Bishop McCort Crimson Crushers - 1994-1995-1996-1997-1999 A

MONROEVILLE - The Gateway Gators and the Franklin Regional Panthers are rivals. The players and coaches know it and their fans know it. With two points seperating each team in the PIHL East division, alot was on the line for the second half of the season. Franklin struck first as Mark Gigliotti jammed a puck on the power play past David Himes to give Frankin a 1-0 lead early in the first. Mike Roth scored again on a partial break on another power play to extend the lead to 2-0. Gateway struck back as Matt Kopaczynski scored to cut the Franklin lead on the Gator power play late in the first. On to the second and this time it was Mark Gigliotti scorching a wrist shot past Himes to regain the two goal advantage for the Panthers. Franklin had a great chance to go ahead 4-1 on the power play, but Roth was stripped of the puck by Steve Daniels, who took the heat out of the kitchen. Gateway has been tied or had the lead going to the third period in three of their last four games and was winless. This time the Gators were behind by two and coach Dennis Shannon must have given a hell of a Knute Rockne speech, because Gateway came out flying in the third. With a little less than three minutes gone, Zach Flora beat Brandon Stallard to make it 3-2. Gateway maintained the pressure but could not score and with goaltender Himes pulled, Flora fed Ken McCleary with just 1:29 remaining and McCleary beat Stallard on the stick side to tie the game. With the momentum in their favor Gateway was on a roll and it was Flora feeding McCleary again right in front who put the Panthers on ice and the Gators now led 4-3 with just :45 seconds left. Zach Flora then scored a 120 footer into an empty cage and capped off a great comeback victory for the Gators. The win put Gateway in a tie with Plum for first place.