Most saves in one game: Colorado HS goalie sets new record
Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports
A high school hockey goalie from Colorado turned in the performance of a lifetime in the state championship game, tying a national record for saves made. But it wasn’t enough to get the win.
Fort Collins junior Sam Simon stopped the first 84 shots he saw from top-seeded Valor Christian on Tuesday night. Simon’s teammates also failed to get anything past Valor Christian goalie Trey Hirschfield, as the game went to five overtimes.
Finally, with just over two minutes left in the fifth overtime period, Evan Pahos beat Simon with a nifty deke to win the championship.
Simon was nearly unbeatable in Fort Collins’s four playoff games. He saved 206 of 211 shots (a .976 save percentage), including 56 in a double-overtime quarterfinal victory, according to Fort Collins Coloradoan.
“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Simon told the Coloradoan. “It’s a save I could make all night long, I just didn’t make it. I kind of let them down a little bit.”
Simon’s 84 saves tied the national high school record set by Jamey Ramsey of Flint Northern (Mich.) in 1987. Minnesota high schooler Tony Bruns made 98 stops in a 12–0 loss in 2016 but his mark is not recognized by the National Federation of State High School Associations.