Kiski Area hockey clinches playoffs by eliminating Deer Lakes

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 19, 2018 | 11:36 PM

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The Penguins Cup playoff fates of the Deer Lakes and Kiski Area hockey teams came down to Monday's head-to-head Class A matchup at Frozen Pond in Valencia.

The Lancers seemed to have things going their way with an early two-goal lead, but the Cavaliers rallied.

A five-goal second period helped Kiski take control en route to a 6-3 victory that put it in the postseason.

“This was the most important win of the season because it got us in the playoffs,” senior forward James Ayres said. “That's the most important thing right now.”

Ayres tallied the winner 11 minutes, 33 seconds into the second period. The goal, off an assist from junior Ryan Hastings, extended the Cavaliers' lead to 4-2.

Kiski Area clinched the 12th and final playoff spot in Class A as it capped its regular season 10-10 with 20 points. Deer Lakes fell to 8-10-1 (17 points) with one game remaining next Monday against Greensburg-Salem.

“There are a lot of seniors on this team, and they didn't want to stop playing,” Cavaliers coach Raymond Suhadolnik said.

“The guys never got too high or too low all season. There were some tough times, but they never quit. Now we're in the playoffs, and I think this team can play with anyone.”

Kiski had lost two in a row coming into Monday, and goals from Deer Lakes senior forward Ryan Murdock and sophomore forward Luke Norkus in the first four minutes of the first period knocked the Cavaliers back on their heels. Norkus' score came on the power play.

But Kiski quickly responded as junior Jason Zahumensky got the visitors on the board with his third goal of the season at the 5:29 mark of the first.

Senior Austin Lapiana, the Class A leader in goals, bookended the second period with his 38th and 39th of the season. The first one, unassisted, tied the score 37 seconds into the period.

Hastings and senior Jonathan Hartill also found the back of the net in the second. Hastings finished with three assists.

“We tend to start games slow, but I like what we can do when the offense gets going and our defense keeps pucks out of our net,” Suhadolnik said.

Junior Colin Haugh and seniors Nathaniel Bowman and Romano Giordano each recorded an assist for the Cavaliers.

Deer Lakes and Kiski each took 14 shots in the first and third periods, but the Cavaliers doubled up on the Lancers in the second and finished with a 26-20 advantage.

Sophomore goalie Eric Petika picked up the win for Kiski to improve to 5-4 on the season. Lancers junior Christian Long (8-9-1) took the loss.

Deer Lakes was able to get one more on the board as Murdock scored his second of the game and team-leading 32nd of the season with a power-play goal with 2:56 left. Murdock also recorded an assist, and senior Bradley Luniewski provided a pair of helpers for the Lancers.

“We looked tired in the second period. We didn't have five guys playing together, and they out-hustled us,” Deer Lakes coach Todd Luniewski said. “I felt bad for the team, especially the four seniors. They gave the best effort they could. It's been a tough season overall with playing short-handed in numbers most of the time. We had more players (Monday) than we had in the last eight or nine games because of sickness or injury.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Kiski School