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The Dimond\/West girls hockey team celebrates a 3-1 win over Chugiak\/Eagle River in the championship game of the girls state hockey tournament at Ben Boeke Arena on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Chris Bieri \/ ADN) <\/p>\nThe Dimond\/West girls hockey team celebrates a 3-1 win over Chugiak\/Eagle River in the championship game of the girls state hockey tournament at Ben Boeke Arena on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2026. (Chris Bieri \/ ADN) <\/p>\n
For the past half decade, the dominant power in girls high school hockey in Alaska has been Dimond\/West and that isn\u2019t changing anytime soon. <\/p>\n
Following the team\u2019s 3-1 victory over Chugiak\/Eagle River on Saturday afternoon at Ben Boeke Ice Arena, Dimond\/West claimed a fifth straight state title to extend what has been quite the impressive dynasty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had some good success,\u201d D\/W head coach Brian Gross said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some great players come through here and they work hard and they\u2019ve earned a pretty good run here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming into the final game, the D\/W game plan was to keep the pace of the game high in an effort to tire out Chugiak\/Eagle River, which was running two-line shifts compared to their three.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t seem to do that and they seemed to have gas all the way to the end,\u201d Gross said. \u201cThey have a good team and have some really good players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dimond\/West had to come from behind to emerge victorious after allowing a goal in the first 49 seconds of the game when Chugiak\/Eagle River\u2019s Reece Dutton found the back of the net to give her team an early advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know it\u2019s a three-period game and there was going to be some ups and downs,\u201d Gross said. \u201cWhen there\u2019s downs, we\u2019ve just got to come back and fight and not get too down or you get into bigger trouble.\u201d <\/p>\n
His team stayed positive on the bench, which translated to resiliency on the ice as they began to rally.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been through it before, so they knew they could come back,\u201d Gross said.<\/p>\n
Dimond\/West knotted the game and managed to take the lead in the final five-and-half minutes of the first period, thanks to goals from a pair of freshmen.<\/p>\n
The tying goal came courtesy of Zoey Brady off an assist from senior Liz Sharpe at the 5:27 mark and with 38.6 seconds left on the clock, Sharpe assisted Chloe Hayner in scoring the team\u2019s second on a power play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt nice to score a goal in the championship game,\u201d Hayner said. \u201cI was really scared and my heart was racing before I got on the ice, and then I settled down and was like, \u2018we got this,\u2019 and we got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The state championship was her first game back in a month due to an injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a spark that really ignites us, so it was great to have her back again,\u201d Gross said.<\/p>\n
Dimond\/West deployed two goalies in senior Blue Damrill and freshman Kiera Lardizabal, who combined to make 16 saves on 17 shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had four goalies this year, which is a good problem to have, but it\u2019s also harder to make sure they all get playing time,\u201d Gross said. \u201cOur defense has been outstanding. We really limit the shots, and we make it tough to score on us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The game remained tightly contested until the waning seconds when Svea Dorman launched the puck from her defensive zone into an unmanned goal for an insurance empty-netter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to get an empty-netter,\u201d Gross said. \u201cI have confidence in our defense and our goaltending and our forwards. So once that went in, it was a little sigh of relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayner was on the ice for the third and final goal and knew the puck was destined to find the back of the net as soon as she made contact.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to her before it went in and I was like, \u2018that\u2019s so good,\u2019 \u201d she said. \u201cIt felt really nice. All the pressure was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a first-year player on a four-time defending champion team, Hayner admitted that she and some of the other Dimond\/West players felt some pressure to keep the state title streak alive all year. It only intensified when the state tournament got underway. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were trying to take it from us but we really carried it and got a (win),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Unlike years past when his team met little resistance on its way to racking up titles, this year\u2019s tournament saw far more parity, with several close games throughout that were decided by one or two goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year Dimond\/West was the strongest team I\u2019ve ever seen, and we were pretty dominant,\u201d Gross said. \u201cThis year the games have been all pretty close, a lot more parity and really good games. It was fun to see.\u201d<\/p>\n