MOON TWP - Dustin Gaworski made a move and jetted into open ice on the way to the net.

With a flick of his wrists, he sent the puck flying toward Quaker Valley goalie Zach Zinger.

Glove save.

It typified the night for Gaworski and the Freeport High hockey team in a 6-1 loss to Quaker Valley in the quarterfinal round of the PIHL Class A Penguin Cup Championship Series at Airport Ice Arena Tuesday night.

"The puck just didn't bounce our way tonight," said Freeport coach Dave Hepler. "Dustin made a fantastic move and had a wide open net and missed it. That's just the way it went."

Had Gaworski been able to score - as he has so many times in his standout senior season - perhaps the tone of the game would have changed, Hepler said.

"He had three-fourths of the net open," Hepler said. "I'm not blaming Dustin. He played great. But that was just the kind of night we had."

Quaker Valley didn't take long to assert its dominance on the ice when Breton McNamara netted a shorthanded goal for the game's first score with 6:10 remaining in the first period.

"It was a good start," said Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn. "Gaworski missed on a breakaway, which was fortunate for us. And we knew that was coming. We practiced that for the last two weeks."

Quaker Valley (20-2-1) outshot Freeport 15-8 in the first period.

It only got worse from there for the Yellowjackets (15-9-1).

Less than two minutes into the second period, Quaker Valley freshman Tim Hall scored to make it 2-0. Hall added another goal after Grant Scott found the net to give the Quakers a 4-0 lead.

Zach Hepler fired a slap shot into the top-right corner of the net just a minute later for Freeport to give the Yellowjackets a glimmer of hope.

But Freeport could never mount a serious challenge and were outshot 14-3 in the second period and 40-15 in the contest.

The score would have been much more lopsided if not for Freeport freshman goalie Tim Zahumensky.

"He knows he's going to see a lot of shots because of how we play," Dave Hepler said. "We play to stretch."

Zahumensky's play caught the eye of Quinn.

"He's very good," Quinn said. "I was really impressed."

Quaker Valley tacked on two more goals in a little more than a minute in the third period as Kelly Elson and Greg Dyer found the net late in the period.

Both goals were power play goals.

"Quaker Valley is obviously a very good team," Hepler said. "And they are going to be good for a while."

For Freeport, the curtain falls on the season and the outstanding career of Gaworski, who led Class A in goals scored this season.

"It ends like this in basketball and football and the other sports, too," Hepler said. "Not many kids go on to play after high school. It's still tough."

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