H.S. Football: Jake Peters comes up big in Hanover Area victory

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Wyoming Area trumps Pittston Area, 42-10, in 51st meeting between the schools

<p>Tom Kostopoulos took on a giant and woke up his teammates.</p><p>After nearly two periods of lackluster play on Friday and trailing the St. John&#8217;s IceCaps 1-0, Kostopoulos dropped the gloves with the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Michael McCarron.</p><p>The inspirational fight from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton captain put his team on the power play, which led to a Dominik Simon goal late in the second period and a wave of momentum that carried the Penguins to a three-goal third period and a 4-1 win.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s evident why he wears the C,&#8221; said head coach Mike Sullivan about Kostopoulos dropping the gloves. &#8220;For me, TK led the charge. I can&#8217;t say enough about the guy and what he brings to this team.&#8221;</p><p>The Penguins defeated the IceCaps twice in a row and extend their winning streak to eight games. And like many of the other wins during the streak, Friday&#8217;s presented the Penguins with a bit of adversity, particularly in the opening frame.</p><p>St. John&#8217;s took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period that, based on the way the Penguins were playing up to that point, looked insurmountable.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s not a theme yet, but some of our starts haven&#8217;t been the best,&#8221; defenseman Derrick Pouliot said.</p><p>The theme for the Penguins consisted of bobbled pucks, missed passes and broken scoring chances which led to mounting frustration through most of first two periods.</p><p>With less than two minutes left in the second period, Kostopoulos grabbed McCarron during a scrum in front of the Penguins net and dropped the gloves.</p><p>While Kostopoulos went to the locker room with a five-minute major, his teammates went on the power play with a jolt of momentum.</p><p>&#8220;When you see your captain go out and do that you have a lot of respect and you know how much respect he has for this team,&#8221; Pouliot said. &#8220;When he goes out there and does that, it really sparked us for the rest of the game.&#8221;</p><p>A minute into the ensuing power play, Will O&#8217;Neill sent a pass across the slot to Simon, who sent the puck into the top of the net for a 1-1 tie to close out the period.</p><p>&#8220;To be able to capitalize on that power play late gave us a little more belief,&#8221; said Carter Rowney, who had a goal on the night. &#8220;We were less frustrated at the end of that period and ready to go at them in the third.&#8221;</p><p>That proved to be an understatement.</p><p>After killing off a St. John&#8217;s power play, Pouliot carried the puck up ice and ripped a shot on net from far away. The rebound bounced to Tim Erixon at the corner whose shot deflected off a St. John&#8217;s player in front and trickled into the net.</p><p>That gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead, and Rowney made it 3-1 with a shot up high with less than four minutes remaining. Pouliot put the game out of reach with an empty net goal with 2:45 left to make it 4-1.</p><p>&#8220;I thought out third period was the strongest of the game,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;We played a team tonight that played with urgency. We have to have some push-back and I thought we had it in the second two (periods). From a compete standpoint, I thought the second and third periods were our best of the year.&#8221;</p><p>With the eight-game winning streak intact, the Penguins now have seven days before they try to make it nine. But in the meantime, they&#8217;ll appreciate Friday&#8217;s victory a bit before moving on.</p><p>&#8220;It was a very good hockey game. It was competitive, physical and a lot of banter going back and forth,&#8221; Sullivan said. &#8220;For me, that&#8217;s hockey. The adrenaline was pumping on both benches.&#8221;</p><p>NOTES</p><p>- F Tom Sestito (injury), D Barry Goers (injury), C Matia Marcantuoni, F Tyler Biggs and D Niclas Andersen were scratched for the Penguins.</p><p>- Rowney is played in his 100th career AHL game on Friday.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">St. John's Ice Caps left wing, Daniel Carr (11), chases Penguins defenseman David Warsofsky (5) down the ice before he gets near the Ice Caps zone at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110715PensGame1.jpg</photo0><caption0>St. John's Ice Caps left wing, Daniel Carr (11), chases Penguins defenseman David Warsofsky (5) down the ice before he gets near the Ice Caps zone at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110715PensGame2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) catches an attempted Ice Caps shot to the net with his glove at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110715PensGame2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) catches an attempted Ice Caps shot to the net with his glove at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110715PensGame3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pens defenseman Reid McNeill (3) pins Ice Caps center Michael McCarron (25) against the glass at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110715PensGame3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Pens defenseman Reid McNeill (3) pins Ice Caps center Michael McCarron (25) against the glass at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. 11/6/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Penguins 4, St. John&#8217;s 1</strong></p><p><strong>St. John&#8217;s`1`0`0`&#8212;`1</strong></p><p><strong>Penguins`0`1`3`&#8212;`4</strong></p><p><strong>First Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; 1. STJ, Daniel Carr 4 (McCarron, Holloway) 8:32. Penalties - STJ, Andrighetto (hooking, misconduct) 9:05; WBS, Archibald (goaltender intereference) 13:15.</p><p><strong>Second Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; 2. WBS, Dominik Simon 4 (O&#8217;Neill, Warsofsky) power play 19:50. Penalties - STJ, McCarron (roughing, fighting) 18:49; WBS, Kostopoulos (fighting) 18:49.</p><p><strong>Third Period</strong></p><p><strong>Scoring</strong> &#8211; 3. WBS, Tim Erixon 1 (Pouliot) 14:53. 4. WBS, Carter Rowney 4 (Kostopoulos, O&#8217;Neill) 16:08. 5. WBS, Kael Mouillierat 3 unassisted, empty net 17:15. Penalites - WBS, Porter (delay) 4:24; STJ, Fournier (cross-checking) 6:58; WBS, Pouliot (slashing) 12:38; STF, Fournier (roughing double-minor) 19:04; WBS, Oleksy (cross-checking) 19:08.</p><p><strong>Shots on goal</strong></p><p>St. John&#8217;s &#8211; 11-5-5-21</p><p>Penguins &#8211; 6-12-12-30</p><p><strong>Power-play Opportunities</strong></p><p>St. John&#8217;s &#8211; 0 of 3</p><p>Penguins &#8211; 1 of 4</p><p>Goaltenders</p><p>St. John&#8217;s &#8211; Eddie Pasquale 0-1-0 (26 saves-29 shots)</p><p>Penguins &#8211; Matt Murray 7-1-0 (20-21)</p><p><strong>Starters</strong></p><p>St. John&#8217;s &#8211; G Eddie Pasquale, D Morgan Ellis, D Darren Dietz, LW Brandon McNally, C Gabriel Dumont, RW Christian Thomas</p><p>Penguins &#8211; G Matt Murray, D Tim Erixon, D Will O&#8217;Neill, LW Carter Rowney, C Kevin Porter, RW Dominik Simon</p><p><strong>Three Stars</strong></p><p>1. WBS, Carter Rowney (goal) 2. WBS, Dominik Simon (goal) 3. WBS, Tom Erixon (game-winning goal)</p><p><strong>Referee</strong> &#8211; Ryan Hersey. <strong>Linesmen</strong> &#8211; Bill Lyons, Leo Boylan</p><p><strong>Attendance</strong> &#8211; 4,511</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tom Kostopoulos, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins slay the St. John’s IceCaps