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Crestwood edges Coughlin in 13 innings in WVC baseball

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Sal Biasi pitches Penn State to first Big Ten baseball victory

Shavertown native Patrick McGrath scored his first career AHL goal Saturday, sparking the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 2-1 victory over Hartford at Hartford&#8217;s XL Center.McGrath&#8217;s goal came off assists from Derrick Pouliot and Adam Krause 3:06 into the second period after a scoreless opening period, and gave the Penguins a lead they didn&#8217;t relinquish as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recorded a rare, eight-game season sweep of the WolfPack.Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots in goal for the Penguins, who improved to 49-19-3-1 and moved within a point from clinching the Atlantic Division title and securing home ice advantage throughout the upcoming AHL Playoffs.The clincher could come with a victory, tie, or overtime loss in Sunday&#8217;s 3:05 p.m. game in Providence.Jean-Sebastien Dea gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead when he registered his 17th goal later in the second period.DeSmith turned away Hartford&#8217;s first 26 shots, including four power play opportunities in the first period, before the WolfPack broke through with Adam Tembellini&#8217;s goal 15 seconds into the third period.But DeSmith and the penalty kill remained stout for the Penguins, who killed off all six of Hartford&#8217;s man-advantages &#8212; including a six-on-four kill in the final two minutes of regulation as Hartford desperately tried to tie the score. DeSmith denied the Wolf Pack their equalizer with an exclamation mark by flashing a blocker save on Hartford&#8217;s leading scorer, Nicklas Jensen, with less than 20 seconds left in the game.Penguins 2, Hartford 1Penguins`0`2`0` &#8212; `2Hartford `0`0`1` &#8212; `1First Period &#8212; No Scoring. Penalties &#8212; Summers, Hfd, (interference), 3:27; Prow, WBS, (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:25; Pouliot, WBS, (tripping), 16:28; Josephs, WBS, (high-sticking), 18:49.Second Period &#8212; 1. WBS, McGrath 1 (Pouliot, Krause), 3:06; 2. WBS, Dea 17 (Blueger), 8:51. Penalties &#8212; Josephs, WBS, (hooking), 9:46.Third Period &#8212; 3. Har, Tambellini 13 (Catenacci), 0:15. Penalties &#8212; Catenacci, Hfd (interference), 4:13; served by Wydo, WBS (bench minor - too many men), 17:36.Shots on GoalWBS 6-15-6-27. Har 15-11-9-35.Power Play OpportunitiesWBS 0-2; Har 0-6.GoaliesWBS, DeSmith 20-4-2 (35 shots-34 saves). Har, Hellberg 12-14-5 (27 shots-25 saves).A-6,344Referees-Terry Koharski, Chris Brown. Linesmen-Glen Cooke, Frank Murphy.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">McGrath </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_McGrathMug.jpg</photo0><caption0>McGrath </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

McGrath and WBS Penguins move to brink of clinching home ice