Freeport Yellow Jackets

Thomas Jefferson 6 Pine Richland 4 ROSTRAVER – Thomas Jefferson is a very young team with a lot of tradition on its side with 3 State Championships under the dean of Class AA coaching Don Powell. The Jaguars have had a very nice season thus far with wins over Peters Twp. and Greensburg CC under their belts. TJ’s season ended a year ago at the hands of Pine Richland giving a little motivation for the Jaguars to knock off PR. Pine Richland has been on a role for the first half of the season and owns two ties against Canevin and Canon McMillan, in games where both teams hung around enough to cause trouble. Moon also gave the Rams a little trouble before falling in overtime after holding a lead. For head coach Jimmy Black, the key is that his team scores on its opportunities and extends the lead like they did against Montour, Peters Twp and Greensburg CC in the first half of the season. The Rams would be looking to exercise that magical formula against a Thomas Jefferson team that is pesky and figures to be a factor when the playoff bell rings in March. The game opened up and Pine Richland went on the power play at 13:17, which the Jaguars killed off. Then at 11:16, just one second after the first penalty expired PR got another opportunity and the Rams were unable to convert. In fact, the best chance came with 9:07 remaining in the period as TJ netminder Jeffrey Wojonovich stopped Jordan Yoklic with a kick save from the slot area. So the Jaguars survived an early barrage and the game remained scoreless. With 6 ½ remaining, the Jaguars had their first good scoring opportunity as Brock Heinauer was stopped on a partial breakaway by Stoney Hildreth. The initial score of the hockey game came at 6:09, as Jordan Yoklic went upstairs over the glove side of the Thomas Jefferson goaltender to give the Rams a 1-0 lead, which would turn out to be the only score of the opening 15 minutes. With a little over 11 minutes left in the 2nd , the Jaguars used some nice head man passing to spring Josef Madar who whipped a shot to the net, which Dan Pistilli got a stick on and found its way through Hildreth to tie the score at one apiece. At 6:09 of the 2nd, the Rams regained the lead as Phil Trombetta redirected a shot from the right point and PR had a 2-1 lead.TJ would have an opportunity to tie the score before the ice cut as the went on the man advantage with 1:55 remaining, but were unable to mount a serious attack as Pinr Richland effectively killed off the disadvantage. On to the third and with 14:15 remaining in regulation, Josef Madar scored on a rebound to knot the score at 2-2. The Rams came back at 11:12, as Phil Trombetta picked up his own rebound, which Wojonovich made the initial save on, but trickled on the goal mouth, which # 29 deposited into an empty net to give Pine Richland a 3-2 advantage after the Jaguars had toed it moments earlier. TJ went on the power play and less than a minute after the Rams seized the lead, Brock Heinauer scored on the power play to tie the score again at 3-3. PR regained the lead with 8:33 left, as Jordan Yoklic picked up a loose puck in the slot and beat the TJ goalteder though the 5 hole from the slot for a 4-3 count in favor of the Rams. TJ would have a great chance to tie the score with 4:47 remaining on the power play. The Jaguars would not be denied as Josef Madar score on the power play with 3:36 remaining to tie it again at 4-4. With 2:31 remaining, Jaguar goaltender Jeffrey Wojonovich made two spectacular sprawling saves on Jordan Yoklic and then on Phil Trombetta to keep the game tied at four apiece from right on the doorstep. With 1:25 remaining, the Rams were whistled for goaltender interference, putting the Jaguars on the power play with a chance to go on top, which was compounded by another penalty with 46 ticks left putting the Jags on a 5 on 3. And the big Jaguar delivered as Brock Heinauer walked off the near boards and rifled a wrist shot high over the glove side of Stoney Hildreth with 22 seconds remaining to give Thomas Jefferson a 5-4 lead. An empty netter by Josef Madar with 16 seconds remaining made the final count 6-4 sending Pine Richland to their first loss of the season.