"Come on, get in there," Lisa Meyers shouted at the television over the bar at Packy's Pub.

The Philadelphia Flyers were trying to score on the Tampa Bay Lightening in game seven of the NHL Eastern Conference finals.

Meyers and about 60 others crowded around the three screens Saturday night to watch the game, which ended in a 2-1 loss for the Flyers, a heartbreaking end for Meyers. Her brother, Robert Esche, plays goalie for the Flyers.

Esche, a Whitesboro native, was "in the zone to win," said Meyers, wearing an orange tank top with a Flyers jacket tied around her waist.

Meyers said she and her family had been in contact with Esche within the last two days and that he had his mind set on the Stanley Cup finals.

"I can see that cup in his hands," Meyers said. "He wants it so much."

The game determined that Tampa Bay would head to the Stanley Cup finals. Esche would take the loss hard, she said.

"Nobody is harder on Robert than he is on himself," Meyers said.

But even without the Stanley Cup, Esche has impressed the local community with the season's accomplishments, she said.

A former neighbor of Esche's sat at the bar to watch the game. Ed Troha lived across the street from Esche.

"If he wasn't playing, I wouldn't even be watching this," Troha said.

But Esche's success inspired him to become a fan.

"You have to pull for the local guy," he said.

A crew of teachers, their spouses and Principal Larry Orr from Oxford Elementary School in New Hartford came to watch. Meyers works as a fourth-grade teacher there. Esche's exciting season sent the whole school into a Flyers craze.

"We've all been following it, watching every game," said Sandy D'Onofrio, a second-grade teacher. "My husband asked me, 'Do we watch hockey now?'

"We sure do," she said.

The teachers decided to meet up for the game so they could either celebrate -- or mourn together.

"We figured, if we win, we can all cheer together," Meyers said. "And if we don't, we can all drown our sorrow together."

At the end of the second period, emotions mounted while the Flyers continued to trail by a goal. Still, hopeful fans clapped and yelled when they saw replays of Esche's saves. Those fans can't help but admire Esche's achievements, Meyers said.

"He's a hometown boy who's doing something amazing," she said. "Win, lose, he's touched everybody's hearts."

Contact Meghan Rubado at metro@uticaOD.com