Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

At last fully dressed and all their equipment packed into their burgeoning hockey bags, Jayson Angus and Zach LaDuke were the final two Latrobe players to walk out of what usually serves as the visiting NHL team's locker room at Mellon Arena late Thursday afternoon.

"Lets go home, Jayson," LaDuke said to his longtime friend and linemate.

"Let's go home," Angus concurred, and with that, the two together squeezed their way through the cramped, dingy bowels of the old arena.

It was the third time those two got to go home together as state champions.

Angus scored twice and LaDuke once, and LaDuke set up Angus for the winning goal with 6:28 left in the third period as Latrobe won its third consecutive Pennsylvania Cup with a 3-2 victory against Downingtown East (24-1-1).

"A three-peat? This is unbelievable," said LaDuke, a junior. "It's been great, the whole way through. It's been incredible. You can't ask for more."

It was fitting that in their final game as Wildcats teammates (the two also play amateur hockey together) Angus, a senior, and LaDuke played pivotal roles.

Two of four players to play on all three title-winning teams -- senior defensemen Tyler Ridder and Josh Harris are the others -- Angus and LaDuke have developed remarkable chemistry along with linemate Josh Singley, who had two assists Thursday.

LaDuke skated with speed down the left wing, beating three Downingtown East defenders and sending a pass to Angus in the slot. Angus slid it between goalie Ryan Lord's pads for what would be the winner.

"I know Jay goes hard to the net all the time," LaDuke said. "You kind of have that sense you know that he's going to be there and you can just throw it. But I saw him out of the corner of my eyes, too."

LaDuke and Angus finished 1-2 in Class AA playoff scoring with 14 and 12 points in four postseason games. They also finished in the top six in the classification's regular-season scoring race.

"He's obviously a great player, and he made a great play," Angus said.

"It started with Singley in the neutral zone getting a chip-in, and Zach made a great play going around two guys. I just went hard to the net, put my stick down, and he did all the work for me."

Freshman Shane Brudnok made 32 saves for Latrobe (21-3-1), which has won 10 consecutive games overall and 12 playoff games in a row, dating to 2008.

"To win a championship, you have to have great defense, and it starts with great goaltending," Wildcats coach Dan Ridder said. "And Shane was just outstanding, especially with us giving up all those penalties."

Latrobe killed off five of Downingtown East's seven power plays.

It was the second consecutive year the Wildcats scored the winner to break a tie in the state title game in the final seven minutes.

"It hit me how special this team is as soon as the buzzer went off," Brudnok said. "When we were all jumping up and down and I was attacked by my teammates, I realized how special this team is."

Tyler Stepke still recalls the predictably hostile Philadelphia-area hockey crowd a year ago at the Pennsylvania Cup Class A state championship game.

They chanted his name and generally got underneath the skin -- and inside the heads -- of Mars players in a 5-0 loss to West Chester Rustin at its home rink.

Home in a more familiar place this season, Stepke got his revenge.

Stepke made 35 saves and Robbie Sigurdsson scored twice and added an assist as Mars won its first state title hockey title with a 4-1 win against Rustin Thursday at Mellon Arena.

"We worked so hard for this all year long," Stepke said while shaking his head slowly in disbelief standing in the runway leading to what is usually the visiting NHL team's locker room at Mellon Arena moments after hoisting the Pennsylvania Cup.

"Redemption. That's the word, redemption."

Stepke stopped 15 shots within the game's first 10 minutes and was the biggest reason Mars (24-2) killed off seven Knights power plays. He didn't allow a goal until the final shot he faced, from Brian Christie with less than a minute to play.

"He's like a brick wall back there," Sigurdsson said. "I don't know if we would have won without him. He was making just amazing saves."

Mars withstood an early flurry by Rustin (13-9-2) and seized the momentum by scoring twice in a span of 31 seconds, starting with Sigurdsson's slap shot from high in the right circle off a pass from Mike Mazzotta while on the power play 10:37 into the first.

Nick Blaney was tripped up heading into the left-wing corner moments later and, while laid out on his belly, got a pass through to a streaking Rusty Miller in the slot. Miller made it 2-0 with his third goal of the playoffs.

"Every game there's a five-minute period where the other team has the momentum," said Planets captain Tyler Whiteford, who also assisted on the first goal. "You just need to work through that. It was just that that was the beginning of the game for us. And we got through it."

Sigurdsson scored again 52 seconds into the second period -- slamming home a feed from Miller while standing just to the left of the net -- and Mazzotta when made it 4-0 with 7:33 to play, the Planets knew they were bringing home only the second recognized state championship for a team sport at the school. The 1976 cross-country girls' team won a PIAA title.

"It feels real good for the guys to be able to win the first Mars state title in the last year of Mellon Arena," coach Steve Meyers said. "Winning your school's first state championship in a sport is a feeling not a lot of people get to experience."

The Planets, who have won 11 in a row, are 69-6-1 over the past three seasons, including two PIHL Penguins Cups. They outscored opponents, 22-7, in this postseason.