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Arguably the biggest goal of
the night for the Wildcats came just 10.3 seconds before the second
intermission when senior Pat Smiatacz stuffed home a power-play
net-finder to cut the 'Cats' deficit to 2-1. He was assisted by Ryan
Renault.
"That goal was huge," emphasized Plymouth coach Paul Fassbender.
"We had a power play the last 30 seconds of the period, so it was very
important that we get at least one or two quality chances. We won the
face-off and the kids got the job done. That gave us a huge momentum
boost."
The scrappy Wildcats deadlocked the game at 2-2 6:19 into the
third period when Ryan Brown chipped home a pretty pass from Zach
Gambrell. Ryan Cigile also earned a helper on the play.
However, the hosts regained a 3-2 edge just over two minutes
later when Hamill fired a laser past Plymouth goalie Michael Justus,
who was screened in front by a pair of Chargers.
Per their method of operations this season, the Wildcats rallied
again when Colin Wright scored an unassisted goal with 6:42 to play.
A pair of sterling Plymouth defensive gems preserved the tie
during the final three minutes. With 2:39 on the clock, Churchill's
Steven Klisz slid a perfect pass in front to surging teammate Michael
Kutek, but Justus stoned him at the doorstep.
Then with 1:30 left, the puck was teed up just a couple feet
outside the crease for Churchill's Christo Papioannou, but Sanders dove
on the slab of rubber a fraction of a second before Papioannou could
finish his backswing.
Plymouth peppered Crouse with five last-minute shots, but he
came up big each time.
"Churchill always plays fundamentally sound, so we just had to
keep battling," said Fassbender. "We got in a little bit of penalty
trouble for the first time all year, but I thought we killed them
pretty well.
"We faced our first sign of adversity tonight and I thought we
came out pretty good. We had our chances at the end, but we just
couldn't put it in the net."
Ed Wright
can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.
