Plum Mustangs - 1989 A

MEADVILLE - Central Catholic and Meadville have developed quite a rivalry over the past five years as each team has scored some big playoff victories over the other on their way to Penguin Cup Championships. There was the 6-1 Central victory in the 1998 Penguin Cup and on the other side the 1999 overtime victory for Meadville at the Mellon arena to win the Penguins Cup. Then, in 2000, the double overtime thriller in which Meadville sent the Vikings home, care of Nick Tucci, who was on hand last night, just as a reminder to CC coach Kevin Zielmanski, that there is still some old magic in the 'House of Chills'. I am sure Jamie Plunkett had thoughts of suiting up old # 14 and sending him out there for warmups to send the message to CC, should this one go to OT ! Playoff games are a unique blend of nervousness, crazy bounces and unsung heroes and if we keep in mind the old coach adage 'that no shot is a bad one', well that sounds like the beginnings of a playoff game for the ages. The fact that the last Western Pennsylvania team to beat Meadville at home in a PLAYOFF GAME was Shadyside in 1988, would even give more storyline to this one. These Vikings, playing without leading scorer Jeff Race, were determined to pressure and get chances. Before the Dawg faithful could settle into their accustomed positions throughout the MARC, a Thomas Grossman shot, a rebound and Eddie Martin found that loose puck and chipped it past Danny O'Sharuk at 12:17 to give CC a 1-0 lead. Then at 11:53, a harmless shot from the right point by Rob Donatucci, found its way past the Bulldog goaltender as if it had eyes on it and all the sudden it was 2-0. Just 32 seconds later, Brian Bahurinsky wheeled from behind the net and lofted a shot past Russ Hefner on the short side which cut the lead to 2-1. Then a break for the Vikings, Rob Donatucci shot the puck and Martin got the rebound and shot the puck which trickled past O'Sharuk and lay on the goal line. The light went on and whistle blew and the referee after reviewing the play with the goal judge determined the puck had crossed the line and gave CC a 3-1 lead at 10:27. Building on that momentum, Andrew Petnuch scored on a backhand at 9:11 to extend the lead to 4-1 and you could hear a pin drop in the MARC for the remainder of the first period and well into the second as Central looked well on its way to victory. Sure Meadville had chances, as Hefner stopped Christian Nickerson on the breakaway at 5:25 of the 1st and Matt Rusilko had a goal waived off at 1:34 or Bahurinksy hit the post at 11:40 of the 2nd and then pulled Hefner out of the net at 2:12 only to see the puck go wide of an open net. This was not to be for the Dawgs or was it ? With :34 left in the 2nd period, Justin Werle's shot, from the same spot the CC's Donatucci scored, found the net past Hefner and all the sudden it was 4-2. Early in the 3rd the Dawgs killed a penalty and took advantage as Bahurinsky's pass in front found its way on the stick of Matt Rusilko who scored and pulled the Bulldogs within one at 4-3 with 11:57 remaining. Now the the 'Let's Go Dawgs' chants started and Meadville was all over Central, Hefner made an improbable save on Nickerson who went to the backhand and caught the CC goalie leaning the wrong way, but somehow the puck didn't go in at 8:57. Coach Z called a timeout to settle the troops and on the next shift, it was Nickerson again, who collected his own rebound and beat Hefner at 4:51 to tie the game 4-4 and send the game to OT. In the overtime, both teams had chances to win it with near misses. A great play by Central's Zach Roberts to read the play and capture a loose puck in the Bulldog zone and throw it to the net resulted in a rebound, which Thomas Grossman poked past O'Sharuk at 6:52 of the extra frame. The goal sent shockwaves throughout the House of Chills, stunning the capacity crowd and the Bulldogs in a classic 5-4 Central Catholic overtime thriller . Now a tradition with this Viking squad, they all gathered in front of the bench to do their 'Dirty Bird' dance to celebrate a great win !