Jesuit Dallas punched its ticket to the 2020 US Hockey National Tournament, defeating Allen in the final game of a three-game series to secure the sixth Texas Amateur Hockey Association (TAHA) State Championship in program history on Jan. 26 at the Valley Ranch StarCenter. Jesuit took an early lead in the Division I Pure Tournament series with a 5-3 win in game one on Friday, but a 7-3 win by Allen on Saturday night forced a decisive game three, which saw the Blue and Gold best Allen, 6-1, to punch its ticket to the national tournament.
 
Game One – Jan. 24, 2020
 
Senior Chase Phillips and junior James McCown scored two goals apiece and sophomore Santiago Diaz tacked on a goal as Jesuit used four unanswered goals to capture game one from Allen. The Rangers were able to kill six Allen penalties in the game and, despite being outshot, 40-31, carried a three-goal lead into the third to capture the decisive victory. Senior goalkeeper Jack Rahlfs made 37 saves for the victory.
 
Allen scored the first goal of the game on a shorthanded opportunity, but Jesuit scored a power play goal with 6:57 left in the period as Phillips ripped the net off of assists by sophomores Alec Rahlfs and Jack Sweda. Phillips would score again two minutes into the second before McCown scored at the 13:38 mark unassisted for a two-goal lead.
 
Diaz scored off a feed from sophomore Nick Boss shorthanded to push the Rangers up three. In would score two unanswered goals to cut the Jesuit lead to one goal with 13:42 remaining in regulation, but the Ranger defense kept Allen away from senior netminder Jack Rahlfs before McCown scored a short-handed, empty net goal with 32 seconds left to clinch the win for Jesuit.
 
Game Two – Jan. 25, 2020
 
The Rangers scored the first goal as junior Chase Neel lit the lamp with 12:21 remaining in the first, but Allen came roaring back with four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead early in the second.
 
Sophomore Jack Sweda scored with 11:01 remaining in the second to cut the lead to two goals before securing a turnover at mid-ice and scoring on the breakaway to bring Jesuit to within one early in the third. However, Allen scored three unanswered goals down the stretch to derail the Jesuit comeback attempt.
 
Game Three – Jan. 26, 2020
 
Rahlfs starred in game three, racking up 41 saves in a complete game effort. The senior made 20 saves in the second period, keeping Allen off the scoreboard while the Rangers built a four-goal lead.
 
A quick turnaround challenged the two teams early in the first as neither team scored over the first nine minutes of the opening period. Diaz opened the scoring unassisted before adding his second goal of the game off passes from Neel and Phillips to give Jesuit a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
 
Sophomore Charlie Cohen scored to keep the Rangers rolling at the midway point of the second, and Phillips scored off the faceoff to give Jesuit a dominant, 4-0 lead with 6:10 remaining in the period. Allen finally stopped Jesuit's scoring run with 50 seconds left before the second intermission, but tallies by Diaz and McCown in the third period put the punctuation mark on the state title.
 
Jesuit's second straight TAHA State Championship additionally marks the second straight year that the Rangers have bested the Eagles in the state tournament. Last year, Jesuit swept the Eagles to score its first state title since 2015, clinching the championship with a 4-2 win on Jan. 26. Diaz finished as the team's leading scorer with four goals and three assists while Rahlfs played every minute in goal and closed the tournament with 112 saves and a 91.1 save percentage.
 
The Rangers will advance to battle the nation's best teams at the 2020 US Hockey National Tournament, set to take place from Mar. 26-30 in Mansfield, Texas.