Penncrest follows Dougherty’s lead in downing Garnet Valley
ASTON >> When Matthew Luccidi went out with an injury, Penncrest was left without a senior in its lineup. But you wouldn’t have known that Friday night. The Lions played a composed, disciplined game to dispatch Garnet Valley, 5-4, in a key Central League boys hockey clash at IceWorks.
Sophomore Matthew Dougherty scored twice and added two assists, while junior goaltender Mark Dumont made 36 saves.
“It was a gutsy effort,” said longtime Penncrest coach Steve Mescanti. “We lost two defensemen last week. We lost Ryan Dumont tonight (to a first-period hit). We were down to seven forwards. We just kind of gutted it out at the end.”
The Lions fell behind early. Gannon Stuart opened the scoring for the Jags 2:01 into the game off a feed from Thomas Schenk. With the 1-0 lead, Garnet continued to press. The visitors were outshooting Penncrest 8-2 at the 10-minute mark of the first-period. Mark Dumont, though, stood strong. He also got help from a defensive group that limited the Jags’ odd-man opportunities.
“That was something we talked about,” said Mescanti. “We really needed to combat their speed. We tried to be strong to force them wide and not let them wheel.”
The formula worked to keep the Lions in the game. And with just over two minutes on the clock, they took control of play. Jack Fletcher scored a power-play goal to even things up. Then Dougherty gave Penncrest the lead before the buzzer.
“Austin (Mazzulo) and me work really well together,” said Dougherty of the goal. “He had me in the slot. He found me. It was a great pass by him.”
Dougherty beat Greg Schenk to the blocker side. The Lions wouldn’t trail again.
The play epitomized the kind of team Penncrest has become. For the last two years, the Lions have struggled to stay competitive in the Central League. But the losing, as so often happens, proved to be a blessing in disguise for the young players.
“It’s a team that’s taken their lumps,” said Mescanti. “We’ve been young and trying to build our program. I tried to instill in them, put last year aside and you’re that much more ahead of the curve.”
The result has been a poised group that can fight off more experienced, and maybe more talented, opponents.
Consider Dougherty’s second goal of the evening. The Jags earned a power-play 10:43 into the second. Down by one with a chance to equalize, Garnet Valley relaxed on the ensuing faceoff. Dougherty did not.
“I just kind of read the play. The puck went back to the point. I stole it and took off,” he explained. “I was lucky enough to get the puck there.”
Dougherty outpaced Anthony Starzi to score on a breakaway, a decisive short-handed goal.
“That gave us a lot of momentum,” Dougherty added.
The Jags, though, answered quickly. Matthew Wood scored on the same power-play to bring Garnet Valley within one. Then 2:50 into the third, Stuart tied the game with a high wrist-shot.
But Penncrest wouldn’t break and with less than six minutes to play, the Lions struck twice. Kieran Casey tipped in a shot from the point. Twelve seconds later, Mazzulo pounced on a Dougherty pass to make it 5-3.
Garnet Valley (5-7-1, 4-6-1), with a shorthanded roster and worn down from the tight-checking of Penncrest, failed to muster much of a comeback. Wood added some late drama with his second goal at the 14:37 mark. But the Jags couldn’t pull even.
With the win, the Lions (8-5-0, 7-4-0) swept the season series from Garnet Valley. Now they’re firmly in third place in the more difficult of the two Central divisions.
“We got outplayed early on,” said Dougherty, alluding to a 9-0 loss to Springfield. “That wasn’t us. We’re scoring more. We’re playing better. This is the best we’ve played.”
In other Central League action:
Strath Haven 6, Conestoga 3 >> Tony Koskinen scored a goal to go with two assists, and Ryan Lowe and Mike Irey each paired a goal with a helper as Haven ran out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. Ryan Spanier added two helpers for the Panthers.
Matt Cameron scored twice to go with an assist for Conestoga.
In Crossover action:
Downingtown West 7, Haverford 3 >> Daniel Morris scored twice, Johnny Scarduzio paired a goal with an assist and Tom Osifchok stood tall to make 47 saves, but the Fords couldn’t recover from spotting the Whippets the game’s first four goals.
Girls Hockey
Emilie Kennedy recorded a natural hat trick – the first two in the first 97 seconds of the game – off assists from Abby Shows, and Shows also assisted on Jennifer Goldstein’s goal as Garnet Valley scored a 4-0 win Owen J. Roberts.
Alex Lamplugh pitched the shutout for Garnet Valley.
