St Joseph's Prep Hawks

Story provided by the North Allegheny Hockey Club HARMARVILLE - Freshman defenseman Tyler Wright scored his first two varsity and senior forward Dan Gaertner added two more as the Tigers downed Central Catholic, 8-4, at Bladerunners in Harmarville on Monday night. Sophomore Dylan Rohar recorded three assists and sophomore Bo Schwab a goal and two assists as the Tigers won their third straight game. Central grabbed the lead off the opening faceoff when C.J. Burke took the puck through several NA players and scored just nine seconds into the contest. The Tigers answered quickly when Gaertner scored from the right side on assists from Schwab and Wes Waldschmidt to tie the game at 1-1 with 13:22 remaining in the period. After senior defenseman Brad Schwartzmier was sent off at 11:35, Doug Dietrich scored a power play goal to put the Vikings back ahead, 2-1. For most of the remainder of the period, Central was short handed. The Tigers had a five-on-three for a full two minutes at one point but could not beat Central goalie Phil Salerno. NA had great chances by junior forward Josh Herbert and senior forward Matt Lancaster but failed to finish. With less than a minute remaining, Tiger junior goalie Max Richards made a tough save on Dietrich to keep the score at 2-1 at the end of the period. The second period belonged to the Tigers. Early in the period, Lancaster stole a clearing pass and set up Herbert who scored from the left side to tie the game just 43 seconds into the stanza. Richards made a good save on a shot by Andy Hanno at the 10:07 mark to keep the game tied. After Salerno stopped Schwab just nine seconds later, Wright's shot from the right point deflected off a Central player into the net to give NA a 3-2 advantage with 7:05 remaining. Wright scored again with a hard shot along the ice that beat Salerno at the 5:28 mark to extend the Tiger lead to 4-2. The Tigers almost scored again when Herbert hit the crossbar with two minutes remaining. As time was running out, Gaertner put in his own rebound with just 9.6 seconds on the clock as NA took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission. The Tigers outshot the Vikings, 14-6, in the period as they scored four unanswered goals. Early in the third period, Central cut the lead to 5-3 on a power play goal by Jake Roberts who scored 23 seconds into the final stanza. The goal seemed to energize the Vikings as they continued to pressure the NA goal. Burke scored his second goal of the game at the 12:05 mark to cut the lead to 5-4. The Tigers then took a pair of penalties giving Central a 5-on-3 advantage. The Vikings responded with their own pair of penalties creating a rare three-on-three situation. Wes Waldschmidt stole the puck in the NA end and then raced the length of the ice to beat Salerno and make it a 6-4 game with 8:37 remaining. When the NA players returned from the penalty box, the Tigers capitalized on the five-on-three with their first power play goal of the game by senior Mike Peterson to extend the margin to 7-4. With a Central player still in the box, the Tigers scored again when Schwab found the net out of a scramble in front to give NA a commanding 8-4 lead. At this point, Central turned up the physical play which resulted in a succession of penalties against the Vikings. Central played shorthanded for the remainder of the game as six penalties were called against the Vikings in the waning moments. The Tigers did not score again but still went home with a convincing 8-4 victory. It was a quality win for the Tigers against the #2 ranked Vikings. Special credit should be given to Wes Waldschmidt who rarely sat down during the contest. For his efforts, however, the North Allegheny Sports Network named Tyler Wright as the Player of the Game. Although Central scored four times, Richards made some key saves in stopping sixteen Viking shots. With the win, the Tigers increased their lead over Central in the North Division to four points as they improved their record to 9-3-0. NA will participate again in the Scholastic Showcase Tournament at the Center Ice Arena in Delmont over the winter break. The Tigers have been tournament champions for the past three years. GAME SUMMARY NORTH ALLEGHENY - 8 CENTRAL CATHOLIC - 4 SCORE BY PERIODS 1 2 3 FINAL NORTH ALLEGHENY 1 4 3 8 Central Catholic 2 0 2 4 INDIVIDUAL SCORING FIRST PERIOD CENTRAL CATHOLIC C.J. Burke (unassisted) 14:51 NORTH ALLEGHENY Danny Gaertner (Bo Schwab, Wes Waldschmidt) 13:22 CENTRAL CATHOLIC Doug Dietrick (Renars Rukmanis) PP 10:34 SECOND PERIOD NORTH ALLEGHENY Josh Herbert (Matt Lancaster) 19:17 NORTH ALLEGHENY Tyler Wright (Thomas Gillespie) 7:05 NORTH ALLEGHENY Wright 2 (Mike Peterson) 5:28 NORTH ALLEGHENY Gaertner 2 (Dylan Rohar, Schwab) 0:09 THIRD PERIOD CENTRAL CATHOLIC Jake Roberts (Chris Urso, Burke) PP 14:37 CENTRAL CATHOLIC Burke 2 (Andy Hanno, Josh Martin) 12:05 NORTH ALLEGHENY Wes Waldschmidt (unassisted) 8:37 NORTH ALLEGHENY Peterson (Schwab, Rohar) PP 8:01 NORTH ALLEGHENY Schwab (Lancaster, Rohar) PP 5:19 SHOTS ON GOAL TEAM 1 2 3 TOTAL NORTH ALLEGHENY 6 14 7 27 Central Catholic 8 6 6 20