Shaler Titans

CRANBERRY - Sewickley Academy Erik Hoolihan knows the rigors of starting a Varsity Program in Interscholastic Hockey and now that the Panthers are returning to Class A competition in the 2002-2003 season for the first time in three years, he has to have little advice for Linsly skipper Darryl Crews about patience. The Cadets have started off their inuagural season at 0-5 and have not been real close to victory in any of their starts thus far, so when Matt Jividen gave Linsly a 1-0 lead in the first period, coach Hoolihan probably sensed a false sense of security on the opposing bench. The Panthers Trevor Heck tied the game with a power play goal with 5:26 left in the opening period at 1-1. The second period saw Sewickley Academy have the better of the play and made it count as captain Jake Creese scored at the 8:35 mark to give his team the lead 2-1. Linsly attempted to pressure SA early in the third and the Panthers made them pay as Creese used good speed to get a breakaway goal at 13:40 beating Linsly keeper Keith Bramer on the backhand. Just nine seconds later, freshman callup Bradley Watts scored at 13:31 to give the Panthers a 4-1 lead. Lightning struck again as Watts bettered himself only seven seconds later beating Bramer on the glove side and chasing the Linsly goaltender from the nets at 13:24 and giving Sewickley a 5-1 lead. Alce Shannon closed out the scoring at 1:20 as Sewickley ended a 5-game losing skid with a 6-1 victory. Karthik Reddy stopped 16 of 17 Cadets shots between the pipes.