Fairview Tigers - 1977 - 1981 - 1982 AA

KITTANNING - QV coach Kevin Quinn knew the importance of his teams regular season finale loss to Quigley, which handed Freeport home ice in the second round. If he didn't, when he walked into the Belmont Complex and saw the capacity crowd on hand, it probably hit home. Freeport was riding a remarkable 13 game winning streak into the second round and coach Jim Hill's team was fired up for its opportunity as it took to the ice. Derek Gaworski, who has been the Yellow Jackets workhorse all year was between the pipes and Jed Michael, a surprise choice in goal for the Quakers over Nick Signet, who has handled a majority of the work for the Quakers. The Yellow Jackets came out flying in the first and Nick DeCroo chipped the puck off the boards and created a 2 on 1 and took the puck to the net and beat Michael at 11:39 to give Freeport a 1-0 lead. Then the Yellow Jackets went on the power play at 9:32 and again it was Decroo positioned between the circles, who made a beautiful tip of a Ryan Janoski shot at 8:16 and it was 2-0. The Jackets extended the lead with just :38 seconds left in the opening period as Mike Bender took a great feed from Dustin Gaworski and buried it to make it 3-0 Freeport. In the second, Quaker gain some momentum and an edge in play, which resulted in an Adam Kostial power play goal at 10:03 to get QV back into the game. Then Kostial found Sam Herring on the breakaway at 3:41 and he scored to cut the lead to 3-2. QV was back in the game and outplayed the Yellow Jackets in the period and gained a 14-7 advantage in shots for the period. On to the final period of regulation and with the game in the balance, Bender found DeCroo and the freshman sensation blistered a wrist shot past Michael towards the end of a power play at 10:04 and a huge two goal lead. Then Dustin Gaworski picked off a Michael clearing attempt just a minute and a half later and deposited the puck into an empty net to make it 5-2. Tom Christy added an empty netter to make the final 6-2 and the Freeport Yellow Jackets will move on to the Penguin Cup Semi Finals next Monday for the first time in its history.