Men’s Division II ice hockey ends losing streak

Men’s Division II Ice Hockey

Two weekends ago, the Panthers fell short in…

Men’s Division II Ice Hockey

Two weekends ago, the Panthers fell short in back-to-back games, with scores of 4-3 in both contests. They were looking to rebound from those close games when they hit the road this weekend for a two-game road trip to the eastern part of Pennsylvania.

On Friday, the Panthers traveled to Philadelphia to take on Penn. Matt Hawryluk, Bob Mirzabeigi, Mark Barakat and Brian Price all scored for Pitt, but it wasn’t enough and the team fell short, and the Quakers were victorious with a final score of 6-4.

Pitt’s five-game losing streak, however, would not continue through the weekend. Saturday night they traveled to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on Lafayette.

For the second time in as many days, the Panthers got four goals from four different players.

Senior defenseman Drew Spagnola started the scoring for Pitt and tied the game at 1-1 in the middle of the second period. The Panthers gave up another goal and went into the second intermission trailing 2-1.

Pitt scored three unanswered goals in the final period to finish off a strong performance and win 4-2.

Junior Matt Boles started the third period scoring with his fourth goal of the season. The game was tied at two for just 46 seconds before Phil Zimich scored his first goal of the season to put the Panthers up for good.

Hawryluk recorded his second goal of the weekend to give the Panthers all the insurance they would need against the Leopards.

The Panthers will be on the road again this weekend to take on the IUP Indians at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Men’s Division III Ice Hockey

On Friday, the Panthers were looking to avenge an 8-6 loss to St. Vincent as they hosted Case Western. Where better to look for a spark than the team captain?

Senior captain Ty Heller scored two goals and assisted on another as the Panthers won 4-3.

Heller started the scoring in the game just seven minutes into the first period.

With an early 1-0 lead, the Panthers allowed three straight Spartan goals. Trailing 3-1, the Panthers got a big goal from Luke Heller before the end of the second period to narrow the lead to one.

Within a 30-second span in the third period, the Panthers tied the game and took the lead for good.

Ty Heller’s second goal of the game came on the power play, and exactly 30 seconds after that, the puck was back in the Spartan net.

Freshman Steve Deck scored the game-winning goal with a little more than 11 minutes to play in regulation.

Goaltender Colin McCloskey went on to stop all seven shots he faced in the final period, as the Panthers held on to win 4-3.

On Saturday, the Panthers traveled to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on the rival Mountaineers.

In a game that featured 85 total shots and 58 penalty minutes, the Panthers fell short 3-0.

Freshman goalie Nick Smith stopped 52 of the 55 shots he faced in the losing effort.

The Panthers will recognize their seniors on Friday at 7 p.m. when they host Penn State.

Women’s Lacrosse

Last Saturday, in their season-opening doubleheader, the women’s lacrosse team at Pitt lost both games by a combined score of 18-13.

Pitt, members of the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League, lost to D-II opponent St. Vincent 10-8, and came up short against D-I Robert Morris 8-5.

The Panthers season continues with another doubleheader on Sunday against Kenyon and Seton Hill. Both games will be played at the Cost Center and will start at 3:30 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. respectively.

Dave Thomas is a staff writer for The Pitt News. If you are a member of a club sport and would like your team covered in his weekly Club Sports Report, please have a coach or team contact person e-mail him at dthomas7224@yahoo.com.