Cranberry Twp. PA – The North Catholic Trojans entered their game against the Mars Planets coming off a 6-2 win over West Allegheny. Freshman F Bryce Radeke had 2 goals and Junior F Miles Robinson had a goal and 2 assists in the victory. The Trojans now faced a challenging schedule ahead to round out the regular season.
Game vs Mars (Jan 14) – Just 40 seconds into the 1st period, Mars found the back of the net with a quick goal from F Xavier Bossola. Senior Captain F Beckett Dunn responded with a short-handed goal, tying the game up for the Trojans 1-1. Momentum shifted right back to the Planets as they scored 3 more unanswered goals to conclude the 1st period of play. One of those tallies came on the power play from F Jack Tirch. Down 4-1 heading into the 2nd, North Catholic answered on offense with 2 more goals from F Beckett Dunn and a power play goal from Junior F Anthony Neely evening up the game 4-4 once again. F Joey Santa netted the go-ahead goal for Mars with under a minute to go in the 2nd. A few seconds later, Dunn scored his 4th goal of the game, tying it up 5-5. The Planets took control in the 3rd period with a tie-breaking goal from F Gavin Stevenson and an empty-netter from F Max Zagorski. After a high-scoring game, Mars pulled away with a 7-5 win.
Analysis – Power plays played a significant role in this matchup with North Catholic going 2 for 4 and Mars going 1 for 3. Junior G Wyatt Cleveland saved 30 of 36 shots on goal, posting a .833 SV%. F Beckett Dunn had 4 goals in the effort and leads the team with 34 points (19 G, 15 A) on the season.
Game vs North Hills (Jan 28) – North Hills jumped out in front with a late power play goal from F Cole Hunt to take a 1-0 lead in the 1st period. The puck seemed to bounce everywhere but in for the Trojans, as Indians G Parker Talerico made save-after-save. Late in the 3rd period, F Cole Hunt iced the game with an empty net goal to defeat North Catholic 2-0.
Analysis – Despite the loss, Freshman G Darren Riley had a stellar performance in net, stopping 38 of 40 shots on goal for the Trojans. North Hills went 1 for 1 on the power play.
