Bishop McCort overwhelms Indiana in PIHL Class A semifinal

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 | 9:51 PM

Bishop McCort's offense ranked atop PIHL Class A during the regular season.

The Crimson Crushers haven't slowed down in the postseason, either.

After scoring seven times in a quarterfinal win over Sewickley Academy, Bishop McCort put more pucks in the net Tuesday night in a 7-2 win over Indiana in a PIHL Penguins Cup semifinal at the RMU Island Sports Center.

The Crimson Crushers (22-0) look for their seventh Penguins Cup title and first since 2005 at 8:30 p.m. Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

“We are just glad to have the opportunity,” Bishop McCort coach John Bradley said.

After the Little Indians (17-6), finalists last season, opened the scoring, Bishop McCort's Matsvei Kurylovich put his squad up with a pair of tallies. He answered Luke Wachob's score with a goal of his own 43 seconds later. His second came halfway through the period for a 3-1 lead.

“We said that we had to get on them early,” Bishop McCort's Cameron Bunn said. “We let up that first goal early, but we knew we'd be fine. Once we are down and we get two quick goals back, it gives us a fire.”

Bunn and Indiana's Tyler Baker traded goals early in the second period, but Bishop McCort seized momentum late in the period with a pair of tallies. Alexander Komov snuck past a defender for a goal, and William Miller added another with 59 seconds on the clock.

“No doubt, going into the period, you get one and then you pop another one and that makes a huge difference in the momentum,” Bradley said. “It maybe gave us a little more life and put them back on their heels. We were fortunate to get out of that third period and stay safe.”

Bunn scored early in the third and added a late power-play tally to complete the hat-trick.

“It is nice. I just wanted to get the win,” he said. “It's my first career high school hat-trick, but I really don't care about that. I just wanted the win.”

The Crimson Crushers hope their offense remains strong in the championship game.

“We usually rely on the offense a lot,” Bunn said. “But, we do have a solid defense, and we have the greatest goalie in the league. Offense is really our powerhouse, though.”

Goaltender Cole Brady turned aside 32 of 34 shots to earn the win.

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Indiana