Rams claim hockey state title

By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

Freshman Steven Casaceli scored two goals, including what proved to be the game winner with 8.9 seconds left in the second period, to help the Rio Rancho Rams earn the state hockey championship with a 4-3 victory over Los Alamos on Saturday.

Casaceli's shorthanded goal capped a furious second period rally from the Rams, who earned their third state championship. Rio Rancho fell behind 2-0 early in the period but stormed back for four straight goals, then held on in the final period for the victory.

"It feels great," Casaceli said. "That (short-hand goal) was huge. My coach just told me instead of trying to dangle to shoot. I did, and I scored. I was looking for a shooting lane, I put it on net and it went in."

Before scoring the goal, Casaceli had to make a steal in the Los Alamos zone first.

"I was just tying to read the pass, and I got it," he said. "I just wanted to win the Cup, and it feels great."

Los Alamos took a 1-0 lead after the first 15-minute period on a goal by Zachary Mang, then stretched it to 2-0 on a power play score by Bradley Picard with 10:36 left in the period. The Rams responded with their first score less than a minute later on Michael Kalaber's shot, and tied the game with 8:01 left on a goal by Kevin Saavedra.

The Rams claimed the lead for good on Casaceli's first goal with 2:48 left, and his second score just before the buzzer made it a two-goal game.

Los Alamos narrowed the gap to 4-3 with 10:01 left on Oliver Funstein's goal, and appeared to tie the game at the 7:54 mark when the puck got past Rio Rancho goalie Jojo Griego. But the referee disallowed the goal, saying it was kicked in the net.

The victory comes after a 13-3 regular season for the Rams, plus two wins and a tie in the year-end tournament that decided which teams advanced to the championship game. The Rams and Hilltoppers tied 3-3 when they met in the last game of the tournament last Saturday.

The Rams won the "pure division" made up of teams with players from only one school. The Santa Fe Blue Jackets earned the "composite division" title by taking players from all over the capital city to beat an Eldorado-based entry 12-3.

Rio Rancho now advances to a six-state regional tournament later this month.