JSerra wins OT battle for ADHSHL Div. 1 title

JSerra team captain Zach Fiedler hoists the cup after his team's victory over Orange Lutheran Tuesday.
JSerra players celebrate their victory over Orange Lutheran Tuesday.
JSerra players celebrate their championship victory over Orange Lutheran Tuesday.
JSerra goalie Landon Pavlisin makes a stop during Tuesday's game against Orange Lutheran.
JSerra's Francis LeMay celebrates his goal during Tuesday's game against Orange Lutheran.
JSerra's Francis LeMay fell on top of Orange Lutheran's Jacob Heller in the crease during Tuesday's game.
Orange Lutheran goalie Connor Taherian makes a save with his blocker during Tuesday's game against JSerra.
JSerra's Kyle Pellegrino is checked to the ice by Orange Lutheran's Ryan Sanchez Tuesday.
Orange Lutheran's Vail Ardizzone, middle, celebrates his goal against JSerra Tuesday.
JSerra's Eric Phillips is checked to the ice by Orange Lutheran's Jacob Furry during Tuesday's game.

By Nathan Percy | Orange County Register

March 16, 2016 at 2:14 a.m.

ANAHEIM – Both teams had credentials heading into the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League Division 1 finals.

So it only made sense that overtime would be needed to decide a winner between JSerra and Orange Lutheran at Honda Center on Tuesday night.

Midway through the overtime period, JSerra’s Jake Lauricella flipped a backhand shot through Lancers goalkeeper Conner Taherian and the Lions celebrated a 3-2 overtime win to claim the ADHSHL Division 1 title.

“I just took it around a defender and took the backhand shot and it happened to be perfectly placed,” Lauricella said. “It was a dogfight out there. It’s been that way all year.”

The victory for JSerra is another in a string of back-and-forth results between the two schools this season.

This time around, it was JSerra (25-10-1) on the winning end. Each team held a one-goal lead during the contest, but neither could hold it for long.

The Lancers (39-12-1) opened the scoring with a power play goal 10:17 into the second period when Vail Ardizzone knocked a puck in net assisted by Jacob Furry and Chase Young.

JSerra responded with its own power play goal. Francis Lemay knocked in a rebound after an initial shot near the blue line by Brendan Pagani.

“Our goal was to win a state championship and we accomplished that,” Lancers coach Dan Adams said. “It can be tough to get the kids up when they’ve already accomplished a goal, but you could tell (JSerra) wanted it. They battled hard and they’re well-coached.”

The Lions scored a similar power play goal in the third period as Jake Brunelle knocked in a rebound off a shot by Blake Reed.

But the Lancers responded less than two minutes later when Parker Brakebill hit Young in front of the net for the tying score with 8:43 remaining.

In overtime, Orange Lutheran had a pair of shots saved by JSerra goalie Landon Pavlisin, while Taherian made a save on a shot by Reed that was nearly batted in for the winner.

Lauricella’s shot came 47 seconds later.

“It’s been a battle between us two all year long,” Lions coach Mike Perkins said. “They won the state championship, so for us to win tonight was a little feather in our cap. The kids worked hard all year long. We were resilient.”

Both teams qualified for the Hockey Nationals in Reston, Va. The tournament starts Thursday and wraps up March 21.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2247 or npercy@ocregister.com