McDowell skates by Butler
VALENCIA — Although the score didn't reflect it, the Erie McDowell hockey team kept its offense going.
And that kept Butler from getting anything started for itself.
McDowell generated 45 shots to Butler's 13 and used a pair of first-period goals en route to a 3-0 victory over the Golden Tornado in PIHLClass AAA action at the Ice Connection.
"We didn't get anything going offensively," said Butler coach Joe Honzo. "They're a very good team. We played them at their place about a month ago and they beat us by (two). We knew what to expect from them."
It didn't help matters that Butler (4-16) allowed a shorthanded goal 4 minutes, 58 seconds into the game when Sean Perhacs took a pass just past center ice on a breakaway and fired a shot past Butler goalie Justin O'Donnell.
When Erik Frits rifled a shot past O'Donnell from the blue line with only 5.4 seconds left in the period, the Trojans (10-10) enjoyed a 2-0 advantage.
Despite the deficit, Honzo was still optimistic about his team's chances.
"Our team has been resilient all year," said Honzo. "They always find a way to get back. We've been down two, three goals and come back to tie the game."
Mike Zdunski added to the Trojans' lead when he scored with 5:25 left in the second period.
McDowell outshot Butler 30-5 over the final two periods, but O'Donnell kept the Tornado in the contest, making several huge saves and totaled 42 in all.
"Recently, he's been playing tremendous," said Honzo. "In one game against Mount Lebanon, he faced 62 shots and we were down only 2-0 after two periods."
The team's seniors, Beau Bechtel, Josh Elsass, Chris Glover, Mavrik Goepfert, Justin Luteran, Zach Pennington, Warren Schultz and David Wolfe, were honored before the game.
The team's juniors, R.C. Double, Tanner Master, O'Donnell, Tim Smith, and Pat Wellner, also were acknowledged because the team will not sport a varsity squad next year.
Honzo said those juniors most likely will play with Ford City as the program tries to build a foundation in the younger levels.
"We'll be gone a year," said Honzo. "The good news is the future looks bright for our program. Our strength is in the eighth grade and down. We have about 30 kids there."
Notes: McDowell was 1-of-7 on power-play opportunities; Butler was 0-for-4. ... Steve Martin added a pair of assists to McDowell. ... Trojans goalie Andrew Ericson made 13 saves. ... In another PIHLcontest, Knoch defeated Center 5-1 in Class A play at the Valley Sports Complex. No details were available.
