Strong 3rd period guides Hempfield past Quaker Valley in PIHL Penguins Cup playoffs

By: Jerin Steele
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 | 10:12 PM

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Hempfield controlled zone time, puck possession and outshot Quaker Valley by 26 shots through the first two periods, but due to giving up some odd-man breaks, the Spartans found themselves with only a one-goal lead heading into the intermission.

During the break, Spartans coach Denny Zeravica told his players to keep doing what they’d been doing and they’d be fine.

When the Spartans returned to the ice, they kept up the pressure, converted some chances and pulled away.

Daniel Pronin, Aiden Dunlap and Matthew Bartus scored third-period goals and Hempfield secured an 8-5 victory over the Quakers in a PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup preliminary-round game Tuesday night at Alpha Ice Complex in Harmar.

“We wanted to keep the puck deep in their zone, use our speed and our skill and keep our third man high, so we didn’t give up any odd-man breaks,” Zeravica said. “We definitely didn’t want to get passive, because we were controlling the game. It stunk that it was that close. It shouldn’t have been, but that happens sometimes.”

The Spartans advanced to play North/West Division champion Pine-Richland (18-0-1) in the first round at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Bairel Ice Complex in Wexford.

Pronin and Aiden Edwards had two goals apiece for the Spartans. Pronin’s second tally gave the Spartans some breathing room a minute into the third, and Dunlap scored less than a minute later to put Hempfield, 7-4. Bartus scored an empty netter with three minutes remaining.

The Spartans got goals from five different players and continued to show their scoring depth. They had four players score 10 or more goals in the regular season.

“We have a lot of scorers on our team, and we don’t count on one guy,” Zeravica said. “This is the time of year when dirty goals are probably the ones that are going to win it. Pretty goals are nice, but we’ll take any kind of goal we can get.”

From the opening face-off, it was apparent it was going to be a high-scoring affair.

Daniel Fagan struck for Quaker Valley 44 seconds into the game, but Hempfield responded with a pair of goals in a minute. Christian Konieczka scored first to tie the game, and then Jared Gerger ripped a shot just under the cross bar.

Dylan Roebuck scored off the rush twice in the next five minutes to put Quaker Valley ahead again, but Hempfield responded with goals from Edwards and Daniel Pronin in the final two minutes to cap a wild first period.

After the third Quaker Valley goal, Zeravica switched goaltenders, pulling Joseph Behler and replacing him with Paul Oliver. Oliver had a solid third period, making five stops and allowing two goals on 11 shots.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t had strong goaltending all year,” Zeravica said. “Three shots and three goals — whether they were good goals or bad goals — at that point we had to put someone else in. We had to keep the guys’ spirits up on the bench, because we were playing well.

“Paul played well for us coming in cold. He made the saves he needed to make and let us do our thing.”

Early in the second, Roebuck, again off the rush, converted on a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot over the glove of Oliver to tie the game and complete a hat trick. Edwards got a turnover in the offensive zone, skated down the slot alone, and slipped a shot between the pads of Quakers goalie Colin Rice at the 11:23 mark of the second, for what ended up being the game-winning goal.

A fire alarm went off late in the second causing a brief delay and was about the only thing to slow down a fast-paced and high-scoring first two periods.

Quaker Valley was a few players short of a full roster — and has been all season — but won three of its last six games to qualify for the preliminary round.

“It’s a long game and our guys got tired out a bit there in the third period,” Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn said. “It’s frustrating, because when you score five goals you should win a game. We were really porous defensively, and that’s been our biggest issue all year. It’s combined defense. It’s not all on the defenders.

“Sometimes, it’s a forward getting caught out of position or our goalie not making a save when we need it. But we battled back all year just to make the playoffs, so I’m proud of these guys, which were playing up a level for the second consecutive year.”

Tags: Hempfield, Quaker Valley