Senior Dylan Pudrycki saw the puck as it was heading out of the attacking zone Tuesday night in Winnetka, so the New Trier White forward slapped the puck from the left side, near the blue line.

            “I was just trying to dump the puck in (the zone); I slap-shotted it in (toward the net) and it went in,” he said.

            Pudrycki’s tally with 6:52 remaining in the third period gave the Trevians a two-goal lead and they hung on to defeat Loyola Maroon 5-4 and win the first-ever Academic Hockey League (AHL) Championship.

            Moments after the Trevians celebrated the win to end their season, Pudrycki acknowledged that it may have been “the best goal of my career, even though it wasn’t the nicest,” he said. “But it was the most memorable.”

            Pudrycki, who had 3 goals and 7 assists in White’s 20-game AHL season, said he “didn’t even realize at first that it went in, then I saw everyone cheering.”

            Pudrycki also scored unassisted at 9:08 of the second period.

            “I saw that the far side was open, so I just shot it there,” he said of his first goal.

            “It was a great game and I’m pretty lucky to score (twice) in my last-ever game.”

            White head coach Jeremy Ellis tagged Pudrycki as “a quiet kid who never makes mistakes.”

Ellis added, “I can always count on him. He makes awesome plays and makes his teammates better. I’m super proud that he got to go out with a win.”

The Trevians celebrated the win, which gave New Trier a 3-2 season series edge over the Ramblers.

“I thought it was a great game; Loyola is a tough team. They battled hard; they didn’t give up at all. They fought all the way to the end,” Ellis said. “Not a lot of teams get to end their season with a win, but we were one of them. I’m really proud of my guys.”

The Trevians struck early as Isaac Solomon scored :30 seconds into the game, assisted by Jack Andrus and Dane Lohmeier.

The Ramblers answered about five minutes later on a tying goal from Andrew Bleser, Jr., assisted by Gavin Hartnett. And Loyola went ahead 2-1 with 6:33 remaining in the opening period on a goal from Nicholas Thomas off a centering pass from James McShane.

Defenseman Jack Andrus tied the game, 2-2, less than two minutes into the second period off an assist from Kai Bandari.

“We’re used to adversity, especially early in games,” said Loyola Maroon head coach Aidan Finegan, in his first season as head coach. “It was a really good season for our guys. They gave it their all out there; I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

The Trevians went up 4-2 with 1:16 remaining in the second period on a Lohmeier goal that trickled past Loyola goalie Ben Srichandra.

Loyola cut it to a one-goal game, 4-3, early in the third period during a 5-on-3 man-advantage. Defenseman Giovanni Anemone scored from the right side, assisted by Bleser.

The Ramblers cut New Trier’s 5-3 lead to 5-4 with 2:40 remaining on Thomas’ second goal of the game, but that’s as close as Loyola got.

“It was tough that we couldn’t get that (tying) goal in the last minute,” Finegan said.

Ellis praised the Trevians’ play during the penalty kill. “Special teams really proved to be a difference,” he said.

Ellis added, “Winning the first-ever AHL Championship is special to me, and to win it over Loyola makes it that much sweeter.

“This victory ranks super high (of all my wins), right up there with (any) wins here at New Trier.