Falcons fly past Carrick
Connellsville’s high-powered offense continues to shine
PITTSBURGH — Connellsville was never in jeopardy of losing, or even trailing, in Thursday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League (PIHL) game against Carrick, but the Falcons had several tense moments in the second period that were quelled by goalie Andrew Weir.
Connellsville had a 3-1 lead with 10:26 remaining in the second period when Weir made two point-blank saves to deny the Cougars an opportunity to cut the deficit to one. Weir stopped 10 of 11 shots before being relieved with 7:20 left in the third period.
The Falcons’ Liam King created a turnover with a steal and set up Alex Boone with 7:46 remaining in the second period for a three-goal cushion, as Connellsville rolled to a 9-2 victory in D2 Gold Division play.
The Falcons improved to 9-0 and sit atop the table with 27 points.
Burrell and Deer Lakes are tied for second place in the division with 17 points apiece, but the Buccaneers have two games in hand on the Lancers.
Connellsville defeated Deer Lakes, 8-1, on Oct. 1 at CFS Bank Arena in Rostraver Township. The Falcons’ next game is against the Lancers at Alpha Ice Complex near Pittsburgh on Nov. 19. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Connellsville has outscored its opposition, 65-16, this year for an average of 7.2 goals-for-per-game and 1.7 goals-against-per-game.
Boone leads the Falcons in points with 22 (12 goals/10 assists) in nine contests this season. The senior forward was named the PIHL Division-2 Player of the Month by the league for the month of October.
Freshman Ryan Boone scored on the power play to up Connellsville’s advantage to 5-1 with 3:45 left in the middle frame in Thursday’s game against Carrick. William Whittaker had the assist on Boone’s tally.
Sam Denny assisted on Mason Mazak’s goal with the man advantage 40 seconds later to increase the lead to 6-1 for the visitors.
Alex Boone netted his second 1:27 into the third period for a 7-1 advantage. Denny assisted on the 5-on-5 goal.
Mazak’s second tally was on even strength for an 8-1 edge with 14:18 remaining in the final frame. Larry Baroffio had the assist. Santo Crucio closed the scoring for the visitors on the power play with 10:37 left in the game. Connor Basinger had the helper.
Ethan Semenov scored for the Cougars on the power play with 1:51 remaining. The goal was unassisted.
Riley Denny opened the scoring 1:43 into the first period on even strength. Hunter Hughes had the assist. Denny set up Ryan Boone for a 2-0 lead with 10:39 left in the opening frame.
Ian Leuch set up Hunter Stillwagon’s goal 2:22 later to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Crucio had the helper on Basinger’s goal to restore a two-goal lead for the Falcons.
Connellsville outshot Carrick, 29-12, with 15-7 advantage in the first period, a 7-4 edge in the second and a 7-1 cushion in the final frame.
The Falcons were 3 for 7 on the power play, while the Cougars were 1 for 4.
Carrick goalie Lincoln Richardson made 20 saves.