Freeport falls to Quakers
KITTANNING — It's been a tough season for the Freeport hockey team.
One play in the Yellowjackets' contest against Quaker Valley Thursday only proves it.
Trailing the Quakers 2-1 midway through the third period, Freeport appeared to have scored the tying goal, only to have it disallowed.
The referee lost sight of the puck and blew the whistle, negating the goal with 7:49 remaining.
Kevin Kenny scored with 5:19 left to give the Quakers a two-goal advantage en route to a 4-2 victory at the Belmont Complex.
"The bounces have sure not gone our way," said Yellowjackets coach Dave Hepler. "But we're not helping ourselves. We're not playing the way I'd like us to play."
"This game, I thought it was a poorly played game," said Quakers coach Kevin Quinn. "It was not a good week for us. We came in 5-3 and we could have been 8-0. We were shocked by Mars (9-0) Monday."
Quaker Valley (6-4) boasts a roster primarily filled with freshmen and sophomores, but Quinn expects more from them at this point in the season.
"I would have hoped the novelty of playing varsity hockey would have worn off by now," said Quinn. "We had two losses in the last minute."
Freeport (1-8) would give the Quakers all they could handle despite falling behind when Alex Jackson scored off a loose puck in front of the net with 2:53 left in the first period.
Freeport scored the equalizer with 8:51 left in the second when Neil Decroo scored off an assist by Jonathan Hill.
The Quakers regained the lead with 6:48 left in the period when Scott Pulkowski took a pass from John Pilewicz and scored with 14 seconds left on a power-play chance.
The Yellowjackets almost knotted it up 40 seconds later when a shot struck the post.
They had another chance when Decroo stole a pass and had a breakaway opportunity, but his shot was stopped by goalie Zachary Gittins.
On the other side, Freeport freshman Robbie Miller, playing in place of injured goalie Cody Lee, made 29 saves to keep the game close.
"This is only his second game of the season and just his second year playing hockey," said Hepler. "He had an excellent, excellent game.
"It's a shame he's not getting any goals for support," Hepler added. "We're struggling to score and we shouldn't. We're not playing like we should."
After Kenney's goal with 5:19 remaining, Freeport tried to climb closer, but Dalton Moore's shot hit the net, then the Quakers raced back down and Pulkowski buried his second goal of the game with 3:20 to play for a 4-1 lead.
Freeport closed out the scoring when Greg Newman scored off assists by Shane Gallagher and Justin Drzemiecki with two seconds remaining.
Notes: Since a 7-0 win over South Park in its season opener Oct. 26, Freeport has been outscored 35-10 in its eight consecutive losses. ... Gittins finished with 16 saves. ... Freeport will host Deer Lakes (3-7) next Thursday at the Belmont Complex.
