Archbishop Ryan Raiders

Special to Pa Hockey from the Meadville Tribune by Pete Chiodo Halloween might be over for the rest of Meadville, however the DeArment Ice Arena was still a house of horrors for the Bulldog hockey team, which was drubbed by Bethel Park, 7-0, in each teams’ Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League opener Monday. “We were just beaten by a better team,” said Meadville head coach Jamie Plunkett. “Hopefully, we remember how it feels and use this as a reference point to say that, if you don’t work hard and you don’t compete hard, this could be a common thing. You sometimes learn something from losses like this.” The loss was Meadville’s worst since a 9-2 loss to Boston’s Bellmont Hill during the 1992-93 season. The Bulldogs also had a pair of 8-1 losses that season. The Bulldogs worst shutout since the 92-93 season was a 6-0 loss to Harbor Creek in November of 1999. “I think we’ve had a couple close to that, right around there,” said Plunkett, “But those ones, they’re not a lot of fun.” The Blackhawks took the lead early when Tim O’Brien made a nice move to work the puck past Bulldogs freshman goalie Bryan Danczak a minute into the opening period. That kicked off a string of five first-period goals for Bethel Park. “We came out very, very hard,” said Bethel Park coach Jim McVay. “Our guys were ready to play. I’m very happy with how they came out. This is a tough place to play, but when we jump on them like that it helped us out. “I don’t think I’ve even seen or heard of a Meadville team losing 7-0,” he said. “I know Jamie was playing without some players tonight. And I know that they only have two seniors. They’re going to get a lot of experience, and I wouldn’t want to play them in the playoffs.” Bulldogs junior goalie Derrek Hunter — along with sophomore defenseman Jake Mushrush — missed the game and will be out for another week due to violating a team rule. “I think if I would have had Derrek there I probably would have (put him in),” Plunkett said. “Sometimes, when you make a goaltending change that sparks something.” Still, Danczak did what he could, posting 21 saves on 28 shots. “The only kid that showed up, in my mind, was Bryan Danczak,” Plunkett said. “If it weren’t for him, it could have been 10, 15 to nothing. I feel bad for the kid because collectively, not just defensively, I thought the forwards and the defense really struggled inside our own blue line.” Meanwhile, the Bulldogs recorded 12 shots on goal (3-2-7), including five in the first two periods combined. “We’ve got several kids that just don’t want to shoot the puck,” said Plunkett. “They’re waiting for the perfect shot. In this game, you can’t wait for them. You get five shots in two periods, and you’re playing poor defensively, that’s a recipe for a long night.” For Bethel Park, Bryan Brown scored a pair of goals. Matt Slogan had a goal and two assists. Connor McLean, Logan Bannon and Mike Diethorn each had a goal and an assist in the win. “We had six different players score,” McVay said. “I think our goalie (Bryce Merriam) played great. If I’ve ever seen a team effort before, it was tonight. “There were a few things we could have done better. But it’s tough to complain when you beat a great team like Meadville. They have all the history. Just look at all the state championships. They’re as big a game as there is on your schedule.” The loss was the first of the season for the Bulldogs, who fell to 3-1-2 on the year, and 0-1-0 in the PIHL. “I thought that 3-0-2 record was misleading,” Plunkett said. “I felt that we’d be seeing a lot better competition. For a lot of these kids, this was their first time playing in that kind of game. It’s tough. Hopefully, we’ll learn from it.”