Hollidaysburg's Isaac Miller protects the puck from Altoona's Sam Kauffman. / Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Hollidaysburg senior Isaac Miller, much like his brother Zach Miller before him, wears the C for the Golden Tiger hockey team.

Much like his brother, he knows how to score and he can score a lot.

That proved to be a huge difference Thursday night as the Tigers defeated crosstown Altoona for the second time this season, 5-4, at Galactic Ice.

“He’s had multiple goals all season,” Hollidaysburg coach Joe Duey said of his captain. “Every game is a multiple-goal game for him. He’s just been playing his butt off for us. That’s what we need from him. His linemates know it, they use him to their advantage. He’s been great for us.”

Altoona coach Don Burgmeier took note of how difficult the matchup problem Miller presents for his Mountain Lions.

“You can’t let that guy sneak out the backdoor, three, four times a game,” he said. “He’s going to get at least a couple of goals and he did tonight. He’s too good to not be watching him all of the time.”

Miller registered a second multi-goal game this week, including a 5-goal effort in Tuesday’s 9-8 overtime victory over Central Cambria.

Hollidaysburg wasted little time getting on the board as Porter Weise, on the breakaway, put his team on the board just under two minutes into the game.

Within the closing seconds of the period, Hollidaysburg struck again as Jayden Mentzer on his own breakaway opportunity to go up 2-0 at the first intermission.

Scoring opportunities were aplenty in the second and the Mountain Lions were the first to cash in as Noah Staines from Cayden Helsel tucked in the wrap up around just under two minutes into the frame.

Isaac Miller meanwhile answered about four minutes later with a wrist shot of his own to make it 3-1 Tigers.

Noah Breton’s performance proved to be critical for keeping Altoona in check as during the second he turned away three shot opportunities off rebounds as he stopped 30-out of-34 Altoona attempts.

“He was huge for us,” Duey said. “If it wasn’t for Noah, this game was getting out of control. We needed him to step up, he stepped up. He’s been doing it all season. He’s got some big shoes to fill and I think he’s stepping into them the way he should be.”

But back came the Mountain Lions as Ricky Crum went high with a wrister of his own to cut the deficit back to one.

Miller would add another to make it 4-2 with 1:32 to play in the period on an assist from Brody Duey heading into the second break.

“The puck just wouldn’t bounce for us tonight at all,” Burgmeier said. “I counted five or six chances (in the first period). Got to give them credit. They capitalized on our mistakes.”

Hollidaysburg’s power play went to work in the third as Miller took a feed from Cole Hartman and Ty Fitzgerald to take a commanding 5-2 lead.

Altoona did make things difficult, though, as Helsel and Connor Stivers each scored in a matter of about 1:40, but that’s as close as the Mountain Lions would get.

“You can’t spot these guys a 2-0 lead, and then you spend the rest of the day trying to get that back,” Burgmeier said. “They’re a good team. We got them one more time, and hopefully we can get them then.”

Due to a scheduling oddity, these two teams will meet at least three times as Bishop McCort Catholic along with Richland leaving to join the PIHL. The Golden Tigers were the home team for both of the match ups so far including their 5-3 triumph on Oct. 22.

“We have to play hard every game, everybody has to do their job,” Duey said. “We have to trust each other and with hard work comes great results.

SCORE BY PERIOD

Altoona 0 2 2 – 4

Hollidaysburg 2 2 1 – 5

First Period: 1,) H – Weise (unassisted), 1:47; 2,) H – Mentzer (unassisted), 16:55.

Second Period: 3,) A – Staines (Helsel), 1:57; 4,) H – Miller (unassisted), 5:41; 5,) Crum (unassisted), 7:54; 6,) H – Miller (Duey), 15:28.

Third Period: 7,) H – Miller (Fitzgerald, Hartman) PP, 6:45; 8,) A – Helsel (O’Keefe), 14:32; 9,) Stivers (Staines) PP, 16:08.

Goalies: Criste, A, 24-29; Breton, H, 30-34.

Power Plays: Altoona 1-for-2; Hollidaysburg 1-for-3

Records: Altoona (2-4-0); Hollidaysburg (4-2-0).