Source:  USAHockey.Com
 

SPRINGFIELD, Va. — On Thursday, Steel City Selects (PA) took down the Philadelphia Little Flyers (PA) 4-1 in pool play. 

Three days later, the teams met again at the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 16U National Championships. This time, with the 1A title on the line, the Flyers were in full control and won 3-0. 

Flyers head coach Grace Klienbach was especially pleased with how the team responded after they lost the first time. 

“After that loss, we knew it wasn’t our best game,” she said. “We didn’t hit them with our best and it was now redemption time and I could not be any prouder of this team and what they did.”

After losing to Steel City, the Flyers won three straight games to set up a rematch with the Selects in the final, one that Klienbach says the team desperately wanted. 

Emily Sullivan helped the Flyers get off to a scorching start, as she scored two goals in the first period. 

“It’s awesome. We played them earlier in the season and the real Flyers and Penguins have a great rivalry and it’s great to beat this team,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t really think much about us going up 2-0 early, I just kept my head down and kept working and we got it done.”

For the Selects, no matter how much they tried to get past Flyers goalie Chloe Kim, she refused to let her guard down. Kim credits the coaching staff for helping her stand tall even after the early loss in the tournament. 

After a scoreless second period, Philadelphia’s Darby Tisdel capped the scoring with an empty netter. 

Steel City had a great chance to score with just over seven minutes left in the second period on a breakaway by Isabel King, and later in the second period during a three-on-one break, but each time, the puck ricocheted off the glove of Kim. 

Darby Tisdel capped the scoring when she scored on an empty net with two minutes to go. 

The result was almost a complete inverse of Thursday’s game, but today’s game doesn’t change how Steel City coach Jeff Tindall feels about his team’s journey this season. 

“With this group, the way they worked hard all season,” Tindall said, “the message is that they were better than us today, but we did everything we could, and we put together a heck of a run to end the season.”

The Flyers already have planned their celebration, but with tryouts coming up for next season and a few players exchanging their uniforms for the next league, there’s not too much time to rest on their laurels. 

Klienbach’s team will always hold on to the memories, though, and they now have the hats, shirts, banner and title of national champions.