Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

HARMARVILLE ~ Bethel Park has had an interesting season under Jim McVay, in a season in which the Hawks have had a lot of highs including a 3-1 win over Meadville last Thursday and lows a 6-2 loss to rival Baldwin on Monday. BP had a lot riding on its game with Central Catholic including a home playoff berth for as many years as I can remember so we will just say the last 8 or so to be safe. The emergence of Bryce Merriam as Bethel Park’s # 1 goaltender has really spurred the Hawks to a better second half of the season and made it a real dangerous team as the playoff bell rings. As Kevin Zielmanski read off the seniors and introduce the parents before a packed house at Harmarville, it made me wonder if some of these seniors and a couple of juniors may be realizing that their careers are winding down as Vikings and the opportunity to win a State Championship will never come again after their next loss. So the Vikings could have taken the attitude that the game against Bethel was meaningless since they have the # 4 seed and home ice for the first two rounds of the playoffs in the bag. Coach Z knows that his team must prepare for McDowell or Shaler, who are both teams which the Vikings have struggled against and certainly will be entertaining thoughts of upset in the first round of the playoffs and what better team to prepare themselves than the ole nemesis Blackhawks. In a very tight checking first period, shots were few and far between and while Central tried to pressure Bethel, the Hawks stretched the ice to keep CC honest on the defensive side of the ice. Adam Kaczmarek made Jim McVay’s strategy look brilliant as he found his way behind the Central Catholic defense on the breakaway and just beat Russ Hefner on the backhand at 2:58 to give BP a 1-0 lead. The second period was quite a different story as Central Catholic turned up the heat outshooting Bethel 12-4. The Vikings tied the game at 12:14, as freshman Chris Urso lofted a wrist shot over the glove hand of Bryce Merriam and we were all knotted up at 1-1. The Vikings really picked up their game in the third, but Merriam with a little help was the story. Matt Friday had a wide open net at 10:30 but hit the right post. Then at 8:45, Merriam stoned Eddie Martin with a diving save to keep the game tied. With 1:17 remaining, Merriam stacked the pads to stop Matt Urso and the game headed to overtime. The Vikings would finally score at 2:58 of overtime as Eddie Martin fed J.R. Hess at the right point, and the right handed shooting defenseman fired a shot through traffic which found the net giving Central Catholic a thrilling 2-1 victory over Bethel Park.