Cranberry Twp. PA – The North Catholic Trojans were coming off a tight 4-3 win at home against the Richland Rams and were back home for another match up, this time facing the Avonworth Antelopes. The Lopes got the upper hand and took that game 6-2. A hat-trick from F Austin Dzadovsky led the way to victory for the Lopes. A big match up still loomed with the Moon Tigers who are first in the Varsity A Blue Division. North Catholic pulled a huge upset and dominated against Moon 5-1. Here is how the games went:

12/5 vs. Avonworth: The Lopes struck early with a goal from F Conner Ralston in the 1^st period that was then followed up with another tally from F Austin Dzadovsky. Up 2-0, Avonworth tacked on 3 more goals, 2 of which from F Linus Jesionowski on the power play. With just under 5 minutes remaining in the 2^nd period, North Catholic finally got on the board with a goal from Junior F Lukas Hixon. The Lopes shut down all momentum on the Trojan side again after F Austin Dzadovsky completed his hat-trick making it 6-1. Freshman F Bryce Radeke converted on the power play for the Trojans, but that would not be enough as North Catholic suffered a 6-2 loss. Freshman G Darren Riley denied 33 of 39 shots, posting a .846 SV%.

12/9 at Moon: With not much to pull from the previous game, the Trojans were going to have to dig deep against Moon who stood at the top of the division with a 10-1-0 record. Just 41 seconds into the 1^st period, Junior F Anthony Neely found the back of the net to quickly give the Trojans a 1-0 lead. Senior F Beckett Dunn added another to increase the lead 2-0. With his 3^rd goal of the season, Sophomore F Renzo Sylvester tacked on to the score column. Shortly after, Moon got their first goal of the game from F Ryan Muldowney making it 3-1. Closing up the game in the 3^rd, Sophomore F Quinn Lee and F Beckett Dunn notched goals. North Catholic pulled a huge upset over the Tigers, moving to 4^th in the division with an 8-3-0 record. Junior G Wyatt Cleveland stopped 26 of 27 shots, posting a .963 SV%.

North Catholic faces Indiana this Tuesday, December 16^th at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Puck drop is at 9:20pm.