Plano East Hockey

Earlier, Plano East took on Lovejoy (1-17-0) on February 10 in a very one-sided affair.  East hung four points on the board before the 1st period was over.  Domenic Holt would ring the bell twice while Hunter Kimmerle and Ryan Henigsmith contributed one apiece. In the 3rd frame Joe Holweger tallied the final goal, marking a 5-0 shutout victory for his goaltender Adam Rose, who enjoyed a quiet evening only facing 22 shots.  Assists were credited to Matthew Straub, Lucas Jensen, Joe Kurita, Carter Baum, Tyler Kirchmeyer and two for Brice McLeod.  Lovejoy net minder Cody Phillips earned the loss allowing 5 of 44 shots to get behind him.

The following week Prosper arrived for the third and final meeting of the season for a rubber match game.  East lost the first encounter 3-0, but won the second 6-2.  In the February 17 matchup, the Ides of March came early for the Panthers as everything seemed to go Prosper’s way, including the whistles.  Prosper goaltender Hunter Stafford was stellar, slamming the door on 23 of 25 Plano East shots.  Even the officials were oddly over-involved in the game, providing picks and puck deflections which more than a few times gifted shots on goal for Prosper.  

It took until almost midway through the 2nd period before the dinner bell would ring, with Prosper’s Austin Schriver and Chad Clark (PP) posting the only tallies.  Fighting their way through a disgustingly unbalanced penalty minute differential of 36-6 providing a skewed 9-2 power play opportunities, East never gave up and turned up the heat in the final frame after Prosper’s leading scorer Colt Whaley put his team up 3-0.  East’s captain Ryo Kurita netted a very hungry goal, and the Panthers were right back in it.  Grant Bennett’s goal just 3 minutes later again dug a three goal deficit, but Brice McLeod would answer and tighten it back up 4-2 with 1:16 remaining.  A 150 foot empty net goal by Brayden Brown would ice it for Prosper, handing East goalie Adam Rose the loss with 29 saves on 33 shots faced.

Plano East (6-11-1) will battle McKinney (5-10-3) on March 1, then Marcus (9-9-0) on March 3 in their last two games of the regular season.  McKinney won the first encounter, shutting out the Panthers 5-0 on November 4.  The very next week East played one of their best games of the season and beat Marcus 3-2 in a tough fight to the finish.  These two season finale games should be close, grinding games as playoff seeding is on the line.

Plano East Hockey is looking for east side students interested in ice hockey.  With nine (9) seniors graduating this year, there will be many roster spots available next season.  For more information visit www.peshhockey.com.  

Plano East Varsity Silver Hockey (4-9-0) got off to a good start in Euless Thursday night, but Mansfield (10-3-0) was just too much as they answered PESH's lone opening period goal with five unanswered.  Mansfield goaltender Matthew Pressley earned the win and was stellar, stopping 23 of 24 shots.