January 31st, 2026. Saturday night after the 16U Allegheny Badgers played a game at Belmont, they defeated the Armstrong Arrows 3-0 behind a strong performance in net from Andrew Weir. 

I reached out to Badgers Head Coach, Justin Brown, after the game to get his thoughts on the goaltending but he ended up giving me a little more. At the end of our conversation he said “I believe this team has what it takes to win a National Championship.” I didn’t doubt a single word in there that he meant that. 

Fast forward to March 1st, MidAm Championship game, Badgers vs Vengeance. As the final seconds tick down and the kids storm the ice, the Badgers edged out the Vengeance 5-4 to secure a trip to Nationals out in California. The star of that game? Goaltending, once again. This time a different face, Ty Funk. Funk stopped 51/54 shots he faced, standing on his head for some of them. 

I caught up with Coach Brown, once again and he had a strong message to share 

            “Gathering as a family between the second and third period of the championship game, the message was very clear for me. We’ve been here. Period. Vengeance hasn’t. We went into every intermission tied, in the course of our three games.  My assistant coaches and I talked in the hallway and agreed that if we were going to play a 17 minute period for the state title we had the better scorers and for sure better goalie. That was the message. Keep it simple and safe, bury opportunities when they present themselves. We trusted each other all weekend and in the third period we executed our game plan. Tyler Funk was spectacular in our net. Tyler deserves a mountain of credit but in the end it was a group effort of fully bought in badgers that saw the mission though. I could not be more proud of my team! Preparing for nationals is very similar to preparing for the mid am tournament or any other prestigious event. Mental preparedness is huge, understanding how to maintain energy as well as be patient is the difference between highly ranked teams and winning teams. We will practice and play some games. Staying close as a group and keeping the positivity moving forward is a key component as well. Again I am so proud of my guys and I can’t wait for the competition that awaits us!”

I couldn’t decide what to pull from that and then I remembered, Coach wanted that very, whole, specific message delivered. No holds barred. This is a team led by spectacular goaltending, no matter who’s in net, tight knit team play up and down all the lines, and a head coach that truly cares about his team. 

The Badgers will play: Team South Dakota on March 25th at 1:15 PM PST, Boston Jr. Huskies at 7:00PM PST on March 26th, and conclude group play against the Naperville Sabres at 11:00 AM PST on March 27th. 

The Vengeance also received an at large bid to Nationals and will be down there competing as well. I will follow along and report as best I can, good luck to the coaches and the teams.