Hickory sophomore Jones scores eventual game-winner in 2nd period as Lancers top Hounds

Feb. 27—NESHANNOCK — Kent Jones fired the puck in the back of the net, Gio Valentine finished with a hat trick and Gavin Reddick was solid in the net for the final 20 minutes of play.

The trio helped lead the Neshannock hockey team to a 7-3 win over rival Wilmington on Monday night at Hess Ice Rink in Neshannock. The win snapped a two-game skid for the Lancers (11-5-2).

Jones, a Hickory sophomore, scored the eventual game-winning goal in the closing minutes of the second period. It was the third goal of the season for the defenseman, and his 15th point.

The Jones goal was sandwiched in between two by Valentine — an unassisted game-tying goal and another off a dish from Micah DeJulia.

"That was probably the most important goal of the game," acting Neshannock head coach Matthew Smith said. "Obviously, these guys have dealt with a lot of adversity this year. They were all able to step up tonight in a big way, but it was a nice turning point for us."

Valentine deposited his final goal of the night with just over a minute left.

The Lancers opened the scoring with a short-handed goal by Logan Quigley less than 12 minutes into the game. However, the Greyhounds (4-14) responded with a score by Gage Miller off assists from Noah King and Jake Coulter with 8.4 seconds left in the period.

At the 7:11 mark, the Greyhounds took the lead off a score by Sean Carmichael. King was credited with his second assist. The game was tied at 2 after Jake Fabricant found the back of the net off assists from Quigley and Nick Bucci.

After four hard-fought goals by both teams, the final three minutes of the second looked like a shootout.

Wilmington retook the lead on a goal by Dalton Messner from just in front of the net. Carmichael got the assist with 3:15 left in the period. The unassisted goal by Valentine tied the game at 3 eight seconds later, Jones scored the go-ahead goal off assists from Brian McConahy and Bucci 50 seconds after the game was tied and Valentine added some insurance off an assist from DeJulia with just over a minute remaining in the period.

"Giovanni's been solid for us all year," Smith said. "Not surprised for another hat trick for him, but it's really been the whole team. He's been a class act all year."

Sebastian Renick, a Grove City junior, got his bell run off an open-ice hit in the slot. But he managed to get the puck to Zachary Presnar, who increased the Neshannock lead to 6-3 less than seven minutes into the third. Valentine added his final goal to make it 7-3 in the final minutes.

Gavin Renick buckled down after the third goal allowed. He managed the few shots that came his way in the third period.

The Neshannock senior stopped 16 of 19 shots faced on senior night.

"Not a lot of shots," Gavin Renick said. "Defense did a lot for me today. Then you get bored having that kind of game. At the end, there was a little scrum. Felt like skating up to see what was going on. Didn't have any intentions of fighting anybody, just wanted to have a little fun."

Wilmington lost its second straight game, but the Greyhounds finished the season winning two of their final four games. They started the season 2-3 before dropping nine straight.

Freshman goalie Tagg Walker was under fire all night from the Lancers. Walker stopped 30 of 37 shots (81.1 percent).

The netminder finished his first varsity season with a 4-14 record and an 82.6 save percentage.

"He's been our backstop all year. These last three games have probably been his best of the season, so I'm excited for him carrying us forward next season," Wilmington head coach Matt Miller said. "We didn't do a good job of covering the high slot, and it killed us. The puck found its way to the open guys up there. They took advantage of it and buried it."

NEW MAN IN CHARGE

It was Smith's first game as the head coach of Neshannock. He was an assistant coach under Mark Multari.

Multari stepped down on Sunday, and Smith will finish the rest of the season.

The change in coaching also brings about a new chapter in Neshannock hockey. Multari was the first head coach of the Kennedy Catholic hockey team. KC eventually moved to Neshannock under a co-op.

In addition to his varsity responsibilities, Smith still oversees the junior varsity team.