The Moon Area hockey team hadn’t played a game in more than two weeks before it opened its PIHL Varsity A playoff run Tuesday night against North Hills.
So much for shaking off the rust.
Jordan Rieke scored a pair of goals and Eric Hartman contributed a goal and an assist as the Tigers whipped North Hills, 5-1, at Printscape Arena at Southpoint.
The win vaults Moon into the quarterfinals of the Penguins Cup playoffs against Avonworth, a 9-3 winner over Beaver Tuesday.
The Moon-Avonworth game will be played at 7:15 p.m. Monday, March 2, at RMU Island Sports Center.
Goals by Jordan Rieke and Eric Hartman gave Moon a 2-0 lead after one period, and Ben Poeta’s goal just 20 seconds into the second period increased the Tigers’ advantage to 3-0.
Rieke scored his second goal just 59 seconds into the third period and Brooks Underwood added Moon’s final goal before Christopher Muschar ruined Tigers goalie Tyler Zeigler’s shutout bid with a goal at the 9:30 mark.
In addition to Hartman, four other Moon players added assists in David Gallup, Gio Thompson, Logan Rieke and Ryan Muldowney.
Moon coach Koby Uhrig said his team was focused “right from the jump.”
“We completely took over the first period and probably deserved to be up more than just 2-0,” he said. “Aside from a few mistakes that are bound to happen at some point in the high pressure of the playoffs, we carried that momentum throughout.”
Uhrig said that while the extra week off between games presents challenges, the Tigers used their time off to fine-tune their game “systematically.”
“It’s important at practice for our guys to compete like they would in a game, so when we have lots of time between games, we like to take their space away and make them battle each other for loose pucks or open space to sharpen their offensive creativity and defensive awareness,” he said.
Uhrig said his team is looking forward to the March 2 matchup with Avonworth, as the Antelopes eliminated the Tigers in last year’s playoff semifinals on their way to the Penguins Cup.
“We’re excited for the challenge,” he said. “They perhaps have an even deeper team this season, so this opportunity provides layers of motivation for us.”
Moon entered the playoffs on a six-game win streak, with the most recent victory coming over Richland in the last game of the regular season on Feb. 9.
The Tigers ended regular season play with a record of 14-3-1-1, good for third place in the Varsity A Blue Division. Avonworth finished 15-3-1-1 and in second place behind Mars in the Varsity A Gold Division.
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