CRANBERRY TWP., Pa. — Moon scored three goals in the first 1:10 of the third period en route to defeating the Burrell Bucs, 7-4 in the 2018 Division-2 championship game on Monday evening at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
After skating to a 2-2 tie through the first two frames, the Tigers entered the third flying and, in a span of 59 seconds, received goals from Alexander Angevine, Zachary Wildasin, and Shawn Hytla to jump out to a huge three-goal lead.
The Tigers got started early, as Angevine picked off a Bucs’ breakout pass off of the opening faceoff, skated in behind the defenders and placed it directly off of the crossbar only 16 seconds into the first period.
Sloppy play by both teams created an early opportunity for the Bucs, and 3:30 later, they capitalized on a 5-on-3 when Nathan Smith fired a shot from the point that cruised past a crowd and beat Moon starter Luke Konecsni.
The teams calmed their nerves in the second and exchanged opportunity after opportunity, including a Burrell 3-on-1 on a penalty kill. Stewart found an opening with 4:34 left in the period, skating in from the circle and beating Konecsni over his blocker to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead. Two minutes later, the Tigers took advantage of their second man-advantage of the day when Shawn Hytla poked a puck just past Burkett to tie the game.
A Bryce Schueler one-timer from the slot cut into the Moon lead in the third period, but that was short lived as Wildasin and Logan Zarin scored 59 seconds apart to give the Tigers a 7-3 advantage. Micha Silverman tucked a puck behind Konecsni to get the deficit to three, but the Tigers were able to seal the victory and the title.
Stewart collected four points for Burrell in the loss, while Moon collected two goals apiece from Angevine, Wildasin, and Hytla.
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