To get to the top you have to beat those at the top.

That is a saying that the Bethlehem Catholic, Central Catholic and Notre Dame G.P. hockey team and head coach John Heckenberger have been preaching this season.

And that team at the top is Parkland, one that every Lehigh Valley Scholastic ice hockey team has been trying to overcome for the past few years.

Parkland attacks with several different lines, all of whom are capable of scoring. That efficiency showed last Friday night as six different players recorded goals in an 8-4 win at Lehigh Valley Ice Arena.

“This is the giant you have to slay,” said Heckenberger. “We haven’t been able to do that yet. We lost to them twice now this year by almost the same exact score. They beat us on the boards, and that is a key to the game. They’re a great team.”

The Trojans (11-0-1) scored three consecutive goals in under a two-minute span and quickly held a 3-0 advantage. Jake Nimeh opened the scoring at the 7:45 mark. Eric Johannes tallied a goal just 28 seconds later, and Louie Rivera added one with six minutes to go in the first period.

But just as it looked as if the Trojans were going to win in a rout, Andrew Kaeser and Andrew Spease brought Becahi/Central/ND back into it with goals before the end of the period.

“We had a real good first period,” noted Heckenberger. “Our objective was to keep the game close. But the second period got away from us. We didn’t follow the game plan. We needed to be more patient with our offense and trying to score. You don’t score quickly on Parkland. When we pressed, they have a good break out and that’s what hurt us tonight.”

Parkland used another quick three goal succession in the second to take back a commanding 6-2 lead. An own goal was the only scoring Becahi/Central/ND had in that frame.

Devon Gyecsek did his part to keep his team close. He made 27 saves, some of them highlight-reel dives saving what looked like sure goals.

Andrew Loomis made the score 8-2 midway through the third period. Then Kaeser and Lance Orourke added two goals in the end for Becahi/Central/ND, who will now be off until January 25th from games.

“We just need to focus on the game plan,” added Heckenberger. “We have a three game tune-up before the playoffs, so we really need to remained focused and win some games.”