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Mummau, Pioneers halt Penn Manor win streak
Hat trick powers L-S to 5-3 decision Mummau, Pioneers halt Penn Manor win streak BY KEVIN FREEMAN, Sports Writer
Lampeter-Strasburg hockey coach Russ Hauser described junior Nick Mummau as a player who always seems to be around the puck.
On Monday night at the Lancaster Ice Rink, Mummau knew what to do with the puck when it found him.
He shot it and it found the back of the net.
Mummau recorded a hat trick to lead the Pioneers to a 5-3 victory over Penn Manor, dealing the Comets only their second loss of the season.
Mummau scored the game's first two goals and after Penn Manor came back to tie the score at 2-2, he scored the go-ahead goal.
"Nick is just a gamer,'' Hauser said. "As a freshman last season, he recorded more points than anybody else on our team in the playoffs. He just steps up in big games. He's on the ice in every big situation, power play, penalty kill, last-minute situations. The puck just goes to him and he plays well under pressure.''
As important as Mummau was to the L-S offense, Pioneers goalie Ian Keene was to the team's defensive effort. He made 17 saves, holding at bay a Manor team that sports three of the top seven scorers in the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League's Tier 2.
"Ian has been solid all year,'' Mummau said. "He usually sees 40 shots a game and lets in three or four. And Penn Manor has some snipers.''
Both goalies, Keene and Penn Manor's Owen Finefrock, were busy early and both came up with big saves. But Mummau broke through with 3:44 to play in the first period, breaking down the left wing side with a step on a Penn Manor defenseman. He beat Finefrock to give L-S a 1-0 lead.
Mummau made it 2-0 for the Pioneers just 1:43 later when he banged home his own rebound.
"We didn't possess the puck very much,'' said Penn Manor coach Garth Bolin. "They seemed to control the puck more than we did.''
The Comets cut into the lead early in the second with Matt Gue scoring on a backhander. Keene then robbed Nick Young with a leg save midway through the period but Young came up with a rebound seconds later and jammed it past Keene to tie the game at 2-2.
Penn Manor (14-2-2, 30 points), which came into the game riding a four-game winning streak, had turned the game's momentum in its favor.
But L-S wrestled the momentum back on Mummau's third goal, coming on the power play late in the second.
"It was good to answer right away,'' Mummau said.
The Pioneers (11-6-0, 22 points), winners of three straight, pushed their lead to 4-2 on Josh Wright's goal but Penn Manor wasn't done. The Comets' Young got his second of the game, going top shelf to beat Keene.
Keene, however, made his most important save with 2:37 to play in the third when he stopped Tyler Bennett's shot from the deep slot. L-S's Kyle Martin then picked up an insurance goal for the Pioneers.
"We were focused and ready to go,'' Mummau said. "We knew what kind of team they had and we need to win these last couple of games to get a good seed for the playoffs. We knew they were going to come out hard with their skill.''
A Penn Manor victory would have sewn up first place and the top seed in the playoffs. If Manheim Township defeats Cedar Crest Wednesday, both Penn Manor and Township would have 30 points in the standings.
As it turns out, Penn Manor will still be awarded the Tier 2 title in a ruling made by the league concerning Township's use of ineligible players in their win over Manor earlier in the season.
kfreeman@lnpnews.com
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