Seneca Valley Raiders

*****Game Summary provided exclusively to PA Hockey by Canon-McMillan Hockey***** BETHEL PARK - Canon-McMillan has traditionally been a mediocre team that ran in the middle of the AA pack. The most wins they had ever posted in a single season was 12, and 6 of their previous 10 seasons finished in records below .500. On the other hand, Peters Township is a perennial title contender, posting more than 12 wins in 7 of their past 8 seasons alone. They know what its like to play in big games. They know how it feels to be called #1. They know how to win against the top teams in the state. But now, so does Canon-McMillan. With a hard-fought 7-4 over Peters Township on Monday night, the Big Macs loudly stated their case for the #1 AA ranking in Pennsylvania. Peters Township was in that position coming in to the contest and weren't about to relinquish it without a fight. But when the dust settled, it was Canon Mac, behind a 6-goal explosion by forward Doug Stanton, that remained the only unbeaten AA team in the PIHL. Peters Township got on the board first with a power play goal from Dustin Roux less than 4 minutes in to the game. Jeff Hannan and Bryan Papciak got assists on the play, and it appeared that the Indians' mastery over the Big Macs might be continuing. An evenly played first period ended with the score evened at 1-1 when Stanton took a pass from Josh Tohey and got CM on the board with a goal from in tight with 2:06 to play. The second period belonged to Canon-McMillan right from the start. They began the period on a power play, and just 28 seconds in, Kyle Harnen took a lead pass from Nate Bohn and converted a 2-on-1 opportunity to put CM ahead, 2-1. Just 2:01 later, Stanton was sprung loose by Justin Cormack on another 2-on-1 down the left wing, and he buried a wrist shot to stretch the lead to 3-1. The hat trick was completed by Stanton 4:50 in to the second when yet another 2-on-1 break resulted in a slap shot to the lower right hand corner from the left wing. Canon-McMillan was suddenly ahead 4-1 in a game that everyone expected to be a nail-biter. Peters Township still had aspirations of keeping it close, however. A CM power play with 6:04 to play in the period turned out to be an opportunity for the Indians. A tenacious forecheck by Hannan led to a short-handed goal by Roux, his second of the night. With 5:02 left in the middle frame and the lead cut to 4-2, PT dug deep in an effort to pull within one. Peters was able to kill off the remainder of the power play, but a few seconds later, Eric Lang fed Stanton in the slot, and he fired a wrist shot past Justin Mahramas for his 4th goal of the game and a 5-3 lead for the Big Macs at the end of two. The Indians regrouped during the intermission and had the benefit of 1:20 of power play time to start the third. A slashing call against CM 50 seconds in to the period gave Peters 30 seconds of 5-on-3 play. With just 1 second of that left, Papciak fired a wrist shot in to the upper corner to cut the deficit back to 2. Hannan got the only assist on the goal, his 3rd helper of the game. Canon Mac was able to kill off the rest of the power play, but they couldn't end PT's momentum. Aaron Croft hit Chris Papciak streaking down the left side, who made a nifty move to the slot before feeding a backhand pass across the crease to George Hecht, who slammed the puck in to the open net. Peters Township now trailed by a single goal and the clock still showed 10:42. Stanton wasn't about to let his stellar performance end with a loss and responded by tucking home his 5th marker of the night just over a minute later. Cormack and Nick Cusolito had assists on the play, putting CM ahead by two again, 6-4. Stanton wasn't finished, though, and got behind the PT defense with a lead pass from Erik McKown. A few quick moves to the forehand pulled Mahramas to the left, then Stanton went to the backhand to slide home his whopping 6th goal of the game. With 4:14 left in the game, CM tightened up defensively to preserve the 7-4 victory, and goaltender Drew Stanton removed any hopes of another Peters comeback with a solid finish in net. Drew Stanton made 30 saves to earn his 7th win on the season, while Mahramas stopped 17 shots for Peters Township. The Big Macs now sit alone atop the AA South Division with a record of 9-0, but Peters is just 1.5 games back with a record of 7-1. Canon-McMillan looks to make their bid at the #1 ranking official by completing the week with a road game against South Park on Friday night. Peters Township plays the same South Park team in their next game, which doesn't come until next Monday.