Pittsburgh Hockey Digest

PIHL

Ethan Isaly backstops North Hills to victory over Chartiers Valley

Ethan Isaly made 21 of 22 saves to lead the North Hills Indians to an opening night victory over the Chartiers Valley Colts Monday night at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center. -- Ed Major II

MT. LEBANON, Pa. — The second game of PIHL Opening Night on Monday at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center featured the Chartiers Valley Colts hosting the North Hills Indians. North Hills took a 3-1 victory behind a stellar effort by goaltender Ethan Isaly.

The Colts had an early exit last season in the playoffs as they ran head first into West Allegheny, falling 4-0. The Indians, after defeating Westmont Hilltop in the first round of the playoffs, fell to South Fayette in the quarterfinals. Each team was looking for a win to start the new season on a high note.

That high note was achieved by the Indians, albeit slowly. At the end of an evenly matched first period, Derek Pietrzyk gave North Hills a 1-0 lead and there it remained through the end of the second. The Indians took the shots advantage into the ice cut at 19-13, peppering Char Valley netminder Logan Marnik at the end of the period.

Chartiers Valley finally got on the board midway through the third period as Jax Fodor tied the game 1-1 with a power play goal. At 13:31, North Hills took back the lead for good off the stick of Roman Rennebeck, also a power play goal. The Indians went 1-for-6 on the power play while the Colts went 1-for-4.

Tyler Rodney added an empty net goal with 40 seconds to play to seal the Indians’ first win of the season.

Isaly stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal for a 0.955 save percentage. Marnik stopped 27 of 30 for Chartiers Valley.

Chartiers Valley will visit South Park on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at Ice Castle Arena.

After a long layoff, North Hills will host South Park on Oct. 21 at 9:15 p.m. at the RMU Island Sports Center.

MAJOR FOCUS: North Hills dominant in victory over Char Valley

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