Untimely penalty hurts Raiders in loss to Tigers
WARRENDALE — Seneca Valley was trying to make a late push in Tuesday's hockey game against North Allegheny.
Unfortunately, a hooking call pushed the Raiders right back.
Trailing 2-1, a number of Raiders players in front of the net were trying to push the puck past Tigers goalie Max Richards when SV's Mike Rohm was called for hooking with 23 seconds remaining.
Nine seconds later, an empty-net goal helped North Allegheny seal a 3-1 PIHLClass AAA victory at BladeRunners.
"Actually, it was the right call," said Tigers coach James Black. "Their guy hooked down my defenseman. My defenseman was 1 on 3 and their guy took him off his feet."
"You can't control the referee. You can only control your emotions and what you do on the ice," said Seneca Valley coach Mike Schall.
The loss dropped the Raiders to 4-1 in the division while the Tigers won their third straight contest to improve to 4-2.
Seneca Valley jumped out to a 1-0 lead with 1:32 left in the first period when Matt Jarrett buried a shot from the top of the circle.
"We didn't know what to expect coming in," said Black. "Seneca Valley has some good young players and they have four good lines.
"With Max in goal, we'll keep a lot of pucks out of the net. I know Mike does a good job with his system. We pretty much do the same,"Black added.
North Allegheny bounced back with a goal of its own with 10:18 left in the second period when Donny Lewis scored the equalizer.
"We had them on the ropes early," said Schall. "They got that goal back. ... They're a well-coached team."
"It seems like we're a slow-starting team, so, as a coaching staff, we need to look at that," said Black. "That first (SV) goal was a wake-up call and gets the kids going."
The Raiders almost retook the lead with 4:45 left in the second period when Brandon Platt took off on a breakaway, but Richards helped adjust the shot, which went wide.
Fifteen seconds later, a Raiders shot hit the post and 10 seconds later Richards made a glove save to shut down the flurry of activity.
The Tigers' Brett Schindler scored with 8:49 left in the game to give the Tigers the lead for good.
"We knew this was going to be a hard-fought road," said Schall. "They're a very talented team. We matched them stride for stride.
"You could tell one turnover, one mistake would be the difference,"Schall added.
Notes: Seneca Valley goalie Ryan Schutte made 19 saves while Richards had 17. ... The Raiders return to action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Canon-McMillan at Southpointe.
