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Sports

Home Sweet Home: Indians Kick Off Homestand with Win

The Peters Township Indians defeated the Norwin Knights, 3-0, Monday night at the Iceoplex.

The Peters Township Indians defeated the Norwin Knights by a margin of 3-0 on Monday night, winning in shutout fashion.

The victory placed the Indians at a 10-3-3 record (a total of 23 points). The squad currently sits in fifth place, trailing behind Canon-Mac, Penn-Trafford, Mt. Lebanon and North Allegheny.

The win kicked off the Indians’ five-game home stand with a good start, defeating a sixth-place Norwin. PT attacked heavily out of the gates, forcing shots on an early power play and showing good puck movement. However, the team kept missing the final play to put the puck in the net.

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As the period progressed, both teams fell into the same pattern. At even strength, both squads just were not “clicking.” That means that the turnovers were plentiful, passing became more sloppy and no big plays were created. But, when on a power play or penalty kill, the teams’ play immediately became more smooth and crisp.

In addition, each team outplayed the other in spurts. For a couple minutes, Norwin would pressure Baker, forcing numerous stick and glove saves. Then all of a sudden, play started to shift towards the Indians’ offensive zone. The first period certainly was a period of inconsistency—a theme of the entire game.

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Early in the second period, sophomore Patrick Hannan skated down the ice with the puck, wove in and out of two Knight defenders and scored, putting PT ahead 1-0. The goal just left fans cheering, wowed by the fancy stick work.

After the goal, play began to look more “chippy.” The refs originally did a good job of the keeping things from getting out of control, however, as time passed, tempers continued to flare. The Indians were usually the culprits that wound up in the “sin bin,” racking up numerous penalties.

Although PT may have taken a few more penalties than they would have liked, it did an excellent job on the penalty kill all game long. They made sure to stay aggressive, but not overly aggressive, clearing the puck and creating some scoring opportunities as well.

While on one of the penalty kills in the second period, senior Davan Groom zoomed down the ice for a breakaway, only to be taken down by a pursuing Norwin defender. The play ended in a Indian penalty shot, to which Groom missed on a backhand attempt.

Late in the second period, Trevor Recktenwald passed the puck in front of the net to an open Cole Snyder who then one-timed the puck into the net. The goal put the Indians ahead 2-0 and gave the team a comfortable lead going into intermission rather than the flimsy one-goal lead.

The main focus of the third period was to keep the game in check. It was apparent that Norwin was frustrated with their lack of offense. Unfortunately, the players (on both sides) began to jaw and take some late hits against one another. The teams became increasingly annoyed as the period progressed, and their play showed it. The amount of penalties rose throughout the duration of the third.

With less than 30 seconds left, Snyder scored his second goal of the night, which simply proved that the Indians wanted to let their play do the talking.

The Indians play again next Monday at the Iceoplex against rival Upper St. Clair. The game marks their second of a five-game homestand.

Editor's Note: Josh Glicksman is a sophomore in Nicole Sitler's journalism class at . Photos are by junior Austin Chappell.

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