Dunkirk-Fredonia Steelers player Tate Olson (71) possesses the puck during a game against Olean on Thursday at Steele Hall Ice Arena in Fredonia. The Steelers lost Thursday’s pivotal game against Olean by a score of 6-3. OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot.

Facing a familiar foe who they had already bested once earlier this season, the Dunkirk-Fredonia Steelers had an opportunity to find their footing in an up and down season, when the Olean Eagles came to Steele Hall Ice Arena on Thursday night.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, it was the Eagles who were able to seize the moment.

Led by a hot start, the Eagles skated by the Steelers 6-3, knocking the young Steelers team to an even record on the season. The Eagles were more ready to play this time around, as they learned the Steelers weakness from the previous game. According to Steelers coach Michael Rakoska, his team struggles with pressure.

“We get against teams that put pressure on us and we turn the puck over,” Rakoska said. “We turtle a little bit. That’s why we got down like we did. We make bad passes, we make poor decisions, and we’re just not good.”

Olean came roaring out of the gates with three goals in the first period. The pace of play favored the Steelers, but they succumbed to the pressure of Olean.

With Fredonia on the power play, a mishandled puck led to a break the other way, and it was a break the Eagles wouldn’t fail to miss, as Christian Greaves was able to beat Anthony Fitz-Gerald to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

With that lead, it was the Eagles’ Henry Scanlon who took over from there. The Eagles forward was baffling the Steelers’ defense for a majority of the game, finding self-constructed holes between defenders. His first goal — his team’s second — came on an opportunity in the slot, where the puck found his stick and he found the back of the net. Ethan Burton tallied the final goal of the period as Olean waltzed into the locker room with a three-goal lead.

The other thing that confounded the Steelers was the Eagles goaltending. Michael Ohlweiler was a rock through the first period, and in a different world, could have been in a Steelers’ jersey.

“Their goalie played a heck of a game,” Rakoska said. “We could’ve had him, he was in the pool, but I knew Olean needed a goalie, and we had two, so it ended up like that. He played well.”

At the start of the second period, it looked like the Steelers would gain a little momentum, as Joey Yeager put one in the back of the net to get his squad on the board, now trailing 3-1. But every time Dunkirk-Fredonia gained momentum, the Eagles took it away, as just a couple minutes later, the Eagles’ Nate Cole gave Olean their three-goal lead back.

The two teams would trade goals one more time in the period, as the Steelers got a goal from Micah Davis before Scanlon scored a short handed beauty.

On a misfired pass between Steelers blue-liners, Scanlon chipped the puck toward center ice and used his speed to track it down, finding himself all alone against Fitz-Gerald and burying a beautiful top shelf goal, giving his team a 5-2 lead heading into the second intermission.

While the Steelers had been outworked for the first two periods, Rakoska was happy with how his team adjusted in the third.

“In the third, we talked about it in the locker room, we said let’s start making the right decisions.” Rakoska said. “We started doing what we normally do. All props to them, they came ready to play. They outhustled us tonight. We talk about 50/50 battles and loose pucks. Sometimes it can seem like the puck always bounces one way, but it isn’t luck, you make your own luck in this game.”

Each team would score one more goal in the third period, with Olean’s Greaves scoring his second on the evening, seeing an answer from the Steelers’ Zach Korzeniewski with just over a minute left in the game.

While it looked like the Steelers had several opportunities, Rakoska said his team didn’t get enough pressure on the Olean net.

“We don’t get enough traffic in front, you hear it a lot in the pros but it’s trickling down to this level,” Rakoska said. “If a goalie can see the puck, he’s going to make the save, and he saw the puck. He made the saves he had to make. We need to get better getting in front of the net.”

The Steelers, now 7-7, will next be in action on Thursday, Jan. 23, in what will be another tough game at Steele Hall against St. Joes.

“They beat us 3-2 earlier this season, and it came down to intensity again,” Rakoska said. “The first two periods we were all over them and they came out, outhustled us, got a few lucky bounces and all the sudden we were down. That’s how it goes. We have nine sophomores and a freshman goalie, and sometimes, we play like that. Tonight was one of those. That’s why I don’t get too down, it’s a growing year.”