SHP Nor Cal kings

“These teams have been 1-2 in Northern California all year,” Kreutzkamp said. “We’ve had an up and down year, but [we] find a way to win.”

These teams met just about a month ago with the Spartans taking an 11-8 win.

“They scored seven of their goals on the counter (in that Oct. 24 meeting),” Kreutzkamp said. “I think they had two tonight.

“If we can stop them on the counter, we can win.”

The Gators were also without hole set Oliver Marcin, arguably the strongest player on the team who was injured at the time. Marcin was back in the lineup for the playoffs.

“We didn’t play with Oliver last time, so I wanted to see what it was like (with him back in the lineup),” Kreutzkamp said.

While Marcin had only an assist, his power and strength on defense helped thwart the DLS offense. In the fourth period, Marcin knocked down a shot, letting loose a roar afterward.

The match was nip-and-tuck the entire way, with SHP (19-10) taking an early 2-0 lead on goals from Gates Gamble from the left wing, off a cross-pool pass from Ryan Karr. Gamble scored his second straight goal at the left post, of an assist from Clay Carrington, to double the lead midway through the opening period.

But DLS (22-7) didn’t panic, getting a goal back 14 seconds later before SHP goalie Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka made his presence felt with a save on a 5-meter penalty shot.

It was one of four saved penalty shots on the day — two from each goalie. DLS’s William Corr also came up with two stops.

The Spartans scored the first two goals of the second period. Sloan Brown’s goal in the set, off an assist from Breydon Congo, gave DLS its first lead of the match, 3-2, with 5:29 left in the opening half.

The teams then exchanged goals — SHP’s Luke Kirincich scored on backhand to tie the game at 3-all, but a Congo shot slipped through the hands of Baker-Matsuoka, who appeared screened on the shot.

Again the Gators tied the score at 4-all on the first of back-to-back goals from Nelson Harris. The first took a deflection past Corr and his second came from the left point on a restart that put SHP up 5-4.

Harris led the Gators with four goals.

“He is an excellent perimeter shooter,” Kreutzkamp said of Harris, who will play at Claremont College next season. “He’s just so composed. He buried all the shots when he has to, too.”

DLS parlayed a Corr save on a 5-meter penalty shot into the game-tying goal on the other end, but Gamble’s strike with six seconds left in the half gave SHP a 6-5 lead at halftime.

DLS tied the score on the first goal of the third period, but the Gators answered with three straight goals. After Baker-Matsuoka stoned a Spartans’ fastbreak, Harris gave the Gators the lead for good, taking a pass from Gamble and scoring from the left point.

Carrington gave the Gators a power-play goal with 3:05 left in the third and Harris’ fourth goal of the game put SHP up 9-6.

Baker-Matsuoka then denied DLS’s attempt to regain momentum with his second penalty shot save with five seconds remaining in the third.

“Today was all about Murdoch in the cage,” Kreutzkamp said. “He had their number.”

The fourth period was all about defense. The Spartans closed to 9-7 on an odd-man rush with 4:10 left in the match, but Baker-Matsuoka saved the last four shots the Spartans had, setting off wild Gators’ celebration as the match concluded.

“We always play great the last two weeks of the season,” Kreutzkamp said, as the win over DLS exacted revenge on the only team in Northern California to beat them this season.

“We have the toughest schedule in the United States. Our record is not alway great, but when we get to these games, our kids are not at all fazed.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to show Ryan Karr assisted Gates Gamble on SHP's first goal.