Tigers on a mission, improve to 7-0
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
After reaching the Laurel Mountain Hockey League championship game last March but falling short there, the Hollidaysburg Area High School hockey team has a definite mission in mind this season.
The Golden Tigers are hungry for a league title, and so far, they've been giving their best effort toward putting a down payment on it.
Holliidaysburg improved to 7-0 this season by trimming archrival Altoona, 4-1, Tuesday night at Galactic Ice, getting goals from four different players and scoring twice on the power play in the third period to break open an air-tight game.
"We have a large senior class of players, and a lot of experience returning from last year's team,'' Hollidaysburg coach Cory Reed said. "Last year, we lost in the league finals and the players got a taste of what it is like to be there.
"We really want (the championship) this year -- that's the main goal that we've talked about from day one,'' Reed added.
Hollidaysburg got off to a slow start in Tuesday's game, which was scoreless after one period. Altoona sophomore goaltender Seth Conrad did an outstanding job in net, stopping all 12 Hollidaysburg shots in the first period, and 32 of 36 in the game.
The Golden Tigers got on the board at the 5:45 mark of the second period when sophomore Jayden Mentzer scored from the side of the net after taking a feed from senior Kaden Kirkham.
After Altoona tied the game, 1-1, on a goal by senior Jakodi Jones at the 12-minute mark of the second period, Hollidaysburg regained the lead for good, 2-1, when junior Porter Weise scored from in front of the net at 13:46 to give the Golden Tigers a slim advantage at the second intermission.
"Their goalkeeper was lights out, and we struggled to get anything going early,'' Reed said. "But once we scored, we got going and did what we needed to do to win the game.''
Penalties hurt Altoona (3-3) in the third period. The Mountain Lions were called for dual roughing and slashing minors early in the period, and Hollidaysburg senior forward Carson Young scored on a short-range shot with the Tigers on the power play at 5:20, giving Hollidaysburg a 3-1 lead.
After Altoona drew a holding penalty two minutes later, Hollidaysburg senior Ty Burket scored on a short shot along the ice at the 7:23 mark, putting the Tigers ahead, 4-1.
"It was definitely a physical game with a lot of hits, but I thought that we played hard and we were able to capitalize on the power play to pull it out at the end,'' Young said.
Altoona coach Don Burgmeier felt that his team committed too many penalties that give Hollidaysburg too many opportunities.
"We had way too many penalties in the third period,'' Burgmeier said. "But overall, I thought it was a good game for the first two periods, and our goaltender did a really good job today.''
Altoona plays Forest Hills Thursday night at the Northern Cambria Recreation Center in Ebensburg, while Hollidaysburg next sees action next Tuesday night, battling Central Cambria at Galactic Ice.
SCORE BY PERIODS
Altoona 0 1 0--1
Hollidaysburg 0 2 2--4
First period
No scoring.
Penalties: Altoona (roughing), 9:08; Hollidaysburg (tripping) 11:42; Altoona (roughing), 16:21.
Second period
1, H--Mentzer (Kirkham, Burket), 5:45. 2, A--Jones (Staines), 12:00. 3, H--Weise (Young, Miller), 13:46.
Penalties: Altoona (slashing), 13:46.
Third period
4, H--Young (Hemminger, Miller), ppg, 5:20. 5, H--Burket (Young), ppg, 7:23.
Penalties: Hollidaysburg (roughing), 3:02; Altoona (dual roughing, slashing) and Hollidaysburg (roughing), 5:03; Altoona (holding), 7:15; Hollidaysburg (tripping), 11:59.
Shots on goal: Hollidaysburg 37, Altoona 23. Saves: S. Conrad, A, 32; T. Duey, H, 22.
Records: Altoona (3-3); Hollidaysburg (7-0).