Gloves, helmets and sticks went flying into the air.

Not far from where the puck was deposited into the back of the net, the Sun Prairie players had formed a hogpile. Arms were raised and yelling echoed throughout the Dane County Coliseum.

It was a celebration unlike any other for boys hockey players in the Sun Prairie program. The Cardinals had just captured their first state title in the 1996-97 season in a come-from-behind overtime; the 13 seniors, six juniors and three sophomores couldn’t hold in their excitement any longer.

“We really didn’t know what to do ourselves, because we’d never won the state championship before,” said Nick Hanrahan, who was a senior forward on the squad. “We just kind of yelled and screamed.”