Going out on top is the dream for most athletes and coaches.
From John Elway, Peyton Manning and Ray Lewis in the NFL, to Ray Bourque and Scotty Bowman in the NHL and Joe DiMaggio in MLB, there have been numerous examples of greatness being capped off with a championship in sports.
Mitch Major, the longtime coach of Section III’s Skaneatles Lakers’ hockey program, now understands what those legendary figures felt.
That’s because Major led his team to a 3-0 victory over Section X’s Ogdensburg Blue Devils in the NYSPHSAA Division II Final at the LECOM Harborcenter on Sunday and securing a third straight state championship. Major – who is retiring from coaching – was able to win the fifth title of his career, the school’s seventh overall and helped his squad become the first ever in New York State to three-peat.
“Our theme this weekend was, ‘Let's not try to rise to any occasion. Let's just fall back on our training,’” Major said. “There was no panic. If you watched those games, there were moments when we had to weather some storms, but that just comes back to our training.
That was the best game we’ve played all year, and that's a testament to their preparation.”
Senior goaltender Danny Angelina, who hadn’t allowed more than two goals in a game all season, capped off his high school career with a shutout.
“This feeling will probably never go away,” Angelina said. “It's just a beautiful moment to give to Coach Major and our team. It couldn't be a better ending to his high school coaching career.
“The work that Coach Major puts in to prepare us, he doesn't leave anything unturned. He pushes us as hard as he possibly can, and we just continue to work as hard as we can. That’s what led us to this.”
From the beginning of the game, the Lakers set the tone. With 12:23 left in the first period and Skaneateles on a five-on-three power play, Luke Mizro scored on a wrist shot to give his team an early 1-0 advantage..
From there, it was all Lakers. Dishing out hits everywhere to demoralize the Blue Devils’ morale, they also backed up their physicality with more goals as a shorthanded tally by Kaden Rutledge midway through the second period and a snipe by Addison Taggart in the third increased the Skaneateles lead to a commanding 3-0 lead.
As the clock ticked down with less than a minute to go, Major had numerous thoughts racing through his head.
“I think I turned to my trainer and kind of looked at her in disbelief that that we just won three state championships in a row,” Major said. “But more important is the fact that these guys set a goal, they reached that goal and they played their best game today in the biggest pressure situation you could imagine – which I couldn't be more proud as a coach.”
Major and his players were excited to bring their championship back home, and he felt thankful for his time as the Lakers’ coach.
“We don't really talk about winning or losing here,” Major said. “I just love that we’ve gotten the most out of what we have. And that's all you want in life – you just want to make sure that you have no regrets when it's done.
“I'm such a small part of Skaneateles. It takes a village to raise kids and to raise good citizens, and I feel like I gave it everything I had. And it's going to continue. It's a great town to live in."
Photo Gallery by Rich Rumfola/CNYAthletics.com
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