April 15, 2000
Tim Fonde
Florence Morning News
FLORENCE -- Consider it a payback. Hockey players may forget a
lot of things, but losing
a Game 5 at home in overtime against the bully next doors tends to linger around
in the ol'
noggin.
The Stingrays who where there at North Charleston Coliseum two years ago remember.
And now the Pride know just how they felt.
In a role reversal of the Southern Conference Quarterfinals in
1997-98, when Pee Dee
rallied for three goals in the third period before Matt Turek won the game for
the Pride in
overtime, South Carolina rallied from two goals down to tie Game 5 in the final
minute of
regulation and came up with the game-winner early in overtime, eliminating Pee
Dee with a
4-3 win at the Lions' Den Saturday night.
Dave Seitz was Johnny-on-the-spot, netting the tying goal with
30 seconds to go and the
overtime tally 2:11 into the extra session.
"It's a big blur right now," said Pride goalie Sandy
Allan, who made 28 saves on the night.
"It's going to be a lesson for everybody. Anytime your final game is a
loss, you just have to
take something from it. I think it hasn't really settled in. I'm sure tomorrow
when we wake up
and all come to the rink, it'll hit."
"Blur" is the perfect way to describe the final minutes of regulation.
With just over three minutes to go, Casey Kesselring was
whistled for a borderline hooking
call. Allan made incredible stops on Jason Sessa and Greg Schmidt. He also made
a save on
a Sessa attempt that glanced off Schmidt in front.
Then the Stingrays yanked starter Jason Saal for the extra
attacker with just over a minute to
play.
South Carolina had a few chances to score, but Allan and the
Pride's defense were equal to
the task.
Pee Dee had the puck and a chance to clear, but South Carolina
kept it in the zone. Brad Dexter
shoved a pass to Brett Marietti who hit Seitz alone to Allan's left. Seitz
waited for Allan to
commit and punched it by the fallen Pride netminder, sending the game to
overtime.
"I knew where Sandy was in the net and he's such a great
goaltender that I wanted to make sure
I hit the right part of the net," said Seitz. "I knew I had to get it
right up in the corner or he was
going to save it. I had to wait him out and wait him out. I didn't want to force
the puck because
he would have made the save for sure."
"We had the game," said Pride head coach Frank
Anzalone. "The was was won with 30 seconds
left. Somebody made a mistake. A player that's a human being made a human
error."