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TIGERS BLANK SENECA VALLEY 8-0
by Jordan Dee

The Tigers avenged last season’s two shutout losses to Seneca Valley with an 8-0 win over their PIHL Section 2-AAA rival Wednesday night at Bladerunners in Warrendale. Officially, it was a road game for the Tigers, as both schools call Bladerunners home.

Eric Barger and Cody Black each scored two goals for North Allegheny. Matthew Goda needed just 15 saves to record the shutout victory.

It took the Tigers just seven seconds to take a 1-0 lead. On the opening face off, North Allegheny raced up ice and promptly scored the first goal of the night on a shot by Barger. Joe Griffin and Dalton Landman were given assists.

The quick goal was a first-period theme for North Allegheny. A little more than five minutes into the game, Ryan Worsena won a face off Raider territory. With 9:16 remaining in the period, Matthew Neurohr put the puck past Seneca Valley’s Michael Singel to extend the lead to 2-0. Each team committed a penalty over the next five minutes, but neither could capitalize on the power play.

With 1:16 to go in the first period, Jacob Hubert took the puck from a Landman face off win and buried it past Singel to make it 3-0 Tigers. It stayed that way for the remainder of the period.

NA was called for a delayed penalty as the clock expired, so Seneca Valley began the second period with a power play. Again, the Raiders were unable to cut into the Tigers lead. That penalty kill seemed to propel the North Allegheny attack. Black extended the lead to 4-0 with a wraparound goal with 11:56 remaining in the second period.

Seneca Valley committed its second penalty of the night about two minutes later. The Tigers took full advantage, as Black took a Charles Johnson pass and scored a power-play goal with 7:58 left in the period to make it 5-0.

Each team took penalties separated by about 40 seconds. With 6:03 remaining in the second period, Barger scored his second goal on a 4-on-4 to make it 6-0. Seneca Valley took yet another penalty with 57 seconds remaining in the period. It looked like it would carry over into the final 15 minutes, but instead Harry Kramer scored with 0.1 seconds on the clock. Hubert and Josh King were credited with assists. The 7-0 lead meant the third period would be played under a mercy-rule running clock.

The Raiders took a penalty less than 1:30 into the third period. With a 3-minute power play thanks to the running clock, North Allegheny’s Griffin scored his first goal of the night to make it 8-0. King and Barger were credited with assists. That’s where the scoring ended and physical play continued to escalate. The Tigers were assessed with one more penalty, while Seneca Valley committed three violations over a 5:30 span. One of those Raider penalties also drew a game misconduct.

With the victory, the Tigers ran their record to 4-1-1 and stay in second place in Section 2-AAA. Seneca Valley drops to 1-5-0 and remains in fourth place in the section.

The offensive barrage meant there were several worthy candidates for the Wright Automotive North Allegheny Player of the Game. Barger scored three points – including two goals. Landman, Griffin, and King each added two points. In addition, Ryan Stupy was solid defensively and Goda kept the Raiders off the board. Ultimately, though, the North Allegheny Sports Network chose Cody Black for the honor. Black scored two second-period goals and played well as a fore-checker on the penalty kill.

The Tigers’ next game will be Monday, December 6 at Canon-McMillan. North Allegheny will once again have revenge on its mind, as the Big Macs have eliminated NA from the PIHL Class AAA playoffs each of the last two seasons.

SCORING SUMMARY

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 

2010-11 PIHL ALIGNMENT - 17 TEAMS

The Tigers will compete again in the PIHL in Class AAA along with 16 other teams.  NA has been placed in Section 2-AAA for the 2010-11 season.

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director
Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org