Of Pequea Valley's four regular-season losses this season, two came at the hands of Elizabethtown.
The Bears extended that hex into the playoffs Wednesday night, defeating the Braves 9-7 in the quarterfinals of the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier II playoffs at the Lancaster Ice Rink.
E-town overcame a two-goal deficit in the second period and outscored the Braves 5-2 in the third period to win it.
The victory sends Elizabethtown into the semifinals for the second time in the last three years. The Bears will play Annville-Cleona at 6:45 p.m. Friday at Twins Ponds East for a chance to advance to the title game.
Brian Milici and Michael Van Horn each scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Bears (11-9), who, as the 12th seed, forged their second upset in the tournament. Topping No. 4 Pequea Valley came on the heels of defeating No. 5 Red Lion in the first round.
The start of the third period turned the seesaw game in E-town's favor. E-town, trailing 5-4, picked up a goal from CC Davis with the teams skating 4-on-4 to tie the game. The Bears went ahead for good a minute later when Van Horn's wrist shot from the slot beat Pequea goalie Len Metkowski.
"We talked it over in the locker room (between the second and third periods) and said that we were going to come out on fire and we did, scoring that quick goal," Milici said.
Not surprisingly in a 16-goal game, E-town's one-goal lead was lost when the Braves' Ron Groff took a pass from Zach Elmer and scored to knot the score at 6-6.
The Bears' Alex Reinhold untied the game when his right-point shot glanced off Metkowski's glove. Milici and Josh Carter extended the Bears' lead to 9-6. Pequea got a power-play goal from Elmer but it wasn't enough.
"We came out a little lax at the beginning of the third period," said PV coach Jesse Weiler, whose team finished the season with a 12-5-3 record. "E-town was beating us to the puck."
Parity in Tier II was on display in the game. While E-town was 9-9 during the regular season, it's now picked up wins against two teams with better records.
"We came into the playoffs thinking we're just as good as every team," Milici said.
E-town coach Steve Lokey was thinking along those same lines.
"There are a lot of teams that are very even," he said. "If we had to play a fourth period, we might have lost."
Notes: The other Tier II semifinal is Manheim Township vs. Red Land, which advanced by beating the Shamrocks 5-3 Wednesday night. The Township/Red Land semi is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Twin Ponds West. The Tier II championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Hersheypark Arena. … The Tier I semifinals will pit Lower Dauphin against Central Dauphin and Cumberland Valley vs. Hershey.
E-mail: kfreeman@lnpnews.com