Sold-out arena for the return of the heckled hockey goaltender on the ice

A high school ice hockey goalie who left in tears after being violently heckled in a game last month returned to the ice Monday night, this time to the cheers of a Pennsylvania arena sold out which included friends, fans and an Olympian.

Students from Armstrong High School chanted vulgarities against the Mars-area high school goaltender during an Oct. 28 game between the teams.

Videos have surfaced on social media showing a group of dozens of students in the stands chanting offensive and sexist comments directed at the goalkeeper, without anyone stopping them. By the second period of the game, the goalkeeper was in tears, Mars coach Steve Meyers told The Associated Press.

Armstrong’s students were then banned from attending school hockey games and the team was placed on probation for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, including the playoffs, the League said Thursday. Pennsylvania interschool hockey. Brothers and sisters of college players can only attend games if accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Monday night’s game was a triumphant game for the goaltender, who received the support of more than 800 people crammed into the UMPC Lemieux complex, the training and training center of the Pittsburgh Penguins, reported the Pittsburgh affiliate of NBC WPXI.

Fans have been seen with signs saying: “Girls are strong!” and “We belong to the ice!” “

Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle, two-time Olympic silver medalist and now goaltending coach for the United States Women’s National Ice Hockey Team, was in attendance for Monday night’s game.

“It’s pretty, pretty cool. Every time she makes a save, this place goes crazy! she told WXPI.

Meghan Duggan, who won gold when she captained the U.S. ice hockey team at the 2018 Winter Olympics, also expressed support for the goalie.

She tweeted last week, “Every time you hit the ice, women and girls across the hockey community are proud of YOU! You are more than the hateful words that have been addressed to you. I am with you.

Following outrage over the video, the Mars Hockey Club’s board of directors released a statement condemning the incident, while keeping the goalie’s name private.

“Obviously, the incident that occurred on October 28 was totally unacceptable and the entire hockey community must take action to ensure that similar behavior never happens again. We hope that the attention this incident has attracted will shed light on the issues our female athletes face that should not be tolerated and that this attention will help to eliminate this type of conduct from our sport, ”said Council of administration.

“We are proud of our goalie both as a student athlete and for her resilience in persevering through these events,” the statement added.

Mars Area School District Superintendent Mark Gross said in a Nov. 1 statement that the Armstrong Area School District Administration has reached out to apologize for the incident and ensure a “thorough investigation”.

“We are confident that the efforts of the Armstrong Area School District will lead to appropriate discipline for those involved while minimizing the potential for future incidents. We understand that they will also contact the victim with a formal apology, ”Gross said.

Brittany lane and Ali Gostanian contributed.