NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — If high school hockey fans across the state are lucky, Sunday’s Pete Frates Classic championship game between Springfield Cathedral and BC High will be a preview of a great playoff matchup in March at the TD Garden.

“Absolutely,” said Cathedral coach Brian Foley when asked if he thought his team might see BC High again in the postseason. “They’re going to be there. They’re a really talented team. Hopefully we’re both there.”

Players, coaches, referees, fans, scouts and members of the media all seemed to be in unanimous agreement that it was a terrific high school hockey game. The top two teams in the state battled toe-for-toe to a 2-2 draw at Merrimack’s Lawler Rink.

“It was a great environment, a great tournament. Both coaches feel good about it. It was a really fun game,” said Foley. “It was two very even teams. We outplayed them at times. They outplayed us at times. It was back and forth. Both teams just went at each other. No one was trapping. It was just a good wide open hockey game.”

“It’s great that it’s a tie. That game deserved to be a tie. It was exciting to watch. Our boys enjoyed playing in it. I’m proud of my guys,” concurred BC High coach John Flaherty.

Fittingly the game will go in the books as a 2-2 tie, but Cathedral was able to capture the trophy with a shootout victory. UMass commit John Leonard was the only player to sneak the puck into the back of the net in the three-man shootout following a scoreless four-on-four overtime.

“He’s an elite goal-scorer,” Foley said. “He sees the net. A lot of guys see the goalie, but he sees the net. Everyone on the bench knew he was going five-hole in that shootout. He waited, got the goalie’s legs open and slid it in.”

The intensity was apparent from the get-go as both teams came out flying, hitting hard and skating with purpose. It was easy to see that players on each side really enjoyed competing for a trophy in a regular season game.

“I love playing these guys,” said Cathedral senior captain Peter Crinella, a Holy Cross commit. “They’re always one of the top teams in the state. Given the circumstances, being the championship game, it’s always a fun game to play in.”

Crinella drew first blood as he put the Panthers up 1-0 with 1:40 to play in the opening period. With precision timing he skated right past the goal mouth in stride to tip home a low point shot from defenseman Cam Griffin.

“I made a little eye contact with Cam Griffin. He made a great, low, hard shot. We work on that a lot in practice – getting in front and getting in those dirty areas. I had my stick in the right place at the right time,” said Crinella.

The Eagles knotted the score at one just more than five minutes into the second period. Merrimack recruit Pat Kramer, playing in his future home rink, scored the goal after receiving a really pretty pass from defenseman Jayson Dobay at the blue line. Kramer skated in from the left side and patiently waited for Cathedral goaltender Keith Petruzzelli to go down. Once Kramer had the goaltender down he took two more strides before backhanding it into the empty net.

“It’s Pat’s rink – this is where he’s going to be for the next four years,” Flaherty said. “That’s what Pat Kramer is capable of doing. He’s a big game player. You saw him do some things that are indicative of the college hockey player he’s going to be.”

Cathedral regained the lead with 6:26 to play in the middle frame. Leonard showed off his shooting accuracy with an absolute snipe from the left wall. He sent a laser into the top far corner of the net beating the outstretched glove of BC High goaltender Brandon Payzant.

BC High didn’t crumble and came out flying to start the third period.

It only took 43 seconds for the Eagles to even the score. The goal came after a furious scramble that saw the Eagles hit the post and then barely keep the puck in the zone. After receiving the puck from Christian Simeone down low Kramer skated out and sent a pass right to the stick of Jack Nisbet, who wasted no time depositing the puck into the back of the net.

With BC High charging, Petruzzelli stood tall. He stopped Ian Murphy on a partial breakaway with just over six minutes to go in regulation then fended off a huge flurry just a few minutes after that.

“It’s tough to rattle Keith, he’s so tough mentally,” Foley said. “He expects to save every shot. They had some nice goals. He’s a great goalie. He really picks us up when we break down.”

Despite not having the same physical stature or fanfare, Payzant had his own shining moments. He stoned Riley Prattson in each of the first two periods on two-on-ones and then made a gigantic save on a Leonard shot from the high slot in overtime.

It was the first annual tournament to benefit the Pete Frates #3 Fund.

This past summer the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge went viral on the internet after a few of Frates’ friends looked for a way to help the former St. John’s Prep and Boston College baseball star who is battling the awful disease. The cause of the tournament was not lost on the participants.

“It’s a great cause. I was watching the Patriots before we got on the road today. Seeing [Frates] at the game was really cool,” said Foley.

All-Tournament Team:

Forward: Patrick Kramer, Sr., BC High

Forward: D.J. Petruzzelli, Sr., Springfield Cathedral

Forward: Kyle Hentosh, Soph., St. John’s Prep

Defense: Ryan Shea, Jr., BC High

Defense: Bryce Peritz, Sr., Springfield Cathedral

Goaltender: Keith Petruzzelli, Soph., Springfield Cathedral

MVP: Keith Petruzzelli