Butler Toronadoes

ERIE - Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by the McDowell Trojans A power play goal by Ed Maras in the first period sparked the McDowell Trojans to a 1-0 victory over the Meadville Bulldogs in a key PIHL West Division matchup Wednesday night at the JMC Ice Arena. With the Trojans on a power play, Kaylan Rhoades was able to gain control of the puck behind the Bulldog net and feed a centering pass to Maras who was streaking across the front of the goal crease. As he was being checked to the ice he was able to fire a shot across his body and past Bulldog goalie Bryan Danczak with 4:36 left in the opening period for the decisive goal. From there on out it was a battle of sparkling goaltender’s play as Danczak and Trojan netminder John Cleary were unbeatable. Danczak would make 15 saves in the second period while Cleary came up with three outstanding saves in the period. With 6:45 left in the third period, McDowell had a golden opportunity to double their lead while on the power play but came up empty. And just as the penalty had expired, Meadville would also get a man advantage where they came up empty despite putting five shots on net. Meadville would pull their goaltender with 1:30 left in the game, but only muster one more shot on Cleary who picked up his second shut-out of the year in league play.The game was a well-played contest as McDowell finished the contest 1 for 2 on the poewerplay while Meadville finished 0 for2. The Trojans outshot the Dawgs for the game by a 39-24 margin. McDowell, ranked 8th in the PIHL by the Pa Hockey Elite 8, improved their record in the league to 6-2 (11-3-1 overall) while Meadville, ranked #6 in the polls fell to 3-2-1 in the league (8-6-5). Goals By Period: Meadville / 0 – 0 – 0 = 0 McDowell / 1 – 0 – 0 = 1 Shots On Goal: Meadville / 8 - 8 - 8 = 24 McDowell / 15 – 15 - 9 = 39