WEST GOSHEN— For the first time in a long time, North Penn was presented with a puzzle it could not solve. The Knights’ bid for a second consecutive Class AA state title fell short Saturday afternoon at the hands of Penn-Trafford by a margin of 3-1 at Ice Line.

A capacity crowd witnessed a final contested at an elite level.

“Hats off to them,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. They’re a good hockey team. Their goalie played outstanding. I’m proud of our guys.”

The Knights took the ice minus leading scorer Samuel Norton who was serving a suspension.

“It obviously hurt some things not having Sam out there,” Vaitis said. “He’s such a huge part of our team.

“We can all play the ‘What if’ scenarios with things like that, but I’m proud of the guys and how hard we worked.”

Hockey coaches talk a lot about games between evenly matched teams being decided a freak bounce here or there. The Warriors (20-7) scored the first goal of the game with the help of a bounce that was to say the least, out of the realm of the ordinary.

 With just under seven minutes left in the opening period, the Warriors’ Zach Grkman launched a shot on goal from the center of the ice, just as he crossed the red line. The puck slid along the ice until it reached a point roughly midway between the faceoff circle hash marks when it abruptly sailed high in the air and over the shoulder of North Penn goaltender Andy Norton.

With 6:32 left in the opening session, Penn-Trafford had a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors extended their lead 7:51 into the third period. Liam Lehneke launched a shot from the right point that caromed off the end wall to Norton’s left, Norton however lost track of the puck which was lying behind his left pad when Brock Bienemann tucked it inside the post.

North Penn (25-2) kept battling and with 61 seconds left in regulation, North on the bench and an extra attacker on the ice, Nolan Shingle was able to get the best of Penn-Trafford netminder Tyler Funk.

But Ben Zierski brought the curtain down on the affair with an empty net goal with six seconds remaining, a goal that coincidentally brought down the curtain on one of the most remarkable seasons and certainly the most remarkable two-year stretch in the 50-year history of the North Penn hockey program.

“When you look at North Penn and the history we’ve had, nobody can attest to what these guys have accomplished,” Vaitis said. “I’m proud of them.

“The loss} hurts, it stings but time will allow us to heal together and we won’t forget the ride we had the last two years. We had a remarkable ride and for the guys coming back, we’re going to have a really good hockey team next year.

“We’ll take some time to heal and get over this, and start to get ready for next year.”

• In Saturday’s other two state championship games, Quaker Valley defeated Hershey 6-2 for the Class A title, while Seneca Valley bested Holy Ghost Prep 7-2 in Class AAA.

Penn-Trafford 1 0 2—3

North Penn 0 0 1—1

First-period goal; Zach Grkman (PT) from Nico Castelli, 10:28

Third-period goals: Brock Bienemann (PT) from Liam Lehneke, 7:51; Nolan Shingle (NP) from Gabe Dunn and Chris Silvotti, 15:59; Ben Zierski (PT) unassited,16:54 (en)

Shots: Penn-Trafford 39, Holy Ghost Prep 33; Saves: Tyler Funk (PT) 32, Andy Norton (NP) 36

Penn-Trafford 1 0 2—3

North Penn 0 0 1—1

First-period goal; Zach Grkman (PT) from Nico Castelli, 10:28

Third-period goals: Brock Bienemann (PT) from Liam Lehneke, 7:51; Nolan Shingle (NP) from Gabe Dunn and Chris Silvotti, 15:59; Ben Zierski (PT) unassited,16:54 (en)

Shots: Penn-Trafford 39, North Penn 33; Saves: Tyler Funk (PT) 32, Andy Norton (NP) 36