The heartbreak of losing one of the most exciting postseason games in recent memory has officially begun to heal for the Hill-Murray Pioneers.

An overtime loss to Stillwater in the 2016 Class AA, Section 4 finals was avenged on Friday night, as Hill-Murray downed the Ponies 6-3 at St. Paul’s Aldrich Ice Arena.

For Hill-Murray senior forward Brock Bremer, the postgame celebration offered a brief respite from the pain caused by his kamikaze style of play.

“You can’t feel pain right now,” Bremer beamed as his teammates milled about the ice.

As for the crashing and banging for 51 minutes, Bremer says that’s just the way the Pioneers handle business.

“We try to play the game the same every night,” Bremer said. “We don’t try to play different for different opponents, Bremer continued.

That consistency allowed the Pioneers to wear down the high-flying Ponies, taking a 3-2 lead into the third period on goals from Bremer, Will Sonntag and Kyler Yeo.

Noah Cates and Luke Manning tallied goals for the Ponies (24-5) in the first and second periods respectively.

“We didn’t think it would be this high-scoring, but timely goals by us (helped) put them away,” Hill-Murray goaltender Jake Begley said after the game.

Thomas Bruchu tied the game at 3-3 in the first two minutes of the third period before Joseph Quast banged in the eventual game-winner for the Pioneers at the 10:36 mark of the final frame.

Sonntag and Ben Helgeson added empty-net goals to ice the game for the Pioneers (19-5-4)

Hill-Murray head coach Bill Lechner said that the program’s rich history played a key role in his team’s inspired performance.

“(We have) thirty, forty years of tradition,” Lechner said, adding that there’s a certain pride felt in donning the black green and white. “These guys know when they put on the jersey there’s a pile of guys that are playing in the NHL and college that wore those jerseys. They want to make them proud.”

Begley is one of two netminders (along with Hermantown’s Cade McEwen) nominated for the Frank Brimsek award, which goes annually to the top senior goalie in the state.

After Begley made 24 spectacular saves in the win, Bremer summarized his meaning to the team in few words.

“There’s nothing to say, except he’s the best goalie in the state.”