NA Edged By Pine-Richland In OT Shootout, 4-3
The North Allegheny ice hockey team dropped its second straight heartbreaker in overtime with a 4-3 shootout loss to Pine-Richland on Thursday night at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale.
The Tigers stormed out of the gates with a goal by Luke Walkauskas 58 seconds into the game for an immediate 1-0 lead. The Walkauskas marker set the tone for a dominant opening stanza that saw NA outshoot the Rams, 12-5.
In the second period, Evan Kerber scored at the 7:20 mark, assisted by Brock Murphy and Ryan Jackman, to extend the lead to 2-0. Pine-Richland cut into the NA advantage and made it 2-1 thanks to a goal by Hayden Keegan at the 9:47 mark of the period. North Allegheny regained its two-goal lead when Ravi Desai tickled the twine, assisted by Evan Perrotte and Marc Joyson, for a 3-1 lead at the 11:12 mark of the second.
Pine-Richland bounced back after intermission and ultimately forced overtime on goals by A.J. Verszyla and Josh Lanyard the knot the score at 3-3. Lanyard’s marker came with just 26 seconds left in regulation.
Neither team could find the back of the net in the extra session, prompting the contest to go into an overtime shootout. NA goalie Andrew Long and PR net minder Brett Sudac both stood tall in the shootout as well with neither allowing a goal to the first four shooters. However, the Rams’ fifth shooter, Aiden Tarasovich, scored and Sudac followed with one final save to propel Pine-Richland to a 4-3 victory.
Long made 30 saves on the night, while Sudac stopped 21 pucks.
North Allegheny slips to 8-4-2 with the loss, while Pine-Richland improves to 8-4 with the victory. The Tigers look to end their mini three-game skid with a visit to Baldwin on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Ice Hockey Summary vs. Pine-Richland, 1-11-24
| GAME SUMMARY | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY PERIODS | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | FINAL |
| Pine-Richland | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| North Allegheny | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
