After state championship tournament action May 5-7 in Colorado Springs, the Ice Warriors 12- to 13-year-old hockey team came out on top in a finale at the Pepsi Center the following weekend.

Made up of Centennial youth ice hockey players, the Ice Warriors were one of 12 teams in the PeeWee AA Colorado Competitive Youth Hockey League this season. Others teams in the league are located in the Metro Denver area, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Aspen.

Coached by Ken Schoech, who has coached youth hockey for 17 years, 15 of which have been in Colorado, the No. 4 seeded Ice Warriors came out of state pool play with a record of 2-1, knocking off No. 3 seeded Arvada, No. 2 Colorado Springs and No. 1 Littleton Hawks. Their loss was to Colorado Springs 2-1.

The Warriors faced Littleton in the state semifinals, beating the Hawks 2-1 for the second day in a row. Prior to the tournament, the Hawks hadn’t lost to another Colorado team all season and was ranked between No. 5 and No. 10 in the nation for PeeWee AA through the season.

For the PeeWee AA state championship, the Ice Warriors faced the Colorado Springs Junior Tigers Mar. 14 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The game ended in second overtime in a 4-on-4 format. With 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining in the period, Warriors forward Jake Dosen found defenseman Pieter Gesink alone in front of the Colorado Springs goal. Gesink one-timed the puck past the Junior Tigers’ goaltender for the game-winning goal for a 3-2 win.

The win came after a 2-0 deficit for the Ice Warriors. Dosen scored the first goal with assists to Ian Aylmer and Brandon Yi. Aylmer scored the tying goal in the second period with Dosen and Yi getting the assists.

With the title win, the Warriors travel to the PeeWee AA national championship April 7-11 in Washington, D.C., only one of 50 Colorado teams to do so this season. A total of 44 PeeWee AA teams will compete in the national tournaments. The Ice Warriors open pool play against the state champions of California, New York and Ohio.

The Warriors make a regular season home of the Family Sports Center, practice home of the Colorado Avalanche, in Centennial. Their regular season began Oct. 3 and concluded Feb. 27. The team ended the regular season with a fourth-place finish and a record of 12-6-4 behind the Littleton Hawks, Colorado Springs Junior Tigers and Arvada.

Mostly ages 12 and 13 years, the Ice Warriors team includes Aylmer, Dosen, Yi, Tanner Broschat, Cameron Bukes, Jared Duncan, Zachary Dym, Josh Fiegl, Pieter Gesink, Jack Jordan, Charlie Kiefer, Andrej Lysak, Andrew McCulley, Josh Pusar, Jackson Schoech, Jake Swenson, Joel Walker, Patrick Wicker.