BETHEL PARK, Pa. — The Bathel Park Blackhawks needed to win their final two games of the regular season to take the top seed in the Class-AAA playoffs. A win Thursday night would set up a winner-take-all matchup for the top seed against the Peters Township Indians on February 19. The Blackhawks did their part in the first game, defeating the Blue Devils of Mt. Lebanon 10-1 Thursday night at the Bethel Park YMCA.
Luke McLinden started the scoring for Bethel park 1:11 into the first period, followed by a second goal by Thomas Worcester just seven seconds later. Worcester pushed into the offensive zone untouched off of the faceoff and put the puck behind Blue Devils goaltender Matt Beemsterboer. Worcester added his second of the game with 1:31 to play in the first to give his team a 3-0 lead after one period.
It took a little longer for Bethel Park to score in the second period until Jeffrey Bele extended the Blackhawks lead to four goals. After that goal, Mt. Lebanon called a timeout and replaced Beemsterboer with Bradley Weaver. That goaltender switch, followed by Thomas Fleming getting Mt. Lebanon on the board, should have been the catalyst for a comeback.Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, two Bethel Park goals, a short-handed goal by Vincent Vituccio and a goal by George Tomko, gave the Blackhawks a 6-1 lead after two periods.
Connor Price extended the lead to six with a goal at the 2:54 mark of the third. Then Ryan McLinden, not to be left out of the fun, scored three straight goals himself to seal Bethel Park’s win, 10-1.
Matt Gajtka will be on the call for Tuesday night’s battle between the Blackhawks and the Indians of Peters Township for the right to take the top seed in the Class-AAA playoffs.
MAJOR FOCUS: BETHEL PARK ONE WIN AWAY FROM TOP SEED IN AAA
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