The PIHL Division 2 semifinals delivered in dramatic fashion Thursday night at the RMU Island Sports Center.
In the first game, No. 5 Burrell upset top-seeded Mohawk 3-2 in overtime after trailing 2-1 with 25 seconds left. In the second game, No. 3 Ringgold escaped with a narrow 3-2 win over No. 2 Neshannock.
Burrell will make its third straight Division 2 championship appearance, and Ringgold will make its second in the last four years.
The Buccaneers never led in their semifinal matchup with the Mohawks until the overtime period. And for the second straight season, it looked like Morgantown was going to oust Burrell in the postseason.
With 25 seconds left and Burrell trailing 2-1, Cooper Suman skated towards the net and dumped off a pass to Jared Wall. Wall then flicked the puck up right past netminder Ryan Lowe to tie the game 2-2 and send it to overtime.
While the celebrations were well deserved, Burrell had struggled all year in overtime, losing all four of their regular-season contests that went to the extra period. The Bucs knew that if there ever was a time to get the job done, it would be with a championship berth on the line.
The first six minutes of the extra period were filled with opportunities for either side to make it back to the title game. But at the 10:41 mark, senior Jacob Rose followed up on an Aaron Holm shot to send Burrell to its third straight championship appearance.
“It felt great, honestly,” Rose said. “Favorite goal I’ve scored in a while. And yeah, it just felt surreal.”
Rose’s first goal this postseason came at the most important time. But assistant coach Chanz Watkins knows that Rose is built for moments like that.
“Yeah, he always comes up big,” Watkins said. “I mean, when we need him to, it’s like, ‘Where is he? Get out there,’ and you know he’s got us.”
Burrell fell behind early in the game after Morgantown’s Dominic Petrucci scored his second goal of the playoffs. At the 13:46 mark, Petrucci stole a pass in the Burrell zone and sent the puck through the five-hole on a backhand.
Six minutes passed before Burrell responded on a two-way effort by Colton Boda. After blocking a Cameron Smith shot at the blue line, Boda raced down the ice for the puck. He was met by defenseman Max Snider, who thwarted Boda’s first shot attempt. But the sophomore forward followed his shot and snuck the puck under the arm of Lowe for the Bucs ’ first score.
After those first two scores, though, the goalie play picked up. The second period was scoreless, and Lowe (14 saves) and Seth Munda (11 saves) combined for 25 saves on 27 shots by the intermission.
Morgantown reclaimed the lead 48 seconds into the third on another Petrucci score. The sophomore forward weaved his way through two Bucs defenders before firing a solo shot inside the left post.
The Mohawks held that lead for the next 16 minutes, 12 seconds before Wall tied the game to send it into overtime.
The 3-2 win was not only Burrell’s first overtime victory of the season, but it also erased multiple deficits to avenge last season’s loss to Morgantown.
“This one feels really good,” Watkins said. “It’s pretty special … especially against Morgantown. Tough team. Feels pretty good to beat them, especially in that fashion.”
Winning goalie Munda made 26 saves on 28 shots.
In the second game of the night, Neshannock took a 1-0 lead after Ryan Hazi followed up on a Travis Covelli shot from the blue line. The puck took a fortuitous bounce right to Hazi after a save by Mason Ribnicky. Hazi easily slapped it in for his first goal of the playoffs.
Ringgold owned the second period, putting up two goals to take a 2-1 lead.
The Rams’ first score came at the 16:29 mark. After Landon Vaccaro’s shot was saved by Tripp Johns, the puck bounced in the air and once off the ice before Brady Lippert backhanded it into the back of the net for the tie. Bruce Santina and Anthony Bonari were credited with the assists.
Then, on a power play, Lippert took control of the puck near the faceoff circle. He spun around defenseman Asher Sumner and skated to the front of the net before going to the top shelf to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.
Neshannock knotted the game 2-2 at the 11:54 mark of the third period. It appeared that Alex Hodges was going to take the shot himself, but he lost the puck between the faceoff circles. That’s when Shane Johns came from behind and slapped it into the bottom left of the goal.
Ringgold responded five minutes later, with the game-winner coming from Benito Pesi. Pesi redirected an attempted clear from Neshannock up to Santina. As Santina rounded the net, Pesi filled in at the front of the goal. Santina then returned the puck for the winning goal.
Neshannock had an apparent tying goal by Sumner with 8.5 seconds left waved off due to a high stick on the puck.
Ribnicky finished with 30 saves on 32 shots on goal.
Burrell will meet Ringgold at 8:45 p.m. Monday night at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex for the Division 2 championship.