Butler Toronadoes

Park, Carrick To Meet in Final By JOSH STROPE Wheeling Intelligencer WHEELING - Wheeling Central coach James Rae knew his young team would be facing an uphill battle in effort to top Carrick during their semifinal game of the Nailers Cup Monday at WesBanco Arena. The Maroon Knights put up a gallant fight, but were no match for top-seeded Cougars as Carrick defeated Wheeling Central 8-1 for the right to play for the PIHL¡¯s Nailers Cup Wednesday against Wheeling Park, a 6-1 winner over Morgantown in the nightcap. ¡°We were pretty unlucky tonight,¡± Rae said. ¡°We came out and committed some silly penalties and they just took advantage of us. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good hockey team over there.¡± The Maroon Knights hung around in the first period, despite being outshot 7-0 in the early going. Wheeling Central¡¯s first shot on goal was one of its best chances to score as Matt Pockl raced down the ice on a breakaway, only to be denied by Carrick goaltender J.T. Kohnen. More good chances game the way of Wheeling Central as the Maroon Knights had two wide open shots in front of the net, but great saves by Kohnen got the play moving back up ice. During a scrum for the puck, Carrick¡¯s Nick Kelly found himself wide open in front of the net and buried the puck past Central goalkeeper Tommy Pie. Wheeling Central had more chances in the first period, but whiffs on one-timers and Kohnen¡¯s stopping of a Eric Baker breakaway as time was running out kept the designated home team with a one-goal advantage after the first period. ¡°We started real slow, and I thought we played real well as the game went on despite the score, but once they started scoring, we couldn¡¯t recover,¡± Rae said. Just more than a minute into the second period, the Cougars struck again. Kohnen made a diving save on Baker to knock the puck away, and Carrick¡¯s Justin Hennon found himself racing up ice and put the puck past Pie for the game-winner. The scoring didn¡¯t stop there as the Cougars erupted for two more goals in the period, one by Kelly and Matt Abbott. Down 4-0, Wheeling Central needed a spark to get some momentum heading into the final period. With 1:38 remaining in the second period, the Maroon Knights finally got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal by Cory Palmer. But as soon as the momentum came, it left just as suddenly. Carrick struck early in the third period, despite having being shorthanded with two men in the penalty box. Abbott took a rebound and raced up ice, putting the puck past Pie for his second tally of the game. It wasn¡¯t long before Carrick scored again, getting another just 1:43 later as Hennon collected his second goal. After game misconducts and numerous penalties, Carrick was now the recipient of a 5-on-3 advantage and cashed in. As Chris Larkin left the penalty box, teammate Aaron Hahne sent the puck across the ice where Larkin was waiting with a one-timer past Pie for a 7-1 lead. Abbott finished up the scoring on another breakaway with 14 seconds remaining, deking Pie one way, before collecting his hat trick. ¡°Abbott¡¯s a player that is always good for two or more goals a game, and is one of those kids you love to coach, but hate to play against,¡± Rae said. The Maroon Knights took 22 shots in the contest, eight by leading scorer Baker. ¡°Eric¡¯s a good kid but he was a little unlucky tonight,¡± Rae said. ¡°It¡¯s really unlucky because it was his last game.¡± Pie finished the game with 19 saves, while Kohnen collected 21. While Rae will lose Baker, he sees plenty of good things for the coming seasons. ¡®¡®We are all kind of shell-shocked right now, but we¡¯re a young team and we¡¯ll bounce back,¡¯¡¯ he said. ¡®¡®The future is very bright here.¡¯¡¯ Wheeling Park 6, Morgantown 1 Luke Sonnefeld scored two goals to lead the Patriots to a win over Morgantown in the second semifinal game of the Nailers Cup and a date with Carrick in the championship game. Adam Lewton, Christian Lewton, Jason Pelinsky, and Zach Davis scored the other goals for the No. 2 ranked Patriots. Matt McWilliams made 10 saves in the game for Wheeling Park. ¡Ò¡Ò¡Ò Carrick 8, Wheeling Central 1 C ¡ª Goals: Abbott 3, Kelly 2, Hennon 2, Larkin; Assists: Faust 2, Kass 2, Hahne 2, Deevy; Goalkeeper: Kohnen (21 saves); W ¡ª Goals: Palmer; Goalkeeper: Pie (19 saves). Wheeling Park 6, Morgantown 1 W ¡ª Goals: Sonnefeld 2, A.Lewton, C.Lewton, J.Pelinsky, Davis; Assists: S.Pelinsky 2, Brown 2, Schutz 2, A. Lewton, C.Lewton, Sullivan; Goalkeeper: McWilliams (10 saves); M ¡ª Goal: Hart; Goalkeeper: Levelle (29 saves).