Chasing the Cup
NEVILLE TWP — For Armstrong's hockey team, stopping Mars means stopping Noah Raymundo.
For the second time this season, the River Hawks were unable to do it.
Raymundo scored two goals and contributed an assist as the Planets posted a 5-2 victory in Monday night's PIHL Class AA semifinal at Robert Morris University's Island Sports Center.
The Planets will face Bishop Canevin, a 4-2 winner over Baldwin, in the Penguins Cup Final at 8:30 p.m. next Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
In an 8-3 win over Armstrong Dec. 10, Raymundo tortured the River Hawks with a four-goal night.
“We got a sense of what they want to do the first time we played them,” Raymundo said of the River Hawks. “They like to be aggressive and physical, but my teammates do a good job of opening up the ice for me. After that, I just use my wheels.”
Raymundo now leads the Planets with 22 goals this season and has added nine assists.
“You know you are going to get the same effort from Noah every night,” said Mars coach Steve Meyers. “He and the other guys on that line have worked really well together.”
The other forwards on Mars' top line — Owen Vasbinder and Beau Heakins — were also thorns in Armstrong's side this season. Vasbinder scored twice (once on an empty net) and assisted on two goals Monday, while Heakins tallied four assists. The duo combined for six points in the earlier victory over the River Hawks.
Raymundo's first goal in Monday's game was on a breakaway set up by Vasbinder and Heakins and put the Planets up 1-0 with 2:33 left in the opening period.
Luke Gross scored the equalizer for Armstrong on a power play early in the second period, but Vasbinder scored less than five minutes later and Mars (17-5-2) had the lead for good.
Armstrong (17-6-1) would not score again until Jace Rearic found the net with just 1:03 left in the game, cutting Mars' edge to 4-2.
In the first meeting, Armstrong tallied just 22 shots on goal. The River Hawks managed 33 on Monday, but missed too many opportunities according to their coach, Doug Anthony.
“We worked on driving and getting the puck to the net,” he said, “but Mars controlled the rebounds. They were there for us, but we didn't get sticks on them.”
A change in defensive strategy early in the contest played a key role in the game's outcome.
“At the beginning of the game, we weren't that strong on defense. Armstrong was running their forwards at us,” said Mars defenseman Ian Newman, who then explained the change the Planets made. “Instead of making passes to the wing, we threw the puck off the boards and let our guys go get it in the neutral zone.”
Keaton Hanna also scored for Mars, opening the scoring in the third period with an unassisted goal that put the Planets up 3-1 with 13:22 remaining. Raymundo's second tally followed four minutes later.
Tyler Spreng made 31 saves for the Planets and Jake Lorigan 20 for Armstrong.
Armstrong, which just concluded its third season in the PIHL, lost to Cathedral Prep in last year's Class AA final. The Hawks were the top seed out of Class AA's East Division this year.
“We were a senior-heavy team with more depth this year,” said Anthony. “We were expecting to get back to the final.”
Mars is in search of the fifth Penguins Cup title in the program's history. The Planets previously won the Class A crown in 2009-11 and 2015.
