Archbishop Ryan Raiders

Latrobe 4 Thomas Jefferson 2 GREENSBURG – In a battle of division leaders, Latrobe (14-4-0) and Thomas Jefferson (13-4-2) are currently in the 2nd and 3rd seed positions entering the final weeks of the regular season. Coach Ron Makoski’s Wildcats have been pretty steady with the exception of a 3-1 loss to Indiana and have played many of the bottom feeders in Class AA that have dominated the second half schedule. A match-up with Thomas Jefferson, winners of seven straight after opening the second half loss to South Park. Coach Don Powell’s team is looking to hold down a bye and maintain the 2nd or 3rd seed position to avoid Pine Richland in the Penguins Cup semis. Both teams can ill-afford a loss with Moon, Franklin Regional and Hampton within striking distance of supplanting either team should they slide. Latrobe’s Ryan LaDuke opened the scoring at 10:47 of the first period as he walked down the middle of the ice and beat Spencer Neel with a wrist shot on the stick side to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. At 9:44 of the first the Jaguars went on the power play, which Latrobe killed and then the Wildcats went on the man advantage at 6:18 and a 5 on 3 for a half minute at 4:52, but it was Brock Heinauer who beat the Latrobe defense to the puck and beat Nick Loyacona on the forehand at 4:21 to tie the score at 1-1. That was shortlived as Jeff Joe Regula buried a slapshot from the top of the right circle with 4:03 to go to give the Cats a 2-1 lead. Shots were 5-3 in favor of Latrobe in the opening period. Latrobe took a two-goal advantage at 11:41 as JeffJoe Regula was set up on a beautiful cross-ice pass by Michael McCurdy. The Jaguars rebounded at 11:22 as Danny Joseph scored on a rebound to make it 3-2. Michael McCurdy scored from on the doorstep at 4:14 and Latrobe regained its two-goal lead 4-2. TJ went on the power play in the final two minutes of the 2nd period but could not score as the shots were 13-9 in favor of the Cats and they took a 4-2 lead to the ice cut. At 12:56 of the third period, the Jaguars had an opportunity on the power play, which got even better at 11:59 on a 5 on 3 and nearly scored at 11:36 on a wild scramble in front. The Wildcats did a very effective job killing the penalties after a few near misses and the lead was still two. Nick Loyacona made a terrific sprawling save at 9:36 on Joe Sabol, who thought the puck went in. With 7:32 to go, the Jags had another chance that was unsuccessful and yet another chance with 5:15 to go but Nick Loyacona stopped all twelve shots generated by TJ in the third and looked very sharp in doing so. The Jaguars could not score despite outshooting the Wildcats 27-21 and Latrobe earned a 4-2 win over Thomas Jefferson.