ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Martin Lyons wasn't sure.

The SLUH winger did not know if he tipped in Jack Hazelton's drive from point. Or not.

But one thing was certain.

"We won and that's all that counts," Lyons said.

The Junior Bills captured their second successive Mid-States Club Hockey Association Challenge Cup title with a nail-biting 3-2 win over De Smet in double overtime Wednesday at Enterprise Center.

Replays showed Lyons did indeed deflect the shot 69 seconds into the second of two 10-minute sudden sessions.

SLUH (23-3-2) claimed its third overall title to go with a crown in 2013.

The goal capped off a thrilling battle between rivals.

Junior Patrick Simoncic scored twice for the winners and goalie Brendan Rasch made a handful of highlight-reel stops.

Jack Estes and Jacob Kausch scored for De Smet (19-7-3), which has won 14 overall Mid-States championships.

Hazelton unleashed a wicked drive that made its way through traffic and off the stick of Lyons.

"I saw a little lane and I let it go," Lyons said.

Both teams had legitimate scoring chances in the first extra session, but Rasch and De Smet goalie Jakub Dobes turned in a one huge save after another.

Simoncic scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season coming off a two-goal effort against Kirkwood in the semifinals.

"This is the best day of my life," Simoncic roared to no one in particular while skating around the ice with championship trophy.

The Jr. Bills had only six players in the lineup who played in last year's 4-0 win over De Smet in the title contest.

That made it extra special for SLUH coach Jack Behan.

"It's a great accomplishment," Behan said.

De Smet tied the game 2-2 on a deflection by Kausch with 10 minutes and 11 seconds left in the third period. Carson Wilhelm set up the tally with a perfect pass.

Simoncic broke a scoreless tie by whipping a wrister past Dobes midway through the first period.

He then snapped a 1-1 tie in similar fashion late in the second period.

SLUH outshot De Smet 25-20, but both teams took turns grabbing the momentum

This is just the third top-tier overtime final in the 48-year history of the event.

"This is like a dream for all of us," Lyons said. "What a game, what a finish."

The Jr. Bills displayed plenty of flash and glitter during the regular season with the likes of Henry Wagner, who dominated play when he was healthy. Wagner is headed to Yale.

But it took a gritty goal to nail down the championship.

"We worked on things like that the last couple weeks," Behan said. "That's how you win this time of year — with those type of goals."