The third time's the charm.

That was the phrase Morristown's coach and players kept repeating after their dramatic 1-0 win in the Public B ice hockey state final. After falling short in the finals the last two years, the Colonials upset Ramsey on a goal by senior Brian Begley with 33 seconds to play for their first-ever state championship.

Begley's goal off a neat drop pass from Cam Szary came after Ramsey dominated the second and third periods at the Prudential Center in Newark. But the Rams were frustrated by the Colonials' tough defense and goaltender Shane Brown.

To be sure, Morristown's "rope-a-dope" style of defense isn't always pretty. The Colonials are willing to allow shots on goal so long as Brown, their excellent junior goalie, has a clear line of vision. But it proved effective against what appeared to be more-talented teams in both the semifinals and the finals.

Brown came up big in this game, stopping all 22 shots he faced.

Ramsey netminder Tyler Harmon was huge in the first period when Morristown had the better of play; Harmon made 11 saves in that period but just 15 overall. The goal by Begley was only the second shot on net for the Colonials in the third period.

The second-seeded Rams end their season 28-3, falling short of a state title despite only allowing 24 goals in their 31 games.

Fourth seed Morristown, which struggled to score goals for most of the season and endured a particular dry spell in the middle of the campaign, ends up 16-8-4. The Colonials won four of their five state tournament games by a single goal.

For sports video highlights of this New Jersey high school state championship ice hockey game, click play in the box at left.