“We were in a good spot coming into this game because we knew that Churchill was going to underestimate us,” said senior Whitman forward Andrew Fou. “We all were expecting them to start off slow, so we wanted to take advantage of that and I feel like we did it perfectly.”

Fou and the rest of the Vikings’ top line came out aggressive, keeping the puck in the Bulldogs’ zone for much of the first period, forcing them to play a reactionary style of defense that disarmed their typical scoring potency.

It wasn’t until a power play near the end of the opening period that Churchill was able to shift the pressure away from its side of the ice. The period remained scoreless, in marked contrast to when the Bulldogs notched three quick goals to start the game in the teams’ last meeting.

That game, a 6-2 Churchill win in October, helped establish the Bulldogs atop the Montgomery County rankings in the Maryland Student Hockey League. A perennial title contender, Churchill (9-1-2) remained on top all season, falling only to defending MSHL champions Walter Johnson. But for the rematch, Whitman (6-4-1) was ready to capitalize on being underestimated.

The Vikings’ gritty push toward the net finally paid off in the second period when a brief scramble in front of the net gave Fou the chance to put the puck in for an early lead.

“We kind of had a quick two on one right in front of the net, and I saw that the defenseman was just playing the player,” Fou said. “I was like, ‘Screw it, I’m going to shoot this.’”

Tensions rose as Whitman became noticeably gassed in the third period, leading Churchill to turn up the heat. A fight between Churchill’s Dalton Esko-Himmelfarb and Whitman’s Trevor Fay behind the Bulldogs’ net resulted in matching minor penalties.

With less than four minutes left in the game and the Bulldogs growing increasingly desperate, senior forward Asher Wang fired a high shot toward the right of Whitman’s net. The puck tipped off Vikings goaltender Ryan Graf’s glove and bounced in for the tying goal.

Five minutes of overtime wasn’t enough to settle the draw, thanks in large part to several crucial saves in the final seconds by Churchill goalie Cameron Shure. The result left the Bulldogs disappointed, though still atop the league standings, and Whitman confident heading into the postseason that it was able to hang with the best.

“We have an impressive history, but it just tells us we don’t have a guarantee and we have to work harder,” Wang said. “ … We weren’t expecting that kind of type of competition. We were just expecting a much easier game.”