Seneca Valley Raiders

DELMONT ~ The Plum Mustangs have had just plain and simple a horrible second half of the year. After starting off the year at 8-0-0, the Mustangs have gone a less than stellar 6-8-1 ever since and look to be a team heading south as the playoffs begin. With Travis Senchur and David Dincau still on the shelf with injuries, Plum was looking for a little light at the end of the tunnel with a strong performance against a very desperate Gateway team. Jerry ‘Dr. Evil’ Bass was looking to guide the Mustangs to a victory and a possible first round match-up with Butler. Gateway is a mix of very young players and a sprinkling of veterans who have been through the playoff rigors over the past few years. Coach Lou Biancanello’s squad has been playing in the playoffs for the past two weeks, with a thrilling 4-3 win over Shaler on Monday, watched next door as Franklin Regional obliged by defeating Hempfield 5-0, putting the Gators a win away from an unbelievable run just to get in the playoffs. In a pretty evenly played first period, Gateway broke out on top as Ryan Whitfield converted a Steve Lyons pass for a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. The Gators extended the lead to 2-0 as Michael DeLorenzo outmaneuvered the Plum defense and beat J.P. Balson on the backhand at 4:41. Plum went on the power play and Jonathon Smith found a loose puck in between the circles and buried a wrist shot upstairs to cut the lead to 2-1. Mike Dunlap had a golden opportunity to tie the game at 2:02 and hit the post after having J.D. Dominick in real trouble. Dominick robbed Jonathon Smith with just 19 seconds left and Gateway was clinging to a 2-1 lead. The second period was all Plum with 12 more shots on Dominick, who was looking pretty strong between the pipes. With Plum on the power play Steve Lyons carried the puck all the way into the Plum zone and threaded a beautiful pass to freshman brother Scott Lyons, who took the pass in stride and buried it past Balson for a 3-1 Gateway lead at 10:17. Aaron Arnold hit the post as Plum tried to climb back into the game at 2:43 of the middle period. Gateway was looking real tired and Plum took advantage as Jonathon Smith’s wrist shot through traffic found the net and we have a 3-2 game with 12:00 to play in regulation. With 10:30 remaining, Dominick stopped John Kalichuk and then Phil Mains on the rebound to preserve the lead. Dominick came up big at 4:30 stopping Smith’s bid for a hat trick and it looked like the Gator’s could hold on. Phil Mains had a different idea as the defenseman took the puck from his own end and unleashed a wicked slapshot from just over the blueline which handcuffed Dominick and trickled over the left shoulder to tie the game at three apiece with 2:49 to play. Plum had a great opportunity to win the game on the power play on a very marginal call by the officials, but the Gators dug in and killed the penalty sending the game into overtime. With a majority of the Hempfield team watching with a packed house at the House of the Genie Garage door opener rink at Center Ice, the rowdy Gateway fans went into bedlum as Steve Lyons somehow got a shot off through a screen of two Plum defenders and beat J.P. Balson on the stick side for a great victory for the Gateway hockey club and sending the young Gators into the playoffs with the 16th and final playoff spot with a 4-3 win in OT .