Make it three in a row for the Pekin Dragons after their 4-0-win on March 16 over the McLean County Sharks for the championship in the fifth-annual AHAI Downstate High School Hockey Tournament, played at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington.

“It’s kind of surreal,” said Pekin head coach Ryan Otto. “We’re doing pretty well. We’ve had a good group of kids here the last few years. Heck, at the start of the season, we thought we had a good chance to win (the championship) again.”

The Dragons went 18-0 in the Downstate Illinois High School Hockey league, including 15-0 in the regular season. Pekin also, for the first time, traveled to a tournament in St. Louis, where they won three of four games. “It was a real good season for us,” Otto said.

In their 18 Lincoln games, the Dragons outscored their opponents 141-26.

Pekin senior captain Deitrich Miller scored what proved to be the game-winner at 9:46 of the first period, a rebound goal past Parker Brock, assisted by Owen Gruden and Zachary Highland.

The Dragons pushed it to 2-0 in the second period on the first of two goals, scored on the powerplay, by Dylan Anderson. He tallied again at 10:29 of the third period, unassisted.

“Dylan had a great year, especially for a sophomore. He is a special athlete and had two really big goals,” in the finals, Otto said.

Nathanael Blanchard scored the game’s final goal with 5:55 remaining in the third period, assisted by Lakin Flynn.

“That was a real good goal,” by Nathanael, Otto said. “He made a great defensive play at our net, then took it end to end to score. He’s a senior, so that was a special goal for him.”

Pekin peppered Brock with 38 shots. Andrew Brawner only faced 10 shots from the Sharks.

“From the beginning of the season, it felt like it would be the two of us battling for the title. They played great in the final. Brock played well; he helped keep it close,” Otto said. “When we scored that third goal, that felt like the clincher.”

Otto said Brawner, a sophomore in his first season playing for Pekin, “did a heckuva job."