Sports
Peters Hockey Upsets Erie McDowell in Season Home Opener
The Indians defeated the Trojans 10-1 Monday night.
Wins are always a good thing, especially when they come in the season home opener.
The Peters Township Indians were able to get a win with a big exclamation point Monday night as they opened the 2011-12 season with a 10-0 pasting of Erie McDowell at the Iceoplex at Southpointe.
The win improved the Indians’ season record to 2-0-1, after having tied North Allegheny and defeating Butler on the road to start their first season of AAA hockey.
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Cole Snyder scored four goals in the game while Davan Groom also scored the three-goal hat trick. Patrick Hannan and T.J. Skraitz each had four assists for the evening.
The Indians jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the contest, but saw McDowell tie the score moments later. The Indians added four more goals before the period ended to take a 5-1 lead into the second period.
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“The highlight of the game was the first period,” said head coach Rick Tingle. “We got outplayed in the second period. We took a bunch of penalties and got outshot 19-3. We got much better in the third period and began to look like a team again."
Despite some sloppy play, the Indians were able to manage a second period goal, and then scored the final four goals in the final period.
Despite the success and the good start so far after their move to AAA play, Tingle said the real test will come in two weeks when the Indians meet Bethel Park.
“Our reason for going to AAA was to play our rivals like Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Canon-McMillan and Upper St. Clair,” Tingle said. “Until we hit those games, it doesn’t feel a whole lot different right now.”
Tingle said he wants to stress to his players to take games one at a time, especially their encounter next Monday night against Pittsburgh's Central Catholic.
“Our rivals have all won state titles, and we’re anxious to play them, but we can’t afford to look past next Monday night’s game against Central Catholic.”
Peters Township goalie Brian Baker stopped 28 of 29 shots on goal, while the Indians finished with 37 shots.
“We’re going to be a fun team to watch this season,” Tingle said. “I hope a lot of Peters Township people will come out to watch us play.”
