High school hockey players are not supposed to play a game with a heavy heart, but there was no way to avoid that on Thursday night, when Moon beat Montour, 8-3.
The game opened as both teams joined for a moment in silence for the late younger brother of Montour goaltender Brandon Heitzenrater.
Moon head coach Craig Bioni said both teams were in pain during the game—senior night for the Tigers.
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“A lot of these guys know each other from Moon and Montour,” Bioni said. “It was a sad night for us also.”
Nine seniors played their final home game for Moon (6-0 division, 10-6-3 overall), which dominated on home ice and clinched a first-round bye in the Class AA Penguins Cup.
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Montour (0-6 division, 1-18 overall) finished its season Thursday.
Moon scored the only goal in the first period, coming from senior defenseman Austin Seibert, with assists from Trevor Handlovich and Michael Durkin at the 8:02 mark.
Montour took advantage of a power-play opportunity early in the second period, and defenseman Wyatt Macejka cashed in, tying the game at 1 at the 2:10 mark. Moon responded quickly with Seibert netting his second goal of the game, and Handlovich adding a short-handed goal.
The Spartans used another power play to slice the lead to 3-2, and Coach Bioni was not happy.
“We gave up two power play goals on lazy plays, from my point of view,” he said.
But Moon also added three more goals, increasing the lead to 6-2 at the end of the period.
In the third period, senior forward Zach Tamilia, a call up from the junior varsity team, playing in his first varsity game, extended the lead to 7-2 with a power play goal.
“I’m going to have fun, I’m going to work hard,” was how Tamilia described his mindset for his varsity debut.
Handlovich capped off Moon’s offensive explosion with a breakaway goal with 11.4 seconds remaining, making the final score 8-3.
After the game, Bioni had a chance to reflect on another link between these teams.
“I actually coached both of their coaches when they were in 6th grade,” he said. “It was an interesting evening for me.”
With their win Thursday, the Tigers claimed the division title, their first since the 2006-07 season.
Kyle Gorcey is a student at Robert Morris University.
