Just a few months after moving from Colorado to New Jersey to play hockey at SJR, senior Arhip Akhmedov delivered the moment he had been waiting for, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to defeat Don Bosco in the Bergen County final.

"This is always somebody's dream," said Akhmedov. 

"To score an overtime winner in such an important championship game. But it's not about that, it's all about the team with the boys."

Akhmedov's hockey journey doesn't just begin in Colorado, where he played two years of club hockey. It started in Switzerland, where he was born and raised and first learned the game at a young age.

"This is my first year here in New Jersey and at St. Joe's, and it has been awesome with this team. I love the boys. It's an awesome group, and it's not about me here; it's all about the team." said Akhmedov. 

"Arhip is a great kid," said Coach Juneau.

"He's been a pleasure to work with and be around. He's mature, he knows how to act, and he is just a smart hockey player. I'm seeing his confidence grow the more he adjusts to the high school game."

The game started just the way the Green Knights were hoping for. Junior Jason Juneau connected with the back of the net and put SJR up 1-0 early in the first period.

"I felt like it was pretty important to score early," said Coach Juneau.

"Getting out and scoring early for our confidence was definitely better for sure."

Things remained silent for both teams until 7:09 into the second period, when Don Bosco's Niko Pappachristou evened the score at one a piece with over 22 minutes to play in regulation.

With the game even at one, the Green Knights needed a big third period to lock down the win and defeat their longtime rival. However, the team struggled to find the net on office. Instead, the Green Knights had a strong period defensively with goalie Gabe Florios stopping 7 shots in net to keep the game tied at one.

"We knew what we had to do," said goalie Gabe Florio.

"We played them twice, and we knew how they were going to come out, and we just had to match that, and you bet on that, and that's what we did."

Despite the strong defensive effort, neither team could find the game-winner in regulation, so the county final went into overtime with the stakes as high as they could be.

After the Ironmen dominated the possession time for most of overtime, the Green Knights found an opening and thats when senior Arhip Akhmedov notched the county title-clinching goal.

"I walked in, and I thought he poked it out of my hand, and they had a breakaway on the other side, and we were going to get scored on, but I got lucky, pulled it out, and just sniped the top corner," said Akhmedov.

The win came with a little extra motivation after the Green Knights had dropped the first two meetings of the regular season against the Ironmen. The team knew this was the one they wanted, as the Green Knights earned the Bergen County title for a second consecutive season.

"I think if we played Don Bosco 100 times this year, it would have been 50 to 50," said Coach Juneau.

"But we played patiently; they were on us early, which was a little bit different than last week, where we outplayed them heavily. We were opportunistic, we played really good team defense, and everyone just fought towards the end."\

The Green Knights now have their eyes set on a bigger prize, as Gordon Cup and state playoffs are on the horizon.

"You don't win anything in December, you don't win anything in January, this is a fantastic accomplishment, but we want to win a state championship," said Coach Juneau.

"We need to get our head back down, be humble, and try to win the next game going forward, that's where it comes down to."

Next up, SJR faces Delbarton at Sportscare on Tuesday, January 27th, at 4:40 in Gordon Conference play.