Team PA Suffers Back to Back Losses on Monday
Team Pennsylvania opened the 2023 BRICK Tournament with a tough back-to-back on Monday with a morning matchup against Team Minnesota followed by an evening meeting with the BC Junior Canucks.
In the first matchup of the day, Team PA opened the scoring thanks to a powerplay goal from Cooper Hackett with assists from Tyler Smith and Luke Seiden. Then, the team suffered a difficult stretch as Team Minnesota scored 7 straight goals to take a commanding 7-1 lead. Team PA did put up a fight late in the third period, however, as Cooper Hackett scored two more powerplay goals to complete his hat trick. Marcello Biscaro and Jaxton Nemet recorded assists on those late tallies. With 15 seconds left in the game, Tommy Goebel scored another powerplay goal with assists from Gianluca Pallotta and Owen Mach. Despite a tough strech in the middle of the game, the boys rallied back to end with a final score of 7-4.
"We ran into a highly motivated group in Team Minnesota today," coach Edwards said after the game. "Unfortunately our details that we take so much pride in disappeared under the bright lights in the mall environment. This group has shown a lot of resiliency throughout the spring and I expect to see that tonight against a hard working BC Jr. Canucks team."
The game against the BC Junior Canucks on Monday was as exciting as they get. Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Team Pennsylvania scored three unanswered goals to force overtime. Tommy Goebel started the comeback at 12:32 of the third period with an unassisted tally. Less than four minutes later, Cooper Hackett scored on the powerplay for his fourth goal of the tournament to bring the score to 3-2. Late in the third period, with 23 seconds left, Hackett scored again to tie the score. Assisting on the late, dramatic goal was Jaxton Nemet and Gavin Plouffe.
In the overtime period, the BC Junior Canucks ended up scoring the game-winning goal. With the overtime defeat, Team Pennsylvania earned their first point of the 2023 BRICK Tournament.
The team's next game is Tuesday, July 4 against the Boston Junior Bruins at 3:50 PM MT. Good luck Team PA!
