SV hockey ends season with 4-3 overtime loss
WARRENDALE — Christopher Marziotto lay prone on the ice, his face buried into his crossed arms.
Tanner Pfeffer, who had a stellar game in goal for the Seneca Valley hockey team, was on his hands and knees a few feet away, staring blankly at the goal mouth.
It took 67 minutes to decide the PIHL Class AAA playoff game between Seneca Valley and State College.
What finally ended it was a fortuitous bounce that allowed State College forward Sey Yeaple to stuff the puck in the net for a 4-3 double-overtime win for the Little Lions over the Raiders at Blade Runners Ice Complex Thursday night.
“I told my guys in the second overtime that it was going to come down to a bounce, that it was going to come down to an ugly goal in front of the net,” said State College coach Brett Wilson. “I said, 'Don't be the guy who makes the mental mistake.'
“We got lucky,” Wilson added. “There were a lot of chances both ways.”
Yeaple's decisive goal was his third of the game. It came as a result of a scrum in front of the crease involving several players from both teams.
Pfeffer, who had 40 saves for Seneca Valley (14-7-1), lost track of the puck in the confusion and Yeaple was able to poke it past him.
“Tanner has been great for us as a backstop all year long,” said Seneca Valley coach Anthony Raco. “He's kept us in a lot of games. It's a testament to him and the great defense he has in front of him. He should hold his head up high along with the rest of the boys in there.
“We had higher expectations than this,” Raco added. “But I'm proud of the guys.”
State College got on the board first on a goal by Yeaple 9:13 into the first period.
Seneca Valley, though, stormed back with a solid second period, getting a pair of goals from Brendan Macfarlane to take a 2-1 advantage after two periods.
The Raiders led by a goal despite being out-shot 24-11 through the first 34 minutes.
Seneca Valley grabbed another lead at 3-2 on a power-play goal by Andrew Gagnon, who punched the puck past State College goalie Mac Ross off a rebound five minutes into the third period.
State College (15-7) answered four minutes later on Yeaple's second goal of the game to tie the score at 3-3 and set up the epic overtime periods.
“You never saw any of them get down,” Wilson said. “They just sort of took a deep breath and regrouped.”
Stefan Horgas, who came into the game with 52 goals and 77 points for State College, had just one assist in the win.
“We wanted to try to match up well with their top line and for the most part, I thought we did,” Raco said. “We said if we match up and play good defense against that line, we can go 5-on-5 against their other lines and capitalize. We didn't do that as well as we needed to.”
In overtime, both teams showed fatigue. Seneca Valley, though, was the aggressor for most of the third period and the two overtime periods.
The puck, though, never found the net for the Raiders, who saw their promising season end.
“That's hockey,” Raco said. “We did some good things out there. It just didn't go our way. In the overtimes, we kind of understood guys were losing their legs. We were just trying to get pucks to the net. They played a good defensive game. They limited our shots.”
