Penncrest One Loss Away from Elimination in Hockey Playoffs

WEST CHESTER— is halfway to being knocked out of the playoffs after coming out a little flat and falling behind to a speedy Radnor team Monday night. The Red Raiders built up to a 4-0 lead before the Lions were able to score their first, and that deficit proved too much for even the red-hot Penncrest team to undo.

"We need to be a harder team to play against than we were tonight," said Penncrest head coach Steve Mescanti. "They took full advantage of their opportunities. Once they got that lead, it was too much of an uphill battle for us to overcome."

With a little more than three minutes to play in a back-and-forth first period, Radnor's Sean O'Hara scored the game's first goal, and they went into the break up 1-0. With Radnor on the power play early in the second, Penncrest's Garrett Johnston made the initial save on a shot, but the puck bounced off of a Radnor player's chest, and he had an empty net in which to pop the rebound home for a 2-0 lead.

The game breaker came midway through the game when the Red Raiders scored on two slapshots in under a minute to make it 4-0. Penncrest captain Matt Menta finally got the Lions on the scoreboard before the end of the second, taking a pass from wingman Brendan Howanski and splitting the defense for a nifty goal.

Gabe Chuckran scored three minutes into the third period to make it 4-2, but the Lions' comeback bid would end there. A minute and a half later, Radnor had another fortunate bounce end up on their stick and scored the game's final goal.

The tournament is double-elimination, so Penncrest will be back at it Tuesday night at 7 p.m. (Ice Works, Rink 3) against first-place Springfield, who has also lost once—meaning somebody's going home Tuesday night.