Tigers Tame Hawks with 5-3 Win
by Bob Orkwis
North Allegheny coach Andrew Siess said before the game that the Tigers could use a quick start against the Black Hawks. The Tigers got a goal 1:43 into the game and built a 3-0 lead on their way to a 5-3 win at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale.
Sophomore defenseman Noah Logan snapped a high wrist shot home after a Luke Walkauskas pass for his first goal of the season that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Brendan White and Marc Joyson combined on a nice forecheck, and Ravi Desai fired home a strong wrist shot from the high slot at 6:31 to put North Allegheny in front 2-0.
Joyson, a PIHL all-star selection would unfortunately leave the game in the second period with a lower body injury.
Walkauskas made a great individual effort to set the Tigers third goal at 7:02 of the second period. The sophomore all-star entered the Bethel Park zone with speed down the left wing and made three great moves to get to the net, where Evan Perrotte was waiting to tuck in his 5th goal of the year to put NA up 3-0.
That goal came after the Tigers penalty killing unit killed off a late first period and early second period power play for Behel Park.
After the first period, the Black Hawks were strong, and they scored the next two goals in the game to pull within a goal. Will Alborg at 12:54 of the second and Anthony Karner 3:46 into the third made the score 3-2.
North Allegheny, in addition to killing off all four Bethel Park power plays, got a huge shorthanded goal from a pair of all-stars to go up 4-2.
Ryan Jackman fed Evan Kerber on a 2-on-1 break, and the senior scored his team leading 12th goal of the season to put NA up by two goals.
But the Hawks answered again, as Peter Velisaris ripped home a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:28 to pull Bethel Park back within a goal.
But North Allegheny converted another perfect 2-on-1 break just a little over two minutes later for the game’s final tally.
Sophomore Ed Scherer fed a picture-perfect pass to Perrotte from the left wing and the senior buried the shot for his second goal of the game.
Senior goaltender Andrew Long made the lead stand up. The all-star stopped 40 of 43 shots on the night to net his 7th victory of the year.
With his two-goal effort, Evan Perrotte earned the Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.
The victory gives North Allegheny 22-points, and leap frogs the Tigers over Pine-Richland into second place in the PIHL AAA standings. Seneca Valley leads the conference with 26 points.
It’s a short turn around for the Tigers as they are back in action Thursday night when they visit the Upper St. Clair Panthers.
Ice Hockey Summary vs. Bethel Park, 1-29-24
GAME SUMMARY | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
SCORE BY PERIODS | 1 | 2 | 3 | FINAL |
Bethel Park | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
North Allegheny | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |