SOUTH COUNTY • One year after elimination in the Mid-States Club Hockey Association Challenge Cup quarterfinals, the Oakville Tigers wanted to take things at least one step farther this season.
Mission accomplished, as the Tigers skated to a 1-1 draw in Game 2 of their quarterfinal series against Lindbergh. In this case, a tie was all Oakville needed after winning the series opener last Thursday.
"Getting over that hump was a big thing," Tigers coach Derek Stephens said. "We were almost there last year and a lot of these guys had that taste of almost being there."
In search of its first Challenge Cup championship game berth since winning it all in 2005, third-seeded Oakville will face No. 2 seed SLUH in a two-game semifinal series that will be played Feb. 23 and 25.
"We played them in a preseason tournament. They beat us once and we beat them once," Tigers junior goalie Zach Jost said. "We're gonna have to come out twice as hard. They're gonna be a very tough team to beat."
Three ties (two in the regular season) and a two-goal loss that included an empty-net goal in four games this season against Oakville left sixth-seeded Lindbergh with that ohsoclose feeling.
"It's only fitting. We match up very well with them and vice versa," Flyers coach Greg Anderson said. "Zach Jost played phenomenal tonight and made some great saves. We threw everything at him but the kitchen sink, so you've got to commend him."
A rather uneventful first period suddenly turned interesting when Oakville scored the game's first goal with 3:05 to play. Brendan Nichting took a pass from Andrew Kovacich at center ice, skated into the Flyers' zone and went on the backhand to put the puck between the legs of Lindbergh goalie Luke Opilka.
Just like that it was 1-0 Oakville. And with Lindbergh needing a win to force a 10-minute mini-game, that one-goal lead was actually more like a two-goal lead.
After a scoreless second period in which the Flyers began to turn up the offensive intensity, they finally broke through just 1:11 into the third period.
Cody Guidorzi gained the blue line, skated between the circles and sent a wrist shot past the catching glove of Jost to tie the game at one.
"They started running some sort of trap and they stacked the dots in our defensive zone," Anderson said. "So, I was telling my wingers to start flying and chip the puck around off the boards to just start springing the guys and that's what happened."
Lindbergh's work wasn't done, though. The Flyers needed another goal to force the mini-game, so Anderson had to make the unusual move of pulling his goalie with 1:30 left in a tie game. The Flyers put all kinds of pressure on Jost, but the 6-foot-1, 160-pounder was up to the task with some big saves in the final few minutes.
"They had some great shots at the end and almost put it in," Jost said. "I was real nervous, but we had the right players out there and got the job done."
