Holt Hockey Captures Championship With Dramatic Rally

In their first trip to the Wickenheiser Cup finals, the Indians Hockey Club became the first St. Charles County club to win the tournament in its 12-year history with an impressive, dramatic 3-2 overtime win over .

For Holt head coach Glenn Thomas, there was a sense of confidence among his players that they were the better team on the ice, even when they were down 2-0 in the second period.

“We felt confident the whole game that we were the better team,” Thomas said. “When we got the whistle to get the faceoff in their end, we knew it was our last chance to get that goal.”

The fourth-seeded Indians did just that as Drake Mossengren scored on an unassisted goal after winning a faceoff with 1:07 to play in the game. Prior to Mossengren’s goal, Thomas pulled his goalie, Joshua Guinn.

“Right off the draw he just drove right through everybody on the ice and went straight for the net,” Thomas said. “It was nothing more than just willing the puck right into the net.”

Guinn was solid throughout the evening and kept the second-seeded Falcons scoreless in the third period as he finished the evening with a total of 30 saves.

“Josh played a phenomenal game,” Thomas said. “He always stays cool and never gets rattled. We couldn’t have had a better guy in front of the net that night.”

Summit was the first team to get on the scoreboard as the Falcons jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 9:41 to play in the first period. Tom Winkler scored the first goal of the game with Brendan Mitchell and Christopher Broy getting the assist on Winkler’s goal.

Summit would extend its lead to 2-0 with 9:44 to go in the second period on a goal by Kory Rekowski, with the assist going to Devin Mayer and Brendan McClew.

Holt would finally answer the Falcons’ 2-0 lead with 1:15 to go in the second period with a goal by Cory Kettler as Austin Flynn and Corey Stengel were awarded the assist on Kettler’s goal.

“It was just a remarkable goal,” Thomas said. “Anytime Cory’s on the ice, we expect things to happen. He can put the puck into the net from the craziest angles and the smallest holes.”

After Mossengren’s goal sent the game into overtime, it was Holt’s Jacob Cutler who would score the game-winning goal with 9:47 to play with Flynn and Stengel getting the assist on Cutler’s goal.

Summit goaltender Kory Beck was solid throughout the game for the Falcons, and nearly stopped that last shot, which rebounded softly off his legs to move across the goal line before he could snare the puck.

“It couldn’t have been a better way to win that game,” Thomas said. “The momentum was there for us and they had the determination in their mind that this was it for us.”

Cutler’s game-winning goal led to him wining the game’s MVP award. He finishes his final season with 16 goals. The Indians finish 19-7-3. They made a run last year as well before falling to Oakville in the Wickenheiser semifinals.