The Latrobe Ice Cats started the season hot with outstanding play on home ice. This play pushed the Cats into the top seed in the AA division in the PIHL. But, with back-to-back home losses to Thomas Jefferson, and Penn Trafford, the Ice Cats found themselves dropping in the standings fast making their home game vs the Franklin Regional Panthers on 1/18 a huge game to regain confidence and control in the standings.
The Ice Cats came into this game determined as it was senior night. The game began with a ceremony for the seniors. This included defenseman Louie Amatucci; forwards Jacob Hannah, Noah Heitchue, Nik Guidos, Alex Plummer; and goalie Sawyer Ruffner. This fired the boys up. They knew they needed a bounce-back win after the home loss to Penn Trafford, in a big way, and what better night to do it than on senior night.
The Cats were flying from the drop of the puck creating countless chances. They produced multiple scoring chances as they controlled the puck for most of the first period. They were rewarded with a power play late in the period. In the man advantage, a fortunate bounce in front of the Franklin Region net left sophomore forward Cam Mikulsky alone with a gaping cage and the puck on his stick. Mikulsky made no mistake putting the puck into the open net. The Cats were off to a great start and an assist from captain Louie Amatucci added to a special night for him.
In the second period, Franklin Regional came out with some offensive chances and were pressuring in the Cat’s end. A great defensive play at the blue line pushed the puck out into the Panther’s end, and great hustle from junior forward Jackson Hayburn left him all alone on the Panther’s netminder. Hayburn beat the goalie on the breakaway and gave the Cats a 2-0 lead. “I saw the open ice leading to the puck on the other end. When I saw that I knew if I won the race there, I would have a clean look at the goalie,” said Hayburn.
Jackson’s hustle and great all-around play helped the Cats feed off his energy and keep pushing. The Cats continued to pressure and another breakaway for the Cats gave them a chance to go to the third period up three.
This time it was freshman forward Joey Crimboli in an all-alone breakaway. Crimboli made a great move and went behind the goal line to bank it off the goalie and in for the Cat’s third goal of the game. Joey said, “I had been fighting all night for chances, I knew when I got a breakaway I had to capitalize for the team.” Joey was happy to do his part on a special night for the seniors.
The Cats continued great play in the third period, and with the large lead, some extra ice time was given to some lower lines on the team. These boys took full advantage of their ice time and netted the Cats 4th goal of the night. Freshman forward Nigel Morris and junior forward Parker Repko converted on a beautiful 2 on 1 with great passing. Repko’s return pass to Morris left Nigel looking at an open net. Nigel buried his 2nd goal of the season and Parker picked up a well-deserved assist for his first point of the season.
The main star of the game was junior goalie Brock Pflugh who had an outstanding performance. Pflugh faced many high-quality shots all night, and he stole the show stopping all 16 shots he faced and recording his first shutout of the season. Brock said, “I wanted to help the seniors enjoy a special night with a win. I can only do my job to help the team, and that is my main goal each game.” Brock has helped the team with great play all year, and he will be a key player for the Cats as they move down the stretch of the season into the playoffs.
This win helped reinstall confidence in the team and solidified their spot in third place in the division. With tough road games to end the season against 5th place Fox Chapel and 2nd place South Fayette, the Cats look to keep playing at this level to keep a good seed to host a playoff game in the first round.
