Chad Dare 
Sports Editor 
Commercial-News
 
Danville, IL - The Danville Dashers found themselves with their backs against the wall on Thursday night.

It was a win-or-go-home scenario in the Federal Hockey League Commissioner's Cup Finals as the Watertown Wolves needed only one more victory to claim the title.

Danville goal tender Matt Anthony and the rest of his Dasher teammates rose to the occasion, forcing a fifth and deciding game in the best-of-five series with a 2-1 victory over Watertown before 1,215 at the David S. Palmer Arena.

"We had a little more energy,'' said Danville defenseman Joe Pace. "We were clicking on all cylinders. The crowd was behind us and we just fed off of it.''
It didn't hurt that Anthony turned away 47 of 48 shots by the Wolves, including 20-of-21 in the third period.

"Matt has been stellar,'' Pace said. "He has been in net the whole time during the playoffs. We are rallying behind him. 
"He is kicking right now, and it's unbelievable to watch.

''Danville coach Steve Harrison admitted that Anthony probably hasn't had his best series against Watertown, allowing 10 goals in four games, but in the Dashers' two victories the net minder has made 75 saves on 77 shots.

"In the two games that we've won , he's played spectacular,'' Harrison said. "The other games, it hasn't been him.

"The way he bounced back tonight, I was really proud of him.''
Harrison, who said his team played a step slow in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to Watertown, admitted this was a different Danville team on Thursday.

"We came out and played the way we can play tonight,'' he said. "It was a great game. It was one of those games where we got a couple breaks and we capitalized on our chances. It was a good team effort tonight.

"We came out and played like there was no pressure on us. We just came out and played. Everyone pitched in from one to 18.''

After a scoreless first period, the Dashers got on the board first with Gehrett Sargis, the Federal Hockey League rookie of the year, scoring off a feed from John Scully with 14 minutes, 58 seconds left in the second period.

"We put more pressure to them,'' said Sargis. "We played our game, and didn't let ourselves get sucked into their game.''

The Dashers had plenty of opportunities to extend their lead in second period with a pair of power-play chances but Danville was only able to find the net once on its first 30 shots, while Watertown was held scoreless on 28 shots.

But the biggest difference was that the Wolves were not able to force any costly turnovers at the blue line like they did on Wednesday night.
"We really bared down on getting the puck out of our zone,'' Danville's A.J. Tesoriero said. "It was nothing fancy. Just get it out and let our guys go to work. 

"Simple hockey. we have the guys to win, we just have to produce.''

That simple style carried over into the third period when Tesoriero got into the Watertown zone on an odd-man rush and he beat Jo St. Pierre with a slap shot, giving Danville a 2-0 lead with 5:01 left in the contest.

"This whole series has been back-and-forth. We knew we had to come back after a loss on Wednesday,'' he said. "Basically, we didn't let them score goals tonight, we just kept it a tight game.

"We came out fired up, because, it was either win or go home. This was also our last home game of the season, and we wanted to give the fans of Danville a good performance.''

Anthony and the Dashers lost the shutout with 2:57 left as the Wolves capitalized on a 5-on-3 power play. Phil Bronner collected the rebound off a shot from Dane Erickson and slipped it past Anthony.
"It's all about defense when you are trying to win a championship,'' Pace said. "We will take pride in what we did tonight and hopefully, that will continue onto Saturday.''

Danville will have to travel to Watertown, N.Y. for the deciding game of the Federal Hockey League championship series. The puck for Game 5 will drop at 7:35 EDT.

"This is for all the marbles,'' Harrison said. "We've got nothing to hold back. We've won there before. Now, it's about going there and getting one more win.''