(written on Nov. 16, 2024)

The Trojans have started to gain some momentum by getting some clutch wins as of late. There have been a lot of ups and downs but the team is still grinding it out.  With a strong start as of late under their belt, the team is building the energy needed to keep the wins coming in the early stretch of the season.  The McDowell hockey team’s goal is to make the playoffs to go on and win a Pennsylvania State A championship.   

McDowell has scored 18 goals over the last 5 games and gave up 15 goals over this stretch.  The Trojans have victories over Beaver, Kiski and Plum.  The top point leader for the Trojans is Junior Harrison Parra. He leads the team with 9 points with 6 goals and 3 assists.  Senior Wendell Natividad and Junior Dylan Payne have 6 points with 4 goals and 2 assists each.  Senior Jacob Baniewicz follows with 1 goal and 3 assists for a total of 4 points.  

The beginning of the season, the top teams such as Quaker Valley, Chartiers Valley (2), Shaler and Blackhawk defeated the Trojans.  The team was struggling putting the puck behind the net while scoring only 6 goals in the 5 games they lost.  Junior Dylan Graham got injured in a game against Shaler which was a huge blow to the team because he is one of the most hard working players on the team.  His absence made a huge impact on the Trojans game because it sent them back.     

The Trojans started to turn it around and got their first victory against a decent Beaver team by a score of 4-1.  They out shot the Wildcats 32-31 with goals coming from Nathan Hanel, Harrison Parra (2), and Alec Coon.  McDowell got 3 penalties for too many men on the ice, Diaz Bojkic for holding, and Noah Roberts for roughing.  This was a huge win because it gave the Trojans confidence for the rest of the season.  

McDowell secured an easy victory over the Kiski Cavaliers with a score of 8-1.  They scored their last 7 goals in the third period with Dylan Payne scoring three, Wendell Natividad, Harrison Parra, Brendan Margraves, James Finn all scoring once.  Wendell scored the lone goal in the first.  They obliterated the Cavaliers in shots with 46 and Kiski only getting 15 on net.  This win for the Trojans was not difficult but showed that they can destroy some of the weaker teams.  

The recent win was a thrilling one against the Plum Mustangs with a final score of 3-2.  Scorers of the game were Harrison Parra, Wendell Natividad, and Dylan Payne.  The Mustangs outshot the Trojans 27-26 but the McDowell defense kept the puck out of the net.  Plum got a total of 44 penalty minutes on 10 infractions which gave the Trojans opportunities to score.  The Trojans scored a buzzer beater goal, Dylan Graham and Dylan Payne kept whacking away and Payne tucked it in to give the Trojans the win.  

The Trojans have some humongous games coming up that have huge playoff implications on the line.  In the next upcoming games, the Trojans face off against the Montour Spartans, Meadville Bulldogs, and the Greensburg Salem Golden Lions.  

This Tuesday McDowell hosts the Montour Spartans at 8 PM at Lecom Sports Park.  The Spartans record currently is 4-2, Aiden Moskovitz currently leads the team in points with 7 goals and 15 assists for a total of 22 points.  Thomas Barefoot follows with 12 goals and 9 assists for 21 points.  Montour’s goalie Ethan Diiani has 5 stars under his belt and has 3 wins.  The Spartans starting goalie has a 4.82 goals against average and a .835% save percentage.   

The team has been jelling well with each other which is huge for the team’s success.  Freshman Cam Tennant has been brought up to the first line with Harrison Parra and Wendell Natvidad.  Senior Evan Stachera got brought down to the third line with James Finn and Ethan Sutherland.  This change might benefit the Trojans because it gives the third line more speed.  The first line will benefit the most because they will be able to move the puck better.  

The powerplay for McDowell has recently changed with Harrison Parra being at the top with Alec Coon being on the side.  We will see if this move will pan out for the Trojans for the rest of the season.  

Come watch the Trojans next home game on Tuesday December 3rd at 8 pm at Lecom Sports Park.