Moment: Heritage Soars to 1st Final
April 9, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Saginaw Heritage has ascended to the ranks of the state’s high school hockey elite these last few seasons. And it’s fair to say Matte Cole scored one of the defining goals of that rise.
Cole actually tallied two goals during the Hawks’ 3-2 overtime win over Traverse City West in a Division 1 Semifinal on March 9, 2018. The second came 59 seconds into overtime to secure the victory, which sent Heritage to its first MHSAA Final in hockey.
"If you would have told us at the beginning of the year that we would be in the championship game I don't think that realistically … many people outside of our locker room would have given us that opportunity," Heritage coach J.J. Bamberger said that day. "But everyone in the locker room believed in it. We have kids who have won championships at younger levels and they showed today they're winners and they refused to lose."
Click for game coverage from the Saginaw News – Saginaw Heritage tops Traverse City West in OT, advances to first state championship game – and watch the game winner below with coverage from the NFHS Network.
Moment: Nordstrom Sends Hancock to Final
May 22, 2020
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Alex Nordstrom had quite a hockey season during the winter of 2015-16, and put a giant exclamation point on the end with his performance during Finals weekend at USA Hockey Arena.
He’d finish his freshman campaign with 33 goals and 26 assists, including a pair of goals in Hancock’s 4-2 Division 3 Final win over Grand Rapids Catholic Central. But arguably the biggest goal of all came a day earlier.
Nordstrom’s backhand into the next 6:51 into overtime on March 11, 2016, gave Hancock a 2-1 Semifinal win over Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and sent the Bulldogs to Saturday’s championship game. The title would be the program’s first since 1999.
Click for coverage of the Semifinal from State Champs Sports Network and watch the game winner below from the NFHS Network.