The Summit High School Tigers hockey team hosted league rivals, the Aspen Skiers, on Friday, Jan. 28, at the Stephen C. West Arena in Breckenridge for the final regular season match up between the two teams.

In their first meeting in Aspen on Dec. 11, the Skiers defeated the Tigers 1-0, but head coach J.R. Engelbert was adamant after the Tiger’s win against Crested Butte on Wednesday, Jan. 26, that the team had grown since first playing Aspen.

The game was fast paced from the opening puck drop, but it was the Tigers who seemed like they had the early upper hand in the first period of play.

The Tigers put shots on goal, kept the puck in the offensive zone and played tough defense. Cassius Bradford upped the Tigers physicality on the ice as he landed several bruising hits on Aspen skaters.

“We started strong,” Engelbert said. “we really came out and set the pace of the game and set the tone.”

Even though Summit set the tone and the effort was high in the first period, recording 17 shots on goal to Aspen’s four, they were not able to score and skated into the first intermission tied with Aspen 0-0.

Like Summit, Aspen upped their energy from the first period, spending more time in their offensive zone and getting good looks at the net.

The Tigers got several opportunities on a power play due to penalties by the Skiers, but none were successful. On the second power play of the second period for Summit, Aspen scored a shorthanded goal when the puck floated past Finn Schroder in net to give the Skiers a 1-0 lead.

The Skiers maintained their lead into the second intermission, but still trailed 26-13 for shots on goal.

Aspen went on their first power play of the night early on in the third period. They were successful when Ryan Rigney slipped the puck into the net to extend the lead to 2-0.

However, the Tigers were not defeated. The second goal of the game by the Skiers seemed to awaken the team. It wasn’t much after the Aspen goal that Calvin Hanson was able to score for Tigers with assists from Graham Schuman and Cole Stuckey.

“I really thought we had a lot of momentum in the first, so we knew if we got back to that game plan of carrying momentum and creating opportunities that eventually a puck was going to bounce in for us,” Engelbert said.

Minutes later the Tigers scored again to even it our. The point came from Boone Steinberg, who scored the game winning goal on Wednesday against Crested Butte. Steinberg’s goal was assisted by Ranger Stone and Bradford.

The Tigers continued to play tough hockey with lots of momentum back on their side of the ice. The Tigers went on one final power play to end the game, but they were unsuccessful, sending the game to overtime.

The Tigers came out looking to win the game for good in the sudden-death overtime period, maintaining possession of the puck and getting looks of the net.

Ranger Stone got his chance two minutes in when he sent a backhand shot in between Zachary Small’s legs to win the game for the Tigers 3-2.

Players jumped on top of each other in front of Summit’s student section as the students banged on the glass in celebration.

“Credit to the guys,” Engelbert said. “They were not going to let Aspen beat us at our home rink. The seniors really took it to heart and Ranger was there to knock in the backhand and get the win.”

This marks the Tigers’ second come-from-behind win in two straight games, and it improves their record to 7-6 and 3-4 in league play.