Above, head coach Jay Bishop and coach Jeff Meredith, right, offer guidance to the Steelers during their game Saturday evening against Levittown. Below, Zach Korzeniewski, 56, is congratulated by Brandon Prentiss, left, Nolan Mages, right and Michael Persch on his goal against Levittown.

Ten years ago, Dunkirk-Fredonia coach Jay Bishop set out to make high school hockey in Northern Chautauqua County something athletes wanted to be a part of.

Following this past weekend’s remarkable run to their second consecutive state title — and only two state titles in the program’s history — it is safe to say Bishop accomplished that goal.

“Our goal when we started this 10 years ago was to make high school hockey the pinnacle of success,” he said. “We wanted kids to aspire to play high school hockey. I can’t imagine this isn’t something kids want to play and be a part of.”

Not only are players buying into the goal, but during Sunday’s 2-1 championship win over the Iroquois Chiefs, the community bought into the program as well. With the tournament being held in Long Island, Team Manager Shannon Thompson recorded a Facebook Live video of the final eight minutes of the game with more than 170 viewers watching the action.

“You don’t realize all this stuff until you’re in your hotel room and trying to recoup,” Bishop said. “I had all these text messages and phone calls to respond to. Then I saw (the Facebook video) and it was unbelievable the amount of support we got for he team. That webcast was such a hit.”

The championship game was sweet redemption for the Steelers. It is the same Iroquois team Dunkirk-Fredonia knows all too well.

Consider the following:

¯ Iroquois knocked the Steelers out of Super Sunday last year, winning the best-of-3 semifinal series.

¯ Dunkirk-Fredonia got its revenge, beating Iroquios two weeks later in the state championship game at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena.

¯ Iroquois defeated Dunkirk-Fredonia three times in the regular season.

¯ Iroquois handled Dunkirk-Fredonia just last week at Super Sunday, 6-1.

¯ Dunkirk-Fredonia got their revenge once again, holding on for the 2-1 win Sunday and its second-straight state title.

During Super Sunday last week, Steelers goalie Nick Novelli was pulled in the second period after giving up five goals.

But Sunday, in the title game, the sophomore goalie redeemed himself, playing the best game of his young varsity career, making 36 saves.

“I was just so happy for Nick,” Bishop said. “He stood on his head in the championship game. I knew to be successful, he had to play the game of his life and he did exactly that. He made some great saves. He was calm, he was cool and he was collected. He brought his A game and was the backbone of our defense.”

While Novelli was the hero in the championship game, it was unsung hero Ryan Thompson who propelled the Steelers into the title game with his three-goal effort in the semifinals against Friends Academy.

The final goal came in overtime to give Dunkirk-Fredonia the 5-4 victory.

“He is a big, strong kid,” Bishop said of Thompson. “He is hard to move. When he goes into the corner, he gets the puck. His play in front of the net drives goalies crazy. He is so difficult to move out of the goal crease.”

With a few hours before the championship game, the Steelers knew they had a chance at revenge against the Chiefs, but the fact Iroquois had won all four meetings this year, including the Super Sunday drubbing, it could be easy for the Steelers to be skeptical of their chances in the title game.

Even following the Super Sunday loss, Bishop was clearly dejected in his team’s performance and wondered how they would respond with the state tournament less than a week away.

“I give this team a lot of credit,” he said. “They are more resilient than I am. I was still trying to recover from that Super Sunday loss. In hockey, you have to forget about yesterday. The kids did a great job. They put that loss away. We knew the season wasn’t over. We had a good practice the next night. We had a nice team-bonding moment. We said the season wasn’t over. We regrouped with renewed enthusiasm and went to work Friday (at states).”

And thanks to goals from Thompson and Nick Pchelka in the title game, the Steelers repeated as state champions.

It was also the final game for nine seniors in Taylor Mattoon, Dawson Rafan, Cole Tippens, Austin Lewis, Chris Michalski, Christian Michalski, Ryan Thompson, Mike Meredith and Christopher Buchanan.

“What a great group of character seniors,” Bishop raved. “They will do great things with their lives. I can’t wait to hear their stories and we can reminisce about our state championships. They provided veteran leadership. They know they finished their high school hockey career on the pinnacle of success. I hope that carries through the rest of their lives.”

After the championship trophy was awarded and the celebration was drawing to an end, Bishop took the whiteboard he has used for his 25 years of coaching — 10 on the varsity level — and had each player sign it since it will not be used again as Bishop is stepping down as head coach of the high school hockey team.

It’s a coaching career that included a 132-69-20 record and four Division championships, two Western New York Club Hockey Super Sunday appearances, two trips to the state tournament and memories to last a lifetime.

“You couldn’t ask for a better ending to my coaching career,” Bishop said, noting the help he had along the way in assistant coaches Jeff Meredith, Mark Taylor, Keith Mages and Ron Rybak. “I never dreamed we would win back-to-back state championships. I couldn’t be prouder for the players, parents, hockey organization and the community. I know how hard it is to win one. For me to go out with a win like that is a storybook ending to an enjoyable career. I am happy to be part of Dunkirk-Fredonia hockey and the NCCYHA.”