The Bears defeated the Patriots once earlier this season, handing Liberty its only loss of league play on the way to the regular-season title of the Capital Hockey Conference. And at Chiller North in the title game, they did it again, defeating the Patriots in the first minute of overtime play to earn a 4-3 victory.
"Winning the CBJ Cup in our fourth year of existence is a tremendous accomplishment for our program," Berline head coach Tim Pennington said. "We beat two of the best, and most storied teams in our area and in the state."
Previously in the CBJ Cup, Liberty defeated Thomas Worthington and St. Charles to secure a spot in the championship game. Berlin took down Dublin Jerome and two-time defending champ Upper Arlington to advance to Sunday's game.
The Patriots took to the ice in white and the Bears followed in their signature double blue combo. It didn't take long for both teams to get a couple chances, but Liberty scored less than three minutes into the game to put the first point on the board as Jacob Kempa shot one in from the blue line off of Tyler Foskey's face-off.
Berlin looked to counter with a scrum in front of Liberty's goal, but Liberty goaltender Benton Roberts made some Elvis-worthy saves to keep the 1-0 lead. The majority of the first period included a lot of back and forth from both teams with a couple of big hits down in Liberty's defensive end as the Bears looked to tie it up.
Liberty stretched their lead by to 2-0 by the end of the first. Captain Gage Schlotterbeck fired one in to be deflected in the net by Brian Savage with one minute left to go in the first.
To kick off the second period, Liberty looked for a third, but the referee quickly waved off a potential goal because the net was off. From there, it didn't take long for the Bears to figure out a way to move the puck down the ice. Berlin got their chance to close the scoring gap as Zach Patton tapped one in from in front of the net, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Bears found their momentum in the attack and started playing more aggressively in front of the net.
"I'm so proud of our kids' resilience, never giving up … and it showed once again tonight," Pennington said.
Liberty had a hard couple of minutes trying to get the puck out of their end, but found themselves in a 2-on-1 rush toward the goal after a big steal on the blue line but couldn't get a shot off. Berlin responded with their own 2-on-1 opportunity, getting a shot off but it went high and wide.
Liberty's Andrew Leonard received the first penalty of the game for high-sticking in front of the goal. The call didn't rattle the Patriots though as Schlotterbeck carried the puck down the ice himself and finished a 1-on-1 with goalie Kai Nelson to make it 3-1 Liberty going into the third period.
Fans and players alike started to get rowdy as the pressure to decide a winner grew. Liberty kicked off the third period with the second penalty of the game off of an interference call.
After a missed shot from a teammate on the Berlin power play, Tyler Ebare tapped in the puck off the backboard deflection for the Bears, making it 3-2 Liberty early in the third.
Then late in the game, Berlin had a two-man advantage for 28 seconds. While skating 5-on-3, Berlin's Carson Jankowski scored the equalizer at 10:44 to make it a 3-3 game.
The Bears then secured the championship within the first minute of overtime thanks to Zack Zielinski finding Chris Brennan from behind the goal to score from in front.
"Fighting back from being down two goals going into the third period is tough against a team like Liberty, but we persevered and came out on the winning side," Pennington said. "These kids have embraced our team's motto, which is 'We, not Me.' They play for each other, and I think it definitely showed in our effort."
With the regular season now complete, area teams will move into the OHSAA tournament, which will begin Friday night leading up to the state Frozen Four, to be held in Columbus with semifinals March 10 and the state title game March 12.
Other hockey action: The Blue Jackets Cup also had a consolation bracket, which was won by Olentangy Orange. The Pioneers beat DeSales, Gahanna Lincoln and Dublin Coffman on the way to capturing that division.
On the JV side, Cincinnati St. Xavier came out on top as the No. 2 seed. The Bombers downed Dublin Coffman and St. Charles to reach the title game, then defeated fourth-seeded Upper Arlington by a 5-1 score in the title match to earn the crown.
Also, on the club side of things, the Dayton Stealth finished the season atop the Ohio Scholastic Hockey League, then downed second-place Hilliard in Sunday's CBJ Cup final to earn the championship.
