Hockey team falls to Stateliners
For over 30 minutes, Emmaus/Pleasant Valley and Phillipsburg held each other scoreless in a battle of two teams hovering around .500 in the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League.
Emmaus/Pleasant Valley broke that scoreless game in the final two minutes of the second period, but every time they went ahead, Phillipsburg had an answer.
Emmaus/Pleasant Valley (3-4-1) took the lead on two occasions, lastly at 2-1 with 13:16 to play in regulation, but Phillipsburg tied things up not even two minutes later in both instances. With less than seven minutes to play, Phillipsburg's (4-2) Ryan Matthews ripped the game-winning tally past goalkeeper Michael Smoker to secure the 3-2 victory on Monday night at Steel Ice Center.
"The kids did get the momentum and closed them down," head coach Jamie Rieder said. "They have six or seven phenomenal players over there. Our boys did a very good job tonight. The effort was there 100 percent, and we had our chances."
Wyatt Weber, who leads Emmaus/Pleasant Valley with a team-high 10 assists, got his team on the scoreboard with his third goal of the season. Just feet in front of center ice, Wyatt lined up a deep shot that found its way underneath Phillipsburg's Dan Hagan in goal.
"It was a great shot," Rieder said, "and he kept it low on net. That's all we ask for him because he has a great shot. He snuck it in there."
But just over a minute later, Phillipsburg had the equalizer just before the third period. Ryan Sweeney's cross in front of the Emmaus/Pleasant Valley goal found Patrick Williams, who punched in the tally to make it a 1-1 game going into the final period.
Emmaus/Pleasant Valley seemingly regained momentum not even three minutes into the last period after Noah Brown's shot ricocheted off Mark Tichy to help them regain a one-goal advantage.
But Phillipsburg responded right back with just under 12 minutes to play after Sweeney tallied his second assist of the game, this one setting up Simon Rybansky.
"They got us off our game a little bit, and then we started getting some shots on net," Rieder said. "Once you start getting some shots, it definitely helps getting the confidence level back up and getting the team play back together."
Filling in for injured goalie Matthew Horton, Smoker played impressively and saved 29 Phillipsburg shots in his first game of the season.
"He stood on his head and kept the defense calm back there," Rieder said. "He had a calming effect back there, which is great."
Phillipsburg held a 35-19 advantage in shots on goal, which included a barrage of 20 chances on goal in the second period.
Emmaus/Pleasant Valley faces Freedom on Friday at Steel Ice Center. Game time is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.