Butler Toronadoes

ERIE - Special Report provided by McDowell Hockey Club Quite often in high school hockey, a coach hopes to win early in the season while his team searches for an identity and they slowly jell into a finely tuned unit. Although the results aren’t always favorable when a team is not clicking on all cylinders, the McDowell Trojan Varsity Hockey team found a way to post a tense 2-1 victory over the Seneca Valley Raiders Thursday night in a PIHL contest played at the Erie Civic Center. The game started out on a slow note as both teams fought for territorial advantage. Seneca Valley speedster Matthew Jarrett sprinted towards the games first scoring opportunity on a partial breakaway early in the game, but Trojan defenseman Andrew Sitek hustled over to make a diving play on the puck at the 9:55 mark. McDowell would counter with a 2 on 1 of their own as Nick DiSanti fed Andy Kohler who’s shot just missed it’s mark at the 8:20 mark. Brandon Oathout would come close to scoring less than a minute later as he made a diving attempt at an open net on a loose rebound but was not able to find paydirt. With the game still scoreless, Seneca Valley would get the first break of the game as the Trojan’s DiSanti was whistled for a high sticking penalty with 5:59 left in the first period. But effective penalty killing by Ed Maras and Andy Kohler kept the Raiders bottled up in their own end. The continued pressure from the forwards would pay off as a hustling Ryan Presnar would scoop up a loose puck at mid-ice and push it up to a streaking Trevor Shaw who blistered a shot past Raider goaltender Nicholas Miller and with 4:23 left in the period, the Trojans assumed the lead thanks to the shorthanded goal. After killing off their second penalty of the period over the last two minutes of the first, McDowell would finally get their first power play opportunity of the night as Seneca Valley captain Kevin Raynovich was sent to the box with one second left in the period. McDowell outshot Seneca Valley in the first stanza by a 9-7 count. McDowell would assume control of the action during the first five minutes of the second period. Sophomore call-up Chris Michalak and team captain Ed Maras would each get off good shots during the power play, but Miller came up big in net each time for Seneca Valley keeping the Raiders to within one goal. Miles Gates would threaten as well, as his big blast from the face-off circle was turned away by Miller at the 12:12 mark. Gates would follow that up with a breakaway opportunity, but his shot on goal with a defender closing in on him sailed just over Miller’s left shoulder and once again the Trojans came up empty. Meanwhile, Trojan goalie John Cleary would also come up big with tough saves at the 9:26 mark and one on a lightning quick shot off of a face-off at the 8:49 mark. Raynovich had a golden opportunity to tie the game for the Raiders as he stole the puck at the blue line and walked in all alone on big John. But Cleary’s save at the 3:43 mark kept Seneca Valley off the board once again and seemed to throw a spark back into the Trojan attack. McDowell would maintain good pressure in the offensive zone over the last three minutes of the period, and would eventually capitalize as Shaw’s shot from the blueline which created a mad scramble for the rebound in front of the goal crease as Matt Stahon and Brandon Oathout would take swatting at the puck. But it was Chris Michalak who was at the right place at the right time as he slid the puck past Miller at the 2:09 mark to give McDowell a 2-0 lead and a little breathing room heading into the final period. McDowell carried the play most of the period and once again outshot Seneca Valley 11-8. The Raiders would show no quit at the outset of the third period as Jarrett sparked a comeback with his hustle on a rush up ice that led to a shot that Cleary was able to save. But Joe Sasala crashed the net hard and poked in the rebound just 2:12 into the third period, and the Raiders were back to within 2-1. McDowell would counter with great scoring opportunities of their own as Gates would fire a shot into the chest of Miller on a breakaway at the 11:54 mark and would just miss on a rush to the net less than 30 seconds later. Seneca Valley’s Michael McChesney fired a one-timer at Cleary, but the Trojan backstop came up big once again at the 8:53 mark. McDowell would have the next scoring threat in the see-saw affair as Stahon’s shot on net was gobbled up by Michalak off the rebound and fired just high of the net at the 4:37 mark. That was followed by Trojan defenseman Dan Gott’s blast from the blue line that hit the post and ricocheted wide at the 3:43 mark. Seneca Valley’s John Raymus later found himself all alone with the puck in front of the net, but two Trojan defenders quickly converged on him thwarting his attempt to tie the contest with 3:18 left in the game. McDowell came right back as Gates circled from behind the Raiders net and let loose with a shot that deflected high in the air. Jimmy Martin was able to glove the loose puck and get it to the blade of his stick, but the Raider goaltender was in position to make a big save on Martin’s shot. Despite pulling their goalie with 1:17 left in the game, Seneca Valley was not able to beat Cleary the rest of the way and the Trojans would hold on for the 2-1 victory. McDowell outshot Seneca Valley10-6 in the final period and 30-21 for the game. The Trojans evened their PIHL record at 1-1 while Seneca Valley opens up league play with an 0-1 record. Shots On Goal: Seneca Valley / 7 - 8 - 6 = 21 McDowell / 9 - 11 - 10 = 30