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Health & Fitness

Late Magic Leads Indians to Late Victory

The 3-1 win over the Upper St. Clair Panthers Monday night places the Indians at 11-3-3 and the Panthers at 7-8-2.

The Peters Township Indians defeated the Upper St. Clair Panthers by a score of 3-1 in a close battle on Monday night. The win placed the Indians at 2-0 to start their 5-game homestand. In addition, it may provide PT with a spark of momentum for next week’s showdown against rival Canon-Mac.

The first match-up of PT vs. USC ended in a tie 0-0. It was apparent early in the game that there would be no tie. The first period opened with Peters Township dominance. The squad zoomed onto the ice, scrambling for every loose puck and playing with fire. Players such as senior Cole Snyder and sophomore Pat Hannan generated numerous scoring chances. However, the stand out player of the first period was senior defenseman Aaron McDonough. He used the body and made a few clutch plays to keep the team fired up and in control. Specifically, on an early power play opportunity, McDonough made an incredible play at the blue line to keep the puck in the zone and the Indians firing at the Panthers’ goaltender.

PT continued to dictate the game through the first 12 minutes. Late in the first period, the Indians racked up two penalties in 13 seconds. The first call was on junior Alex DeBolt, and the second on Snyder for hooking. The Panthers immediately took action on their 5-on-3 power play, firing shots at goalie Brian Baker. Baker did a good job of keeping the puck out of the net, making multiple saves using his stick, pads and glove. However, just after DeBolt’s penalty terminated, USC’s Austin Cassidy netted the first goal (assist from Connor Ackerman) of the night. The goal was especially excruciating for the Indians because they felt that a penalty should have been called just seconds before the score. Also, the goal stung because PT completely outplayed USC in the first period and found themselves losing at the horn.

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The second period could be described as the complete opposite of the first. The Panthers came back from the break dominant, forcing the Indians to play defensively. The late goal in the first period really seemed to provide a huge momentum shift in favor of USC.

In the beginning of the second, the play of both teams started to become more physical. As a result, penalties became a factor and the Indians had to kill off multiple penalties. For most of the second period, the Indians appeared to try to keep the score at 1-0, rather than go for the tie. They were forced to play back on their heels, defending USC threats such as Mike Sweeney, Connor Ackerman and Austin Cassidy. However, similar to USC in at the end of the first, PT started to turn it on at the end of the second. Suddenly, the Indians began to force more pressure against the opposition, searching for the equalizer. With 10 seconds left, Trevor Recktenwald received a pass from Hannan in front of the net and shot the puck past a screened Michael Ambrose. The goal provided a big spark for the team, knowing the momentum of the game shifted entirely.

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The third period was an interesting one to watch. The period mainly consisted of back-and-forth play with goaltenders Baker and Ambrose constantly tested, seeing who would crack first. With 8:31 left in regulation, Hannan picked up the puck faced towards center ice. He then whipped around and fired the puck just past Ambrose’s leg into the bottom left corner of the net. The goal ended up being all that the Indians would need.

Peters tacked on another goal from Trevor Recktenwald (an empty net goal) with 48 seconds left, just for some extra insurance.  

The win gives the Indians their third straight victory and puts them at 25 points (11-3-3), tying them at third place with Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny. The loss puts the Panthers at 7-8-2 and drops them to tenth place in the standings.

The Indians play Monday at the Iceoplex in their redemption attempt against bitter rival, Canon-Mac.

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