realize she even had a shutout until we got back to the hotel.”

While Naudia was playing in her final season with Harter, Jason was proud of not just the fact that she was able to earn a state title, but that she was also very helpful all season with McPherson during her first season between the pipes.

“Naudia decided to stay on one more year, because she graduated last year, and help out Mazie and mentor her. She (Mazie) just caught on so quick, a lot quicker than other goalies that I’ve seen. She picked it up really well.

“We’ll be in a good position next year with her as probably the only goalie, unless we get another one.”

Jason also admitted that while he felt comfortable with Naudia in net, as a father, he spent more time keeping an eye on his other daughter, Tessa, during her shifts.

“I mean, it’s always tough to watch your own kids,” he said. “You’re always a little bit harder on your own kids than you are on the rest of the team. But, she’s a seasoned veteran. I didn’t have to watch her as much as I had to watch my other daughter, Tessa.”

With the success that Harter had this season, keeping that going next year will be the next challenge facing Jason and his staff. The team is losing Naudia, Kylie Garrow, Serafin, and Wakeham, with the latter trio moving on to college out of the area. Still, Jason believes that his team’s success is sustainable.

“Even us, sometimes you get caught up, but we just have to bring it back to what we know is best,” he said. “This is what’s going to grow girls hockey in the future.”