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Wheeling Park Edges South Fayette, 3-2

Taylor secures the game-winning goal

Photo by Cody Tomer Wheeling Park’s Jacob Miller controls the puck down the ice during Monday’s game at WesBanco Arena with South Fayette.

WHEELING–South Fayette has a very strong and respectable hockey program but Wheeling Park was not worried about the reputation of its opponent.

The Patriots were focused on playing their game and they did so to a tune of a 3-2 victory over the Lions on Monday inside of WesBanco Arena.

Park really came together over the Thanksgiving break when it traveled to Miami, OH. for a tournament and finished runner-up. Since that moment, Grant Van Laar’s squad has been playing its game.

“We really started gelling there in the Miami, OH. tournament,” Van Laar said. “Guys were coming around and buying into what we wanted to do. The last couple of games have been a process of that on the ice.

“When we play our game and worrying about us first and not what the other team is doing, we’re good. But once we start getting into what the other teams are doing, that is when we get into trouble.”

South Fayette defeated a very talented Wheeling Central team 7-2 earlier in the season, so the Patriots were primed and ready for a battle.

“This team beat Central this year, so we knew they had a good, hard skating team,” Van Laar said. “They were attacking the whole time.”

The Lions looked to have the upper-hand early as they skated out to a quick 1-0 edge as Daniel Pollock flipped the puck past Park keeper Dorothy Romanek at the 16:28 mark of the opening stanza.

Joel Mendelson evened the contest with the help of some of his teammates. Zach Kahle and Tyler Porter teamed up to get the puck close to the net, allowing Mendelson to finish the job with 12:18 to go in the first period.

“It doesn’t matter how it goes in,” Van Laar said. “A goal is a goal. That first goal is a perfect example of that. Just throw it at the net and who knows what could happen.”

The Patriots were given a power play opportunity with just over 5:00 left in the first and they took full advantage of it. Park simply crowded the attacking zone and Jason Gwynn fired a shot into the back of the net to give his crew a 2-1 advantage.

“Our second goal, we just had three guys down to the goal<" Van Laar said. "We had two in and the third guy just went high and when we get the puck, throw it at the net and go to the net. That's all it was." South Fayette regained the momentum in the second frame as it killed a Park power play, followed up by the game-tying goal with 6:02 left in the period. Pollock was looking for his second score of the contest when Romanek made a tremendous diving save. However, Ian Kumar took the rebound and rifled it past the fallen keeper to tie the score at 2-2 going to the third and final period. As both teams were searching for the lead, it was Park's Zach Taylor who found it. Spencer Abraham and Jacob Miller were their to provide stellar passing lanes and once Taylor collected the puck, he blistered a shot past the Lions' net-minder to give the Patriots a 3-2 lead they would not relinquish. "I know it might take 16:59 but if you wait, you're going to get your time," Van Laar said. "That is what our guys have been doing, especially in this game. We played our game, even though we got outshot." After securing the lead with over 13 minutes to go, Romanek made sure that it stayed that way by shutting out the Lions the rest of the way. She tallied 33 saves and faced a total of 35 shots in the win. "We left her out to dry a lot in the first five or six games," Van Laar said. "It was just a shooting gallery for her and it wasn't fair but (Monday) she battled hard. She was our number one star of the game. She kept us in there and that's all we ask. "Our guys know she is going to battle and as long as we keep going, we'll have a chance at a good game."

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