04/04/2001

By Greg Lautenslager / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

IRVING – Arlington won a court battle to play in Tuesday's Southwestern Bell Metroplex High School Hockey League semifinals. But it had no answer for Plano East's J.P Pruneau.

Pruneau scored the game-tying and winning goals to give Plano East a 3-2 victory at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Valley Ranch. Pruneau's goal, off a pass from Dan Williams with 2:02 left in overtime gave Plano East its 17th straight win and a berth in Thursday's League Championship game.

Plano East (19-2) and Southlake Carroll (18-1-1) will return to Valley Ranch for Thursday's 7:30 p.m face-off.

Arlington secured the Austin berth by having a state district judge reversing a league officials' ruling that it used an ineligible player in its 8-1 victory over Mansfield in last week's Section 2 semifinals.

Mesquite and North Crowley, the other Section 2 semifinalists, also forfeited because of ineligible players.

"At least [the ruling] gave us a chance to lose it on the ice," Arlington coach Jim Villemaire said.

Arlington responded to a second-period goal from Plano East's Ryan Green with goals from Kino Perez and Jared Poe for a 2-1 lead going into the final period.

Pruneau tied after a pass in front of the goal from Williams.

"Our goalie [Art Umpach] came over to the bench before overtime and said, 'I can stop them in a shootout,"' Plano East coach Ron Regenscheid said. "I told him I didn't want a shoot out. I wanted a hero."

That would be Pruneau, who took another pass from Williams and shot it over the goalie's left shoulder.

"I faked him out," said Pruneau, a sophomore forward. "I passed in the same situation in the second quarter. This time I shot it as soon as I got it."

Southlake Carroll 4, Lewisville 1: Southlake Carroll earned a spot in Thursday's league finals with a convincing win over Lewisville.

Carroll's Matt Kraemer rebounded Brad Solomon's shot for the game's first goal 2:40 into the game. Lewisville's Chris Doyle tied it on an unassisted goal about five minutes later.

But Danny Force put Carroll ahead to stay, taking a pass in front of the net from Jeff Luther and flipping it into the net.

Carroll added goals from Geoff Earnes with 1:07 left in the second period and from Brian Jacobowski with 3:23 left in the game.

"We were very shaky in the first two periods," Carroll coach Laddy Tresl said. "But then we finally started playing our game. When everyone is pulling the same rope, it makes a difference."

Greg Lautenslager is a Dallas-area free-lance writer.