Raiders make up for loss by hammering Indians
WARRENDALE — How does a hockey team rebound from a disappointing loss?
Beating your next opponent by five goals will do the trick.
Five days after Seneca Valley dropped a 2-0 decision to rival Pine-Richland, the Raiders dominated North Hills 6-1 at BladeRunners Ice Complex Tuesday night.
SV played North Hills (0-6) Nov. 3 and came away with a 6-0 victory. Both teams play in the PIHL's Section 2-AAA.
"The guys did a nice job of putting the Pine-Richland loss behind them," said Raiders coach Denis Kirstein. "The key was we stressed to our players that we couldn't let North Hills hang around."
The Raiders heard that message loud and clear as the squad took a 2-0 lead three minutes into the game.
By the end of the first period, SV was up 3-0.
Brandon Platt scored two goals on one shift early in the period and Logan Pfeffer added one 49 seconds before the first intermission.
The Raiders dominated play and kept the puck in the attack zone for the majority of the period.
Kirstein elected to start Mike Single in goal for the second time this season and the latter was forced to make only five saves in the first two periods.
Ryan Schutte is the Raiders' regular goalie.
"Mike has been playing real well in practice and we decided to reward him for that," Kirstein said.
Single tallied 11 saves.
His counterpart, North Hills' Mike Panza, was peppered with shots in the two periods he was on the ice.
Panza made 18 saves in that time, also giving up second-period goals to Platt and Sam Jarrett as the Raiders held a 5-0 lead with one period left to play.
Ryan Gayso took over in net for the Indians in the third period, making four saves and surrendering Platt's fourth goal on an assist from Joe Natoli with 2:59 remaining.
North Hills' lone score came on a power-play goal from Everett Lederer with 12:21 left on the clock that temporarily cut the Raiders' lead to 5-1.
SV's other setback this season came on a 4-1 decision against Upper St. Clair.
The team's other two wins came against Gateway and Penn-Trafford.
"As long as the kids make a commitment to get better and play as one, our goals are within reach," said Kirstein.
SV plays Fox Chapel Tuesday at the Valley Sports Complex.
Indians coach Brandon Dudt-Mulzet was unavailable for comment.
