BRANDON- The Blackhawks knew they were in for a battle against Fenton on Feb. 25 in the regional match-up at the IMA Sports Arena.
The Tigers were the defending regional champions two years running, but Brandon didn’t seem to mind as they skated to a 5-3 victory on Tuesday.
“It’s very exciting,” Head coach Brian Moore said of the win. “This is our first regional win, and we were actually favored to win this year, which is exciting for us.”
The game seemed to be on an even keel for most of the night, with the team tying at alternating intervals.
Fenton sophomore Chris Anderson put the first goal on the board, unassisted, at 8:30 in the first, but Brandon’s Mike Ross answered to tie things up with just over a minute on the clock. To sweeten the deal, Kyle Jackson added a goal just before time ran out to give the Blackhawks the edge going into the second period.
The Tigers were not giving up without a fight, however, and slipped two shots past Brandon goaltender David Hughes to lead 3-2 going into the final.
With eight minutes to go, Ross tied up the game once more. Three minutes later play was halted.
At 5:28 to go in the third period, just as Hughes made a dive for a save, Fenton’s Anderson hit the ice. Play was delayed for 32 minutes, the house sat quietly waiting for an ambulance to come for Anderson, who went out with an undetermined knee injury.
“We took that long break and were able to come out hard after it,” Moore said. “We were ready to play again, because we knew that if it came down to a five minute game, we had to be able to win. We wanted the win.”
Coming back onto the ice, the Tigers played hard in the end, but the Hawks played harder. After only a minute of play Mike Cybulski broke the tie giving Brandon renewed confidence and fire. Scott Steudle added a goal to seal the deal with 51 seconds remaining for the win.
Cybulski, Chris Nuccio, Joel Pappas and Craig Skidmore were all credited with assists in the game.
The Blackhacks, who ended regular season play at 14-9-2, returned to the IMA to face the Linden Eagles in the Region 21 semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 27. No scores were available by press time.
“We tied Linden in our last meeting, 4-4,” Moore said. “I like our chances. If we come out hard and ready to play, I think we have a strong chance of winning.”