Stewart nets 4 goals to vault Burrell past Kennedy Catholic

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 5, 2018 | 11:57 PM

The Burrell hockey team scored 101 goals during its 18-game regular season, easily the most in PIHL Division 2.

The Bucs' offense continued to surge Monday in a first-round playoff contest against Kennedy Catholic at Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington.

Led by four goals from Tyler Stewart, two by Dylan Zelonka and one from Logan Schoepf, No. 3 seed Burrell punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 7-3 victory.

“We knew they were going to come out and try to throw us off our game, but we played well and got a nice win to advance,” Burrell coach Max Rickard said.

Burrell (14-5) will face No. 2 Ringgold at 9:15 p.m. next Monday at the Robert Morris' Island Sports Center. Ringgold swept the two-game season series, winning 8-7 on Nov. 6 and 3-0 on Dec. 11.

“The first game was a total shootout. I think both teams had 90 shots combined,” Rickard said.

“The second game was a defensive battle, and (Ringgold) had two empty netters. I don't think the next game will be like the 8-7 one. It's going to come down to who can play good defense.”

Ringgold (15-4) moved on with a 4-1 victory Monday over No. 7 Trinity at Rostraver Ice Garden.

Burrell, which ended the game with a 41-32 shot advantage, led 1-0 after the first period on Stewart's first goal. He scored at the 10:41 mark off an assist from Zelonka.

The Bucs' lead grew to 4-0 in the second before Kennedy Catholic got two scores 47 seconds apart late in the period.

Stewart completed his hat trick with 1:42 to play in the second and added his fourth in the third period.

Stewart's haul adds to the 44 goals he had over 16 games in the regular season.

In addition to his two goals, Zelonka added a pair of assists. Bryce Schueler also recorded two assists, and Stewart, Schoepf and Jared Brennan provided helpers.

Andrew Burkett stopped 29 Golden Eagles' shots as he recorded his ninth win of the season (9-5).

No. 6 seed Kennedy Catholic (8-11) got a power-play goal from Darrin Smith and tallies from Nolan Earl and Cameron Pyle. Golden Eagles netminder Carsen Burkhart made 34 saves.

Kennedy Catholic's Kaden Hanaway and Max Hamilton missed Monday's game while serving suspensions for infractions in a previous game. Hanaway and Hamilton had a combined 12 goals and 19 assists in the regular season,

Burrell's Cole Vazzana, who had scored nine goals and provided 10 assists for the Bucs during regular-season play, also did not suit up Monday because of suspension.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Burrell