When OK is good enough
KITTANNING — The Mars hockey team has the ability to score on such a regular basis that goalie Tyler Stepke doesn't have to be on top of his game every night.
On Thursday, the Planets erupted for four first-period goals, including three in a 7-minute, 16-second span, to come away with an 8-3 victory over Freeport at the Belmont Complex.
"We know our strength is our offense," Meyers said. "We have amazing goaltending, but Tyler did not have his best night.
"We knew it was a matter of time before we would break (the game) open," he added.
Stepke played the first two periods, allowing three goals to Neil Decroo before backup goalie Walker Enstad played the final period.
The goals allowed didn't hurt the Planets, as five different players scored goals, incuding Mike Mazzotta's hat trick.
"Mars is a talented team," said Freeport coach Dave Hepler. "We're going to be a better team next year and the year after that.
"Everyone has been getting better. We play what we can do. We're not an up-and-down, wide-open hockey team," he added.
Mars (15-2) had jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Tyler Whiteford's slap shot deflected off a Yellowjackets defender and trickled past Freeport goalie Cody Lee 2:45 into the contest.
Freeport (6-11-1) scored the equalizer with 10:07 to play in the first when Decroo took the feed from Shane Gallagher and buried the shot past Stepke.
However, the Planets received goals from Elliot Tisdale, Tyler Thomas and Mazzotta, the latter with 50 seconds to play in the opening period, for a 4-1 advantage.
Decroo countered early in the second period when he stole the puck in front of the Mars net and quickly fired it past Stepke.
"We had a couple defensive breakdowns, including that one in front of the net. It's not all Tyler's fault," Meyers said. "We know he's better. He can't be spectacular every night."
Tisdale added his second score of the night with 5:06 left in the period — a power-play goal that proved to be the only opportunity for either team — then Nick Blaney followed 1:12 later for a 6-2 Planets advantage.
Decroo and Gallagher teamed up again with Travis Hill also earning an assist with 39 seconds left in the second period.
"The last few games (Decroo and Gallagher) have really come together," Hepler said. "It would have been nice if that happened earlier, but it gives us a lot more scoring opportunities off these guys."
Mazzotta, however, closed out the scoring when he tallied goals with 6:21 and 1:31 to play in the third period.
"We knew Freeport was a good defensive team and they would give it their all," said Meyers. "They give up a lot of shots but not a lot of goals. We were very fortunate to score eight goals tonight."
