Mequon — Senior defenseman Cody Furey scored with 3 minutes 8 seconds left in the third period Thursday night to give Cedarburg a 4-3 victory over Homestead in a boys regional hockey final.

The victory, in front of a raucous crowd at the Ozaukee Ice Center, gave the Bulldogs (13-10-2) a spot in the sectionals Tuesday against the winner of University School-Germantown, which play Friday.

It was hardly a surprise that Cedarburg and Homestead battled to the final horn.

During the regular season, they were about as close as two teams can get. The North Shore Conference rivals tied twice, and Cedarburg had edged the Highlanders, 5-4, in a third matchup.

Cedarburg withstood a two-goal outburst by Homestead (19-5-2) in a span of just 1:01 in the third period Thursday. A power-play goal by Highlanders junior forward Peter Schmitz put Homestead up, 3-2, with 12:05 left.

The Bulldogs tied the score with 5:37 left in the third when senior defenseman Nick Boehnlein fired a slap shot into the net from just in front of the blue line.

"Nick scored the tying goal, and we started feeling it," Furey said. "I got the puck in the zone, off of the boards. I saw the top corner open, and I went for it and scored. It was unbelievable."

Homestead had trouble mounting an attack in the waning minutes. An elbowing penalty called on the Highlanders in the final minute didn't help their chances at a last-minute comeback.

"We had chances. They had chances," said Homestead coach Chris Donovan. "They took care of some of their chances, and we took care of some of ours. They just got the upper hand.

"Give it to them. (They showed) what kind of leadership they have and they're abundant in that, and that's what's going to carry them this year. They have awesome leadership, and everybody works as hard as they can."

The teams skated to a 1-1 tie in the first period. The Bulldogs took a lead in the second when senior forward Mike Gollnick gathered a puck in a crowd in front of the net and backhanded it into the goal.

"We knew the place was going to be packed, and we knew the kids would be jacked up," said Cedarburg coach Dale West. "We didn't move the puck the way we normally do. Part of that was (because) we were playing a good team, but the other part was (that) the guys were being influenced a little bit by the atmosphere.

"We've got seniors that we've been counting on for four years. These guys have all been playing together since they were mites. They've been to state before, and that's their objective right now. They took control."