KITTANNING — Freeport was the better team for the first period and a half.

And, ultimately, that was good enough to give the Yellowjackets their fifth victory of the season.

Pat Spangler's two first-period goals jumpstarted Freeport and the Yellowjackets held on for a 5-3 PIHL Class A win against Mars Thursday night at Belmont Arena.

"Early on, I thought we were passing the puck very well, all over the ice," said Freeport coach Dave Hepler. "That's the best we've passed in the last five or six games."

Mars' comeback attempt began when Bryan Reel scored the Planets' first goal just 16 seconds before the second intermission, cutting the Yellowjackets' lead to 4-1.

Mike Kenitz then scored for Mars just 33 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2.

But Freeport scored an important insurance goal with 7:56 remaining. The play began when the Yellowjackets won a faceoff in their own end. Josh Schreckengost skated the length of the ice before leaving the puck for teammate Jeremy Gent.

Mars goalie Andy Whiteford stopped Gent's shot, but John Reichenbaugh was there to put in the rebound.

Reel scored a second time for Mars late in the game, but it proved to be a cosmetic goal.

Whiteford tallied 20 saves in the game, while Freeport's Tim Zahumensky stopped 18 shots.

The Planets were unable to mount many serious scoring threats in the first 20 minutes of play, as Zahumensky was asked to stop a lot of "shots" that were merely dump-in passes from the Planets.

As the game wore on however, the goalie came up with several saves to keep Mars at a safe distance.

Zahumensky entered the game with a 3.2 goals-against-average and a save percentage of 88.

"I thought Tim played well tonight," said Hepler. "The third goal that Mars scored was not his fault. The puck deflected off of a defender's leg and into the net."

Scoring the Yellowjackets' third and fourth goals — both in the second period — were Tom Ferrante and Zach Hepler, respectively.

The win marks the first time Freeport (5-2-1) has won two games in a row all season.

The Yellowjackets defeated Quigley Catholic Monday.

"We've got a tough stretch of games coming up and we'd like to put together four or five wins in a row," Hepler said.

Meanwhile, the Planets are in an early season free-fall.

After winning its first three games of the season by a combined score of 25-5, Mars (4-4) has dropped four of its last five contests and three in a row.

Planets coach Eric Glover declined to comment on his team's latest defeat.

Both teams compete in the PIHL's Class A West Division. Tempers began to flare on both sides as Thursday's game wore on.

In the third period, referees had to break up a scuffle in front of Freeport's net.

Mars ended up serving 22 penalty minutes in the game while Freeport had 20.

The two teams will face off Tuesday at Warrendale Bladerunners.

Notes:

Tallying assists in the game for Freeport were Jeremy Hepler (3), Josh Schreckengost (2), Tom Ferrante, Charles Rowley, Jeremy Gent and John Reichenbaugh. … Assists for Mars included Ian Finney (2), Jim Kelly, Mike Randolph and Mike Kenitz. … Before the Freeport/Mars game, Butler took on Baldwin and the Golden Tornado was shut out, 8-0. Justin O'Donnell made 28 saves for Butler.