JAMESTOWN – Success can be a wonderful motivator.

So can failure.

The Jamestown Raiders have experienced doses of both over the past two years.

Past disappointments can now be put in the rear-view mirror after the Raiders used a two-goal second period to take command en route to a 6-2 victory over Lancaster in the New York State High School Club Hockey League Large School championship game Monday at Northwest Arena.

“This was a long time coming for these guys,” Jamestown head coach Jimmy Bergman said. “It is well-deserved for every one of them.”

“It never gets old. It’s an unbelievable feeling. It’s hard to describe right now with everybody here, the fans, all the friends and family, and most importantly my teammates and brothers,” added captain Jack Brinkley, who won a state title two years ago as a sophomore. ” … We’ll have this state championship forever. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Sophomore Alex MacCallum was named the Most Valuable Player of the game after scoring a pair of goals with an assist for Jamestown.

“He’s kind of a quiet guy in the locker room and on the ice, but tonight he stood up and put two home. I’m more than happy for him,” Brinkley said of MacCallum. “When I was a sophomore, I was nervous as heck. He’s calm, cool and collected. He deserved it.”

Junior Cooper Bergman added a pair of goals while fellow juniors Tristan Spillane and Jackob Guimond also scored for the Raiders, whose title two years ago was also won at Northwest Arena.

“It’s all a team effort. We don’t have a superstar,” Coach Bergman said. “It takes every line, every defenseman, every person out there to hold it together.”

Brinkley and sophomore Jed Hirliman each had a pair of assists while juniors Declan Brown, Evan Christensen and Guimond also had helpers in the victory.

“Brink really turned it on, especially in the state tournament,” Bergman added. ” … He’s a captain of the team and he’s been here before. His leadership and his play really stepped up and the boys followed suit.”

MacCallum opened the scoring when he deflected in Brinkley’s shot on the power play with 54 seconds left in the first period.

“Alex is a smart player,” Coach Bergman said of MacCallum. ” … He sees the ice well.”

Jamestown went up 2-0 with 12:51 left in the second period as MacCallum sprung Brinkley in on net. The Southwestern senior drove the net and was stopped by Legends goaltender Noah Kuras, but Guimond put home the rebound much to the delight of a couple hundred area students sitting in the seats behind the goal.

“I knew we had a big roster with great talent,” Coach Bergman said, “we just had to put it all together.”

Lancaster got back within a goal with 5:11 remaining in the period as Devin Clemons found the back of the net to give the Legends life.

Bergman made it 3-1 later in the period as he took a cross-ice pass from Hirliman and beat Kuras high to his glove side.

“To get that third goal is huge,” Coach Bergman said. “We kept rolling off of that.”

In the third period, Kuras left a rebound in the slot off Chrisensen’s hard glove-side shot and Spillane cashed it in for a 4-1 lead. Bergman’s second goal of the game made it 5-1 and MacCallum’s second made it 6-1 with 7:45 left.

“I have to give kudos to him. Being his dad and a coach, I’m definitely a little harder on him,” Coach Bergman said of his son, Cooper. “He understands that and he understands his role. He’s trying to step up to that next level and be a leader himself.”

With the Raiders already in pre-celebration mode, Lancaster’s Jared Voelker scored, but that did nothing to put a damper on the spirits of the large crowd in attendance who watched senior Cooper Spielman jump into the waiting arms of junior goaltender Jack Yost as time expired before the entire team piled on top.

“Watching them come into the locker rooms early, their attitudes and the way they were talking to each other with a sparkle in their eyes,” Coach Bergman said, “I told the coaches it looked good.”

Lancaster advanced to the final with a 6-3 win over East Aurora/Holland, a game that the Legends led 5-0 early in the second period.

“I thought for sure we’d be playing East Aurora/Holland in the final,” Coach Bergman said. “I was kind of shocked to see it, but Lancaster the last month has been rolling. They proved it this weekend, going through the state tournament.”

Brinkley was a sophomore on the 2018 championship team, but many of the other Raiders had lost jayvee championship games in each of the past two seasons.

Now the memories of Monday’s win will undoubtedly overshadow those of any losses.

“It kind of started back in modified. We were really nobody then, but we got an identity,” Coach Bergman said. ” … We got a big tournament win and they realized we were a force to be reckoned with.

“We were just missing this one,” Bergman added. “The big one.”

NOTES: Jamestown advanced to the final with a 6-4 win over Syosset in the morning. Bergman, Luke Tota, Michael Gerace, Jed Hirliman, Spillane and Brown had goals while Guimond, Brendan Hirliman, Jed Hirliman, Spillane, Christensen, Evan Bishop, Brown, Zach Padd and Spielman had assists. … In Lancaster’s semifinal win, Clemons, Frank Souter, Cody Yaeger, Bryan Schuman, Ryan Len and Jacob Bull each scored a goal.