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The game tied in overtime. A breakaway with nothing between you and the goalie except white ice. A chance to win the game and the Regional title with just one sweet deke to put the puck past the goalie

It was all there on Saturday night. Unfortunately for Lapeer West, it was Fenton's Trevor Ladd who got the chance at living the dream and not one of the Panthers.

Ladd broke free from the West defense at the 4:07 mark of overtime, and Ladd wasted no time in depositing the breakaway chance past West goalie Brandon Szczensy to get the 3-2 Regional Finals win on Saturday night at the Polar Palace. With the goal, Ladd not only ended the game, but he brought West's season to a close as well.

Lapeer West finishes the season with an 18-7-2 (11-2-1 FML) overall record. The 18 wins in one season ties them for the second-best win total in school history. The school record for wins in a season is 19, which West has done twice, first in 1988-89 and again in 2003-04.

For West coach Todd York, it was a sad ending to a season that showed so much promise.

"We have had many close games this season," York said. "We knew no lead would be safe. We just had a hard time getting that third goal that would certainly let us breathe a little easier.

The players were doing the right things throughout the game.

"However, team breakdowns resulted in pucks in our goal."

It looked as though West was in control of the match and that the Panthers were going to win the game as the fourth period was coming to an end.

The Panthers defense held off the Tigers attack for the majority of the second. West was still holding onto a 2-1 lead until Fenton's Keagan Thorpe knocked the puck past Szczesny with just 1:13 left in the game. The goal sent the Tigers players, coaches and their fans into a frenzy, and the goal also sent the game into overtime.

"The final goal occurred with a breakdown at our blueline," York said. "That resulted with the puck being pushed through the defenders and the player placed the puck past our goalie."

Up until that final goal, Lapeer West spent the previous 29 minutes dominating the flow of the game.

The Panthers were the first team to strike. Jeremey Podgorski opened the scoring with a nice goal after taking the puck up the ice. Podgorski took the puck at mid-ice, made a move at the blue line and followed with a shot that beat Maksymowski on the stick side. Brandon Lewis assisted on the goal that made the game 1-0.

Ladd notched his first goal of the night in the second period at the 12:23 mark. On a West powerplay, Ladd found the back of the net on a breakaway to make the score 1-1 on the shorthanded goal. Thorpe assisted on the goal.

Just two minutes later, West moved back ahead by one goal. Jacob Podgorski picked up the rebound from a Nate Robson shot and fired the backhand shot past the Fenton goalie to take the 2-1 lead with 10:37 left in the second period. Casey Cook also assisted on the goal.

That was all the offense West would get, as coach York watched as his team was unable to generate any scoring chances in the third.

West goalie Brandon Szczesny made 13 saves on 16 shots faced. Maksymowski stopped 28 of the 30 shots that the Panthers' offense fired on him.

"I am proud of this team," York said. "They came to the rink and battled every night. They are a great bunch of kids that I have enjoyed coaching and wish each of them continued success in the future."

Andrew Selich is Sports Editor at The County Press. He can be reached at (810) 664-0811 ext 8124 or andrew.selich@lapeergroup.com