Hat trick saves game
WARRENDALE — Mars' Nick Blaney tallied his first varsity hat trick Tuesday night — and the Planets needed every one of his three goals.
With the Mars hockey team tied with Serra Catholic at 4-all late in the third period, Blaney scored an unassisted goal just inside the right post and the Planets held on for a 5-4 win at Warrendale BladeRunners.
After taking the lead with 4:36 left in the game, the Planets successfully killed a penalty after Elliot Tisdale was whistled for high sticking.
Blaney's first goal, which came on a rebound following a shot by teammate Tyler Whiteford, cut Serra's lead to 2-1 midway through the first period.
Blaney also scored an unassisted goal in the second period that put his team up 4-3.
"He came to the varsity team last year and made an immediate impact," said Mars coach Steve Meyers of the sophomore winger. "And so far this year, he's stepped his game up a notch."
Blaney has four goals and five assists through six games — all wins for the Planets.
"I'm never happy with a loss, but I always try to take positives out of every game," said Eagles coach Brian Boehm. "We put four goals up tonight against (Mars goalkeeper Tyler Stepke). Mark it down because that won't happen often.
"We proved we can compete for three periods tonight," he added.
Nothing seemed to come easy for Mars in its latest win.
The Eagles (4-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, thanks to first-period goals from Jarrett Ruchka and Jay Leppo.
Following Blaney's first tally, Tisdale beat Serra goaltender Garrett Hudson, tying the game late in the first period.
Austin Heakins gave the Planets a brief 3-2 lead with a score early in the second, but the Eagles answered with Erik Manetta's score just over two minutes later to tie the game at 3.
Trailing 4-3 late in the period, the Eagles received a power play following an elbowing penalty on the Planets.
Stepke made the first four saves he faced during the power play, but was beaten by Ruchka's second goal of the game.
"We weren't at our best tonight," Meyers said. "We gave up two easy goals early, but we believe in our system and we felt if we stuck to it, we'd find a way to win."
"We just had to keep our heads up and keep moving the puck. That was the biggest thing," said Blaney.
Stepke made 23 saves, while Hudson was credited with 25.
Contributing assists for the Planets were Mike Mazzotta (2), Heakins, Tisdale and Whiteford.
