Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

NEW KENSINGTON ~ Freeport coach Dave Hepler is in his first year and takes over a team two years removed from a Penguin Cup semi-final appearance. Nick DeCroo was a big part of it as the junior forward scored over 50 goals to lead his team to the promised land, but Nick didn’t play for Freeport last season and only plays on Monday’s this season according to sources close to the team [I’ll give you all 3 guesses as to why ?]. So when leading scorer Dustin Gaworski went down with an injury and the coaches son Zach Hepler went down to an injury, that leaves the Yellow Jackets with just nine healthy skaters. So in a growing trend in Interscholastic Hockey, Freeport is nearing the danger area of not being able to field a team and another sad state of affairs for Western Pa Hockey, which has lost 15 Varsity teams since the PIHL was formed in 1999-2000. Deer Lakes Al Palowski has his own problems with lack of numbers, but has gone the route of bringing in foreign exchange students to fill the void. The Lancers added a new player to their roster in the form of Mike Watson, who has made his mark as an excellent amateur player and is a welcome addition to DL. Deer Lakes had its low point of the season losing to South Division doormat Linsly , but has rebounded with a couple of big wins including a 4-3 upset of Elizabeth Forward and is looking to move into playoff position. Freeport held its own in the first period and forged a 0-0 tie mostly on a great effort by defensive duo of Tommy Ferrante and Scott Gallagher, who only left the ice to get a drink of water. Deer Lakes coach Pawloski had to be concerned, but the newcomer got things started as Mike Watson scored at 13:47 to give the Lancers a 1-0 lead. Matt Romutus continued his hot hand at 10:01 extending the DL lead to 2-0. Watson scored his 2nd goal at 7:54 to expand the lead to 3-0. Josh Schreckengost got Freeport on the board at 6:56, but that was as close as it would get as Rich Bigley scored twice at 6:39 and 2:53 to turn this one into a rout 5-1. On to the third period and Troy Barker pulled Freeport back to 5-2 at 8:43. Deer Lakes countered with three goals of their own as Watson completed the hat trick at 4:02 and Stefan Karsay added two more [3:12 and 2:46] for an 8-2 victory. Jiri Frkal stopped 25 of 27 Freeport shots as DL outshot the Yellow Jackets 28-17 on the evening.