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Super Sunday bound!

Rafan’s late goal sends Steelers to championship series

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk-Fredonia’s Mike Meredith (15) scores past Olean goalie Zakary McMurray (37) during their WNYHSCHL playoff game on Sunday at the Steele Hall Ice Arena. The Steelers won to advance to next weekend’s Super Sunday championship series against top-seeded Iroquois.

For the first time since 2009, the Dunkirk-Fredonia Steelers are heading to the Key Bank Center to compete in Super Sunday.

The Olean Eagles sure did not make it easy, but Dawson Rafan’s game-winning goal with 2:13 left in the third period and Mike Meredith’s empty-net goal in the game’s waning moments sealed a 5-3 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-3 series in Western New York High School Club Hockey Mixed Division action at the Steele Hall Ice Arena on Sunday.

With the score tied 3-all, Carter D’Agostino fed Rafan a perfect pass, and Rafan’s shot snuck in just under the crossbar.

“I think out of all the kids on the team, I couldn’t be happier for Dawson,” Dunkirk-Fredonia head coach Jay Bishop said. “He works so hard and has so much passion. For him to score, I couldn’t be happier for anyone else. He plays on a line that is really clicking. Carter had a great pass. That line has been productive for us. Dawson has stepped up and has really come out flying.”

The winning goal has been posted on the OBSERVER Twitter feed.

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Christian Michalski celebrates his goal with Chris Michalski (77), as Dawson Rafan (5) looks on Sunday.

While the victory puts them in Super Sunday next week, it also gives the Steelers an automatic bid into the state tournament at Long Island.

After being outshot, 14-3, in the first period, the Eagles opened up an entertaining second period with a goal just 17 seconds into the frame.

Darryn Capito fed a centering pass to Jack Pecora, who one-timed it home for the lead.

“A lot of mistakes happen in front of a goalie for a goal to happen,” Bishop said. “I don’t blame those on a goalie. (Goaltender Nick Novelli) is a sophomore playing phenomenal hockey. That’s a lot of pressure.”

However, as has been the case all season, the Steelers did not go away quietly as they scored at the 15:33 mark as Christian Michalski’s shot from the point went into the net for the equalizer.

OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk-Fredonia’s Dawson Rafan lets go the shot that resulted in the eventual game-winning goal against Olean, during their WNYHSCHL playoff game at the Steele Hall Ice Arena, on Sunday.

“We don’t panic,” Bishop said. “We regroup and play our game and the kids responded so well. Scoring a goal against the best goalie in our league (Zakary McMurray) I knew wasn’t going to be easy. We had to do everything we could to get puck in net. Scoring that goal gave us a lot of confidence and set the tone for the rest of the game.”

And while Michalski’s goal was crucial, so too was the defensive play he made shortly after as Olean had a great chance to take the lead at the 10:30 mark. A Dunkirk-Fredonia turnover in the neutral zone led to a breakaway for Olean’s Dylan Hamed. However, Michalski, hustled back, dove at Hamed and was able to poke the puck away from his stick before he could get off a shot.

“He plays such a solid game,” Bishop raved. “He is a stay-at-home defenseman who makes great decisions. I thought he played great.”

The Eagles regained the lead at the 7:35 mark on a power-play goal from Nathan Paar, as his shot from the point from the faceoff found the back of the net for the 2-1 advantage, just six seconds into the power play.

With all the momentum on the visitor’s side, it looked even more promising for the Eagles as the Steelers were assessed a four-minute penalty.

After Olean put some serious pressure on the Steelers during the power play, Meredith took the puck off an Olean defender’s stick and raced the other way all alone and scored on a breakaway for the 2-2 tie.

“To kill off a four-minute penalty is a huge momentum shift,” Bishop continued. “But to get a short-handed goal was awesome. Mike had a great shot. Beating McMurray is not easy and Mike made a great play.”

And with just 53 seconds left in the second period, the Steelers took their first lead of the game as Ryan Thompson was left alone in the slot and fired it home for the lead.

Olean continued to fight in the third period, as Paar scored his second power-play goal of the evening with 9:45 remaining.

“(Saturday) we were extremely disciplined,” Bishop said. “It was disappointing to have the penalties we had (Sunday). The momentum shifts in hockey are so important. We want to make sure our momentum shifts for our team far outnumber theirs.”

With the score tied 3-all and time winding down, the Steelers did not want to let this game slip away and risk the chance of playing a 10-minute mini game to decide which team was heading to Key Bank Center.

“I think we went for the win because we didn’t want to play a mini game,” Bishop said. “The things we were doing were working. We generated offense and had them on their heels. I knew we would get our chances, it was just a matter of beating McMurray. The kids did a good job getting shots on net.”

And that is when Rafan scored the biggest goal of his varsity hockey career and Meredith added the empty netter for insurance.

Contributing in the win was the play of the defense, as the Steelers outshot the visitors, 41-12.

“We stress team defense,” Bishop said. “That will be our strength going into next Sunday. We are going to be facing a tough Iroquois team. We need to be tough defensively. We really need to continue to work on that because we need to protect our own zone.

“I went over all my notes for my pre-game talk,” Bishop continued. “I let the kids know some of the things I prepared for last time we made it to Super Sunday and what the kids could expect if they were successful to jumpstart their enthusiasm. We had to play 51 minutes of hockey. This is the second time going to Super Sunday. It’s such a tremendous experience. I hope they appreciate it. I see kids from the 2009 team and they still, to this day, say it was their best hockey memory.”

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