Portage Central 5 Portage Northern 4 (OT)

Crosstown rivals. Yankees vs Mets. Cubs vs White Sox. Rangers vs Islanders. Add Portage Central and Portage Northern to the list. PC and PN have been the top two teams in the SWMHSHL all season and they put on a show that would keep all of us on the edge of our seats tonight. Portage Central won the contest 5-4 and finished the regular season as Undefeated League Champions. But........Portage Northern served notice that the rivalry is just heating up.

Northern's Travis Tuma scored the first goal of the game on Northern's first shot of the game. He intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, skated it to the right faceoff dot and ripped a shot past Central's Brogan VandeVelde for a 1-0 lead. At the 12:05 mark, Tuma scored again when he wristed another shot from almost the identical spot and the Huskies were ahead 2-0. Josh Ruggles and Doug Wheelright assisted on the goal. The first period ended with Northern ahead 2-0 and Central on their heals.

The second period was a different story. Jared Hook got the Mustangs rolling when he banged in a rebound past a sprawling Barry Toornman. Erik Hoffman and Cody VanderVeen were credited with assists. The Huskies answered back less than 30 seconds later when Kevin Campbell found the back of the net for Northern's 3rd goal. Nick Kruse set up the goal and Nicco Braganini also assisted. At the 8:42 mark of the second period, Cody VanderVeen snuck in deep and wristed a shot past Toornman. Campbell then put the Huskies on the board again and appeared to knock the wind out of Central's sails. His goal was set up by two great plays by Wheelright and Braganini. With 1:09 left in the 2nd period Kegan Hoerle moved the puck past two Northern defenders and Max Taylor lit the lamp. This was Central's 3rd goal of the period and the momentum shifted to the Mustangs for the final period.

The 3rd period started like the first two. Both teams came out flying and the goalies were outstanding. Central's Mark Lassiter scored the game tying goal (and the only goal of the 3rd period) when Chris Sandmeyer skated the puck around the Northern net and fed a sweet pass to Lassiter on the back door. The third period would go scoreless for the remaing 9:12 seconds, but the level of play was outstanding.

Sudden death overtime is the most exciting part of sport. One team wins. The other loses. It's all or nothing. Cody VanderVeen (#1 star of the game) ended the game at the 4:42 mark of overtime when he banged home the puck after a huge scrum in front of the Husky net. Erik Hoffman's shot rebounded out in front of the goal to VanderVeen who backhanded it past a sprawling Toornman. The thrill of victory sent the Mustang players onto the ice for a well earned celebration. The agony of defeat left the Husky players laying on the ice with their hearts on their sleeves.

Both Central and Northern will be playing in SWMHSHL Tournament semi-final games on Saturday. If both teams win, they will face each other again on Wednesday the 20th for the League Championship. Then, on Monday the 25th, PC and PN will play each other to begin the MSHAA Pre-Regionals. The next 10 days will heat up the crosstown rivalry and knock a very good Portage team out of state contention. It'll be fun to watch.