Anchor Bay Hockey Team Skates to Tie

ROCHESTER — It must have felt like déjà vu for Birmingham Unified and on Saturday afternoon in the 2012 OAA-MAC Showcase at the Rochester Onyx Ice Arena.

The teams played each other on Jan. 26, and Birmingham scored in the final minute to escape with a 6-5 win.

Birmingham (5-8-3; 1-4-2 Oakland Activities Association Red) pulled off an encore on Saturday when John Quay scored with 0:33 left on the clock to escape the showcase with a 6-6 tie.

Quay hit a slapshot from the blue line that sailed towards the goal. The puck looked like it was headed over the crossbar.

“The defenseman (Quay) said he shot it and it was going high, the other team’s defender went up to grab it and it hit his glove and went in the net,” Birmingham coach John Weidenbach said. “Very exciting finish.”

The shot went in much to the surprise of Anchor Bay's goaltender Jeff Wilssens.

Quay’s goal capped off a wild third period that saw the Tars’ Rob Vavro get ejected and the two teams combine for six goals.

With 11:55 to go in the third period, Vavro clobbered J.D. Hess in front of the net after a whistle. Referees hit Vavro with three penalties – a head check, unsportsmanlike conduct and 10-minute major misconduct.

At the time of the call, Birmingham Unified was trailing 4-3, but had a man-advantage. Vavro’s penalties gave Birmingham a 5-on-3 power play and it didn’t take long for them to capitalize on the opportunity.

Adam Susalla scored his second goal of the game (6:17) from Hess and Luke Almeter to pull even with Anchor Bay a minute later.

The goal allowed the Tars to bring one of its players back on the ice, but Birmingham still maintained a man advantage.

Birmingham struck again when Kevin Kristopik hit Zach Tayler with a behind the back pass in front of the net. Tayler was in perfect position to slap it in (7:36) and put his team up 5-4.

“The most gratifying thing about watching the power-play today was at the beginning of the year it didn’t look anything like that,” Weidenbach said. “At the end of the year, it’s starting to look pretty decent.”

Back at full strength, Anchor Bay was able to get both goals back in quick succession.

Matt Kaiser scored two goals (9:57 and 10:38) within a minute of each other to complete a hat trick. Nick Farr assisted the first goal and Jason Kammerer and Matt Steyer assisted on the second.

Anchor Bay only seized the momentum temporarily. Birmingham came right back and kept on attacking the Tars zone in the final five minutes before Quay broke through with the final goal.

Birmingham finished the third period with a 27-to-6 advantage in shots on goal.

“Credit to our guys – they didn’t stop and kept going, going and going,” Weidenbach said. “My hat's off to them for not letting down.”