Peters Hockey Dominates in Easy Victory

The Peters Township Indians won easily on Monday, defeating the visiting Hempfield Spartans by a score of 7-1. The win marked the team’s second straight victory after a tough defeat last week against the Canon-Mac Big Macs.

Peters Township was the heavy favorite coming into the game, and the players most certainly did not disappoint. Within five minutes of the opening drop, captain Cole Snyder put the Indians ahead 1-0. Snyder weaved in and out of defenders and then rocketed the puck top shelf past the goalie.

The goal came after many early threats from the Indians. They seemed to be knocking on the door, just missing many scores.

After a Hempfield penalty, the Indians put themselves ahead 2-0 on a power play goal from David Rex. The power play just looked way too easy for PT. They passed seemingly at will, dancing all around the net until the score.

Davan Groom added a late goal in the period, making the score 3-0 by the end of the first.

As the game progressed, the Hempfield goalie became more frustrated. He eventually began to take swings at the Indians who were hanging around the net after the whistle.

Hempfield’s goalie was not the only player that showed some “chippy” play. As Peters continually increased their lead, Hempfield resulted to taking more cheap shots and dirty hits. The Indians generally did a good job of maintaining their composure, minus a few situations where tempers flared.

The second period started the same way as the first: Early frustration for the Indians. Pat Hannan dinged a shot off the post in the first minute of the period, and the puck floated all around the net without entering it.

With just under 10 minutes left, Taylor Cox took the puck deep into enemy territory, shorthanded. He went with the puck behind the net, using nice stickwork to avoid multiple Hempfield defenders. He then looked to the front of the net to find Hannan waiting for an open shot. Hannan found the net and put the Indians up 4-0. The goal ended any Spartan hope. Although it was early in the second period, a shorthanded score killed thoughts of a big comeback.

The Indians added another score late in the second, this time courtesy of Aaron McDonough. He received the puck around the blue line after a near goal from Trevor Recktenwald and hit the long distance shot to put Peters in front comfortably.

In the third, PT scored twice with goals from Recktenwald (assist from Zalewski and Snyder) and Hannan (assist from McDonough). Hempfield scored its lone goal with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

Goaltenders Brian Baker and Jesse Borne both played well in net, saving a combined 14 out of 15 shots.

The Indians are off until the after the holidays. They play again Jan. 5 at Bethel Park. This game kicks off a three-game road trip for PT.

Editor's Note: Josh Glicksman is a sophomore in Nicole Sitler's journalism class at . Photos are by junior Austin Chappell.