Tyler Putnam’s Hat Trick Lifts NA To Victory
The North Allegheny ice hockey team continued its early-season surge with a 6-4 victory over the Peters Township Indians on Thursday night from the Baierl Ice Complex. Senior Tyler Putnam netted a hat trick, giving him seven goals on the season, to help spark NA’s high-octane attack. For his efforts, Putnam was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.
The Tigers dictated the pace in the first period and thoroughly outplayed the visiting in Indians. North Allegheny came narrowly close to scoring in the opening stanza but a wrap-around try by Tyler Sippel hit the post and a shot from Putman caromed off the crossbar, keeping the game scoreless.
In the second period, NA’s constant barrage eventually wore down PT goalie Alex Wilbert. Sophomore Hayden Watson netted the first goal of the night with a slap shot from the top right point, giving NA a 1-0 lead with 15:10 on the clock. The Watson goal opened the floodgates for the Tigers, who scored three more times before the end of the second period.
Just 31 seconds after the Watson goal, Putnam scored on a power play to give NA a 2-0 lead. With 9:31 remaining in the period, sophomore Connor Chi played a puck near the top of the crease and senior Tyler Lamark was able to jam the loose puck home for a 3-0 North Allegheny advantage. Putnam added another marker with 6:35 to go in the period for a 4-0 lead.
Following intermission, Peters Township finally settled into the game and began to rally on back-to-back goals by Mark Lehman and Owen Barrett to trim the NA lead to 4-2. The Lehman and Barrett goals came just 32 second apart, with the second of which occurring with 12:06 remaining in the third period.
The North Allegheny forwards hounded Peters Township into numerous mistakes on this night, including a steal by Lamark who feathered a pass to Chi on the doorstep for his seventh goal of the season and NA improved the lead to 5-2 with 10:58 left in regulation. Lamark finished with a five-point night, tallying one goal and four assists. Chi posted three points with one goal and two assists.
Senior Andrew Wilbert scored for Peters Township with 8:27 remaining in the contest to cut the Tigers lead to 5-3. Once more, North Allegheny answered in kind thanks to Putnam’s third goal of the night, ballooning the score to 6-3, Tigers, with 6:40 to play. The Indians netted one final goal when John Camp scored on a power play with 5:20 remaining, bringing the score to 6-4, North Allegheny. It proved to be too little, too late for Peters Township as NA hung on for the two-goal victory.
North Allegheny’s Tyler Boyles earned a win over Peters Township for the second time this season, making 29 saves for his fifth win of the year. Alex Wilbert suffered the loss, stopping 32 of 38 shots he faced.
With the win, first-place North Allegheny improves to 8-0-1 on the season, while Peters Township drops to 4-4 on the campaign. The Tigers will take on second-place Seneca Valley on Monday night at 9:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Ice Hockey Summary vs. Peters Township, 11-21-19
| GAME SUMMARY | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY PERIODS | 1 | 2 | 3 | FINAL |
| Peters Township | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| North Allegheny | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |