The Owensboro Rampage Hockey team secured their 6th KHSHL State Championship on Sunday with a 10-5 victory over the Saint Xavier Tigers. The Edge Ice Center hosted the event, which featured 6 teams from across the state and Charleston out of West Virginia.
The Rampage entered the tournament as the 4-seed, defeating Lexington 2-1 on Friday and then upsetting the undefeated number-1 seed Charleston Chiefs 4-1 on Saturday. The program has titles from 2012, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024.
This year’s victory marks the first for head coach Chad Barber.
“It was a team effort, and everyone did their job,” Barber said. “Everyone made a play that impacted the game. We played really well, and I’m really proud of this team.”
The Rampage jumped out to an early lead, electrifying the packed house at the Edge Ice Center. There was a lot of back-and-forth in the 2nd period before Owensboro eventually pulled away. Brandon Gardner led the team in scoring with a hat trick and earned the game MVP.
“It’s a fight every year, but we put our nose down and got to work,” Barber said. “We told the guys it was now or never. In January, we told them we would be a different team come tournament time, and we have. We’ve continually got stronger the last 9 games.”
This year’s team featured Sam Holder, Gabe Dougans, Eli Howard, Hayden Hill, Nate Crang, Mac Barber, Brody Bocianoski, Trever Coomes, Dominic Corino, William Dugans, Brandon Gardner, Nicholas Gentile, Luke Gerhardt, Hudson Lanham, Ethan McPherson, Colin Miller, Payne Pence, Aiden Sheward, Cole Stranathan, Gavin Wolfe, and Connor Worth. Chad Barber was the team’s head coach, assisted by Kurt Stranathan and Brad Sheward.
Under Barber and his wife’s leadership, the team launched a hockey program for students with special needs. It came full circle as those students were cheering in the stands, along with several other community members, friends, family, and hockey alumni.
As state champions, the team will travel to Philadelphia for nationals March 20 – 23, and they’re eager to show the nation what they’re made of.
