Sometimes, a team just has your number.

Thursday night, that number was four, as in the fourth time Cedarburg and Homestead had played this season or four years Homestead's seniors had waited to get the better of their conference rivals.

Another four doomed Homestead Thursday night--the four goals Cedarburg scored--in a 4-3 thrilling WIAA

Playoff Regional Hockey game at the Ozaukee Ice Center in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

This game was exciting from the start, with no team ever holding more than a one-goal advantage.

"It's the only way I could ask to go out," said Homestead senior defenseman David Trebatoski. "Not only my Homestead teammates, but to play against my friends from Cedarburg, who I've been playing my whole life."

Homestead was the first team to score, with sophomore Adam Connolly breaking through just over five minutes into the game with a top shelf shot over sophomore goaltender Tyler Jansen.

Just over three minutes later, Danny Valoe had tied the game up for Cedarburg.

Cedarburg took a 2-1 lead into the third period, when the intensity level picked up a notch.

Starting the period on the penalty kill, Cedarburg's pressure kept the puck in the Homestead zone and kept the Highlanders from taking advantage of the fresh ice.

However, at 3:54, Homestead got the equalizer off the stick of senior Nate Routhier, one of five Homestead seniors who have only known defeat against Cedarburg.

Soon after that, it looked like defeat was not in the cards for the Highlanders.

16 seconds after Peter Schmitz drew a hooking penalty on Fred West, the Highlanders took the lead when Jake Roeper put back a Trebatoski shot attempt, giving Homestead a 3-2 advantage with 12:06 remaining in regulation.

"We didn't play well," said Cedarburg Head Coach Dale West after the game. "We didn't move the puck the way we normally do...we were playing a good team, but the guys were being influenced by the atmosphere."

With less than six minutes to play, Cedarburg's senior leadership stepped up big.

After Homestead was unable to clear the puck, defenseman Nick Boehnlein took advantage when he corralled the puck, set up and fired a slap shot past senior goaltender Sam Morris for the equalizer. The unassisted goal brought the Cedarburg half of the crowd back into the game and fired up their bench even more.

"The seniors didn't have any doubt (that they'd win)," said Boehnlein. "When they scored those two goals, it was like the last time we played them (when Homestead scored four straight goals in the third period). We were saying 'we can't do that again'."

The comeback was complete two and a half minutes later.

After another failed clearing attempt by Homestead, senior defenseman Cody Furey put the Bulldogs on top for good.

"We've got seniors that we've been counting on for four years," said West. "These guys have gone to state before (with Mini Mites), and that's their objective now."

Furey this time went with a little finesse to get from the blue line to a spot where he had a shot, firing a wrist shot past Morris for the fourth and final goal for the Bulldogs, giving them a lead they would never relenquish.

"Give (credit) to them," said Homestead Head Coach Chris Donovan. "They played a hell of a game all the way through, being up, going down one, sticking in there, and it shows what kind of leadership they have."

"We knew they weren't going to quit (down 3-2)," said Trebatoski. "We knew we had the legs in the third period, but we put it on them. Give it to them to come back."

The Bulldog pressure did not end there, as Homestead was unable to mount any real scoring threat, including not being able to pull Morris for the extra attacker due to Cedarburg's constant presence in the Highlander zone.

A questionable penalty call with 45 seconds remaining in the game didn't help either.

"In a one-goal game, with 45 seconds left to play...yes, it's a factor," said Donovan.

Cedarburg's next game will either be against Germantown, or more than likely, a University School of Milwaukee team that is not only the defending state champions, but also the team that has ended Cedarburg's season the past two years.

"I think we're past that," said West. "I don't think these guys care if it's USM, if it's (Fond du Lac) Springs. We want to go to state, and whoever's in our way next, we want to play."

However, the players may not see it quite that way:

"All of us (want a shot at USM)," said Boehnlein. "This is our third year in a row we (would) have to go against them."