Boys Ice Hockey: Penncrest follows Dougherty’s lead in downing Garnet Valley

ASTON >> When Matthew Luccidi went out with an injury, Penncrest was left without a senior in its lineup. But you wouldn’t have known that Friday night. The Lions played a composed, disciplined game to dispatch Garnet Valley, 5-4, in a key Central League boys hockey clash at IceWorks. Sophomore Matthew Dougherty scored twice and added two assists, while junior goaltender Mark Dumont made 36 saves.

“It was a gutsy effort,” said longtime Penncrest coach Steve Mescanti. “We lost two defensemen last week. We lost Ryan Dumont tonight (to a first-period hit). We were down to seven forwards. We just kind of gutted it out at the end.”

The Lions fell behind early. Gannon Stuart opened the scoring for the Jags 2:01 into the game off a feed from Thomas Schenk. With the 1-0 lead, Garnet continued to press. The visitors were outshooting Penncrest 8-2 at the 10-minute mark of the first-period. Mark Dumont, though, stood strong. He also got help from a defensive group that limited the Jags’ odd-man opportunities.

“That was something we talked about,” said Mescanti. “We really needed to combat their speed. We tried to be strong to force them wide and not let them wheel.” The formula worked to keep the Lions in the game. And with just over two minutes on the clock, they took control of play. Jack Fletcher scored a power-play goal to even things up. Then Dougherty gave Penncrest the lead before the buzzer.

“Austin (Mazzulo) and me work really well together,” said Dougherty of the goal. “He had me in the slot. He found me. It was a great pass by him.” Dougherty beat Greg Schenk to the blocker side. The Lions wouldn’t trail again.

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