Wolves NCDC Battle Hard, Fall to Mercer Chiefs in Game 1 at THF Philadelphia Showcase

The West Chester Wolves hosted the Mercer Chiefs at the Revolution Ice Gardens on Friday afternoon in a THF Philadelphia Showcase matchup. Despite a determined effort, the Wolves came up short, losing 5-3.

Mercer opened the scoring early with a goal at 3:55 of the first period from Easton Swift, assisted by Artyom Barashkin and Samuel Ciappa. The Wolves responded at 14:38 when Charles Becnel netted a goal, with assists from Seiya Ishida and Harrison Kinne, tying the game at 1-1. However, Mercer regained the lead late in the period with a tally from Ciappa, assisted by Jack Terhaar and Ryan Stratton.

In the second period, Mercer extended their lead to 3-1 when Swift scored his second goal of the game at 9:58, assisted by Brody Finnegan and Jake Stevens. The Wolves answered back just minutes later at 12:15 with a goal by Logan Lambrecht, set up by Cole Kerr and Alec Alfieri, narrowing the gap to 3-2 heading into the final period.

The third period saw intense physical play from both sides. The Chiefs struck early, with Casey Johnson scoring at 2:40, assisted by Gregory Diamond and Tyler Agnew. West Chester’s Emil Szepesi brought the Wolves back within striking distance at 18:55, assisted by Joshua Swan and Anton Berg. However, Mercer sealed the victory with an unassisted goal from Stratton at 7:03.

Goaltender Sebastian Pribula made 34 saves for the Wolves in the loss, while Dominick Gatto stopped 42 shots for the Chiefs to earn the win.

The Wolves showcased their resilience, but penalty trouble played a significant role in the outcome. West Chester accumulated 36 minutes in penalties, including two major infractions, compared to Mercer’s 15 minutes.