PVA Midgets win VT Amateur Hockey state championships

A winning team. The PVA Midgets. Back row, from left: Head coach Ken Muse, Kyle Weeks, Reid Coursen, Luke Plumley, Austin Stack, Joe Epler, Evan St. Pierre, Jed Plumley, Clayton Groenewold and Austin Stack. Middle row from left: Alex Groeneowld, Ian Wallace, Jeremy Fleming and Jake Muse. And front row, from left: Keenan Lowe and Timothy Berry. Photos provided. Click photo to launch gallery.

The Midget team (14- to 18-year-olds) from Pleasant Valley Hockey Association earned the title of Vermont State Amateur Hockey Champions during the championship game held on Saturday, March 7 at Cairns Arena in South Burlington. The team faced the midget team from St. Albans.The game was scoreless after two periods when they took a break for ice resurfacing.

Austin Stack, center, breaks away with the puck, at the bottom right of the picture.

Both teams came back on the ice with spunk and a will to win.  St. Albans put the first goal up at four minutes into the 3rd period.  A defensive battle ensued until Pleasant Valley’s Evan St. Pierre put a  slapshot into the net, tying the game with four minutes remaining in the period.

The teams kept it tied during remaining regulation play.  The first 10-minute overtime period remained scoreless. The teams were still tied 1-1.  The second overtime period began after a brief break, until PVA’s Reid Coursen scored the game winning goal, assisted by Luke Plumley.

Reid Coursen, far left, just before he took the double overtime winning shot.

Pleasant Valley Hockey Association midget teams hails hockey players from five area high schools; Bellows Falls Union High Schoo: Austin Stack, Reid Coursen, Alex Groenewold, Keenan Lowe, Clayton Groenewold and Ian Wallace; two players from Green Mountain Union High School: Joseph Epler and Jeremy Fleming; three players from Fall Mountain Regional High School: Jed Plumley, Luke Plumley and Evan St. Pierre; two players from Springfield High School: Kyle Weeks and Jake Muse; and one player from Stevens High School: Timothy Berry.

In addition to the Vermont State Amateur Hockey Association, PVA also plays in the Tech Valley League in the Troy- Albany, N.Y. area.   The midget team ended its regular season with a record of 16-6-2. It had one last chance to play together on this past weekend and on Monday, March 16 with the March Madness Invitational tournament in Glens Falls, N.Y.