Coach's Comments
The Sewickley Academy Panthers Varsity Ice Hockey team travelled to the Belmont Ice Rink in Kittaning on Thursday October 18th to face off against the Freeport Yellow Jackets in the third game of the 2018-2019 season.
The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring at 3:46 of the 1st Period on an even strength goal to take an early lead. The Panthers tied the game at 12:10 of the period when senior forward Matthew Hajdukiewicz scored an even strength goal off an assist from senior defenseman Tommy Gordon. Sewickley Academy made Freeport pay on a power play opportunity at 15:37 of the period off of senior forward Jack Duggan’s power play goal. Sophomore forward Shane Moore recorded an assist on the goal. The period ended with the Panthers ahead 2-1.
The Panthers struck quickly in the 2nd Period, making the Yellow Jackets pay again on the power play at 1:23 when senior Jack Duggan netted an unassisted power play goal, his second of the night. Sewickley Academy extended their lead to 4-1 at 5:07 of the period on an even strength goal from sophomore Shane Moore (his first of the year), on an assist by senior defenseman Jackson Paul. The Yellow Jackets responded at 6:07 of the period, making the Panthers pay with a power play goal of their own to cut the lead 4-2. The Panthers scored again at 8:13 of the period when senior Matthew Hajdukiewicz recorded his second goal of the game (even strength) off an assist from freshman Ian Schneider, his first point as a Panther. Just over a minute later, senior forward Chris Keller extended the Panther lead to 6-2 on an extra effort short-handed goal with an assist from fellow senior Matthew Hajdukiewicz.
The tandem of Chris Keller and Matthew Hajdukiewicz struck again at 4:47 of the 3rd Period, when Chris netted his second goal of the game (even strength) off an assist from Matthew. Just over a minute later senior Jackson Paul scored his first goal of the season with an assist from senior Matthew Hajdukiewicz. At 9:56 of the period, senior Matthew Hajdukiewicz netted his third goal of the game on the power play and registered his second hat trick of the season. Senior Chris Keller and freshman forward Will Duggan were both credited with assists on the goal, Will’s first point as a Panther. Less than a minute later, Matthew scored his fourth goal of the game, an unassisted even strength tally. The Yellow Jackets ended the scoring for the evening with an even strength goal at 15:33 of the period.
Panther goaltender Thomas Sykes was solid in net for the Panthers, stopping 31 of the 34 shots he faced on the night, including shots made off of several odd man chances.
The Panthers penalty killers, led by senior forward Andrew Beck, were extremely effective, allowing just one goal in six power play opportunities for Freeport. The Panthers defensemen once again played well with seniors Jackson Paul and Tommy Gordon, junior Chris Martian, and sophomore Christopher McEnroe logging a ton of ice time.
The Panthers move to 2-1 on the season and face North Hills at home in their next game on Monday October 22nd.
Go Panthers!
Go Panthers!
