Steelers a win away from Super Sunday
OBSERVER Staff Report
OLEAN — With one more victory, the Dunkirk-Fredonia Steelers hockey team will be guaranteed a Super Sunday appearance next week.
In the first game of the playoffs on Saturday, the Steelers knocked off the Olean Eagles, 4-1, to take a 1-0 series lead. Game two is today at 4:45 p.m. in Steele Hall ice arena.
Nothing came easy for the Steelers in Olean on Saturday. Just more than a minute into the game, they fell behind 1-0 on a knuckleball shot from the blue line by Olean defenseman Gavin Michalski. The Eagles would maintain that lead for until the 6:38 mark when Mike Meredith answered with a goal off an assist from Ryan Thompson.
At 1-1, the Steelers began to pour on the pressure. However, Olean goaltender Zachary McMurray was excellent. After the first period, he had recorded 27 saves and made another 15 until Dawson Rafan scored with 4:17 left in the second period. Assists were credited to Christopher Michalski and Christian Michalski, but the play happened due to some solid fore-checking by forward Taylor Mattoon.
After two periods of play the Steelers maintained only a one-goal lead despite outshooting Olean, 48-8.
Defense tightened for the Eagles in the third as they pressured the Steelers during the early stages of the period.
After an Eagles’ penalty kill, however, momentum shifted back to Dunkirk-Fredonia and with 4:51 left in the third, Stephen Aldrich extended the Steeler lead to 3-1 after a pass to the right front of the net from Carter D’Agostino. Michael Persch also was credited with an assist on the goal.
During the final minutes, Olean pulled McMurray but could not close the gap. Christopher Buchanan banked a puck off the boards at center ice and scored an empty-net goal with 4 seconds left.
In the end, the Steelers rang up 60 shots on net with Olean registering 15. Goaltender Nicolas Novelli was especially sharp in the third period, stopping all seven shots. Defensive assistance came from first-team all-star Nolan Mages, Zach Rybak, Christian Michalski, Persch and Austin Lewis.
If the Steelers lose today, both teams will play a 10-minute mini-game after a short intermission to determine who moves on to Buffalo on Feb. 26. The series winner also clinches a spot in the state hockey playoffs this year that take place in Long Island.