(Mequon) -- Hard work, good fortune, and just enough of the bounces went Milwaukee Express’ way on Sunday, as they successfully defended their tournament championship title, holding off Entech 3-2 in front of a packed house at the Ozaukee Ice Center south rink.

It was the second meeting in the tournament between the two teams, as Entech shut out Express 5-0 two days prior, sending them into the losers bracket.  An overtime thriller against Ice Shack on Saturday sent Express to the championship game, looking for some revenge.

On the very first shift, Express defenseman Dave Wiebelhaus seemed to give his team an early 1-0 lead, pinching down on the left side and beating goaltender Chris Geszvain with a shot.  The referee signaled no goal, saying the puck went off the post and out.

Later in the period, Christopher Miller took a pass from Jim Sutliffe at the offensive blue line, and fired a shot from the right circle that beat Geszvain stick-side to give the Express a 1-0 lead.

In the second period, Miller returned the favor somewhat to Sutliffe.  Miller had a shot from high in the zone saved by Geszvain, but the goalie then lost sight of the puck.  Sutliffe, in front of the crease, took a few whacks at the puck, continuing to do so after being knocked down, and his last jab at the puck went over Geszvain’s pads and into the net to extend the lead.

Mike Cebula answered for Entech, stuffing home a rebound of a Scott Knaffla shot right next to Express goalie Rodney Ravanelli, and the second period ended with Express nursing a 2-1 lead.

Express got the eventual game-winner on the first shift of the third period.  After Ryan Miller won the opening face-off back to Eric Kent, the defensemen paused while his forwards moved up ice.  Kent sent the puck back to Miller, who chipped it over to Sutliffe at the blue line on the right wing.  Sutliffe went around the defender with the puck and skated to the corner, then passed back to Miller who had found some space in the slot.  Miller’s wrist shot beat Geszvain again to his stick-side just 14 seconds into the frame, to extend the Express lead to 3-1.

Later in the period, Entech got a goal back, as one of their shots turned into a pop fly towards the net.  Express center Matt Hall tried to bat the puck out of the air and into the corner, but instead the puck deflected off his glove, changed its trajectory, and snuck into the net behind Ravanelli.

Ravanelli came up huge in the game’s final minutes, and the defenders did their best to keep the puck to the outside, and just clear the zone whenever possible, taking the icings when needed.

“Don’t even ask me about being a dynasty,” captain Miller said, anticipating my next question.  “This is beer league hockey.  Dynasties aren’t a thing.  We were a .500 team this year, but finished strong, and were fortunate to win three one-goal games in the tournament.  A bounce here, a bounce there, and we’re tipping our hats to someone else.  But everyone on the roster contributed to our success, and that is what makes this year’s win so sweet.  We’re not the most individually talented team in the league, but the sum of our parts allowed us to have success.  Fun season, great ending.”