Dow High Chargers bring home first state hockey title
MIDLAND, Mich. — March 12, 2022 will go down in H.H. Dow High School sports history as the day the Chargers brought home their first state hockey title.
“We knew in December that we had a team that was capable of winning a state championship,鈥� says Dow Head Coach Dick Blasy.聽鈥淚’m not sure many people outside of our small community actually believed that we could do it, but we believed.”
To make it to the final, Dow first had to defeat top-ranked Flint Powers in the regional final in a match that went into triple overtime. Next, the Chargers bested East Grand Rapids in the quarterfinals and Calumet in the semifinal.
Finally, to win the coveted state trophy, the eighth-ranked Chargers had to battle number three Orchard Lake St. Mary鈥檚. With just 2 mins and 29 seconds left in the game, Dow鈥檚 Nolan Sanders scored the go-ahead goal. Ryan Pomranky sealed the win, scoring the Charger鈥檚 second goal with 17 seconds left on the clock.
The Chargers鈥� defensive play at the net was essential for the championship victory. Goalie Collin Lemanski stopped all 32 of Orchard Lake鈥檚 shots and was presented the Andy Weidenbach D3 Tournament MVP Award.
“This team won because we had athletes that competed as hard as they could,鈥� Blasy says. 鈥淭hat includes an amazing athletic goalie that gave us a chance to win every day and every night against the state’s best.”
The win was the ultimate climax for the team鈥檚 14 seniors. Nine of those seniors were part of the 2020 Chargers team that had its postseason ended by the COVID shutdown just days before the Frozen Four finals.
“I’m so proud of these boys,鈥� Blasy says. 鈥淭hey played so hard and never gave up.”
This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.