Penguins support female high school goalie who was taunted at game

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- A female goalie from a Pittsburgh-area high school was reminded Monday, with some help from the Pittsburgh Penguins, that she is anything but alone.

The girl, who wishes to remain anonymous, was crudely heckled by an opposing student section while in net for Mars Hockey Club on Oct. 28. Less than two weeks later, the goalie and her teammates, who are all boys, were welcomed to UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the Penguins' practice facility, for their game against South Fayette.
"I'm extremely proud of the stance our whole organization has taken, our players have taken, to reach out and try to make a difference," said Penguins assistant Todd Reirden, who is serving as coach with Mike Sullivan in NHL COVID-19 protocol. "It's sad that the whole situation had to occur. ... This type of behavior is not appropriate at any time, let alone at a hockey rink."
As Mars took the ice, it was greeted by a capacity crowd partially made up of players from local girls youth hockey teams. Each rink at the facility is estimated to hold 1,500, but there were likely more in attendance Monday.
The main rink has stands to one side, which were full, with an overflow of fans standing around the outer edge down to and past the entrance of the Penguins locker room. Signs supporting the goalie were taped to the glass next to each bench.
The game was officiated by two female referees.
South Fayette won 8-1, with the Mars goalie making 21 saves. But the outcome wasn't the point. With each save the Mars goalie made, no matter the difficulty, the crowd cheered and pounded on the glass.
Since a video of 50 to 60 Armstrong High School students shouting vulgarities at the goalie surfaced, several Penguins players have sent the girl video messages of support.
The Penguins also invited the team from Mars Area High School, which is located about six miles from Pittsburgh's practice rink in Cranberry, to their 5-4 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. The players were seated in a luxury suite and recognized on the big screen.
"I am quite aware of the situation, and it was a real shame," Reirden said. "Just extremely disheartening to see something like that. There's no place for that type of behavior in the world, let alone in our sport of hockey.
"Hockey is way better than that. That was, like I said, extremely discouraging."

Emily Matheson, a defender who won a gold medal with the United States at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and the wife of Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson, reached out to the girl as well.
"I think everyone quickly agreed on how disgusting that was," Mike Matheson said. "That that happened, especially nowadays, that something like that could still be going on, I think the message that Emily tried to send her was to let her know that she wasn't alone.
"As much as it might not be fun to be in the spotlight, especially for something like that, there's just such an outpour of people that are willing to speak out and show that that wasn't right and support her. That was the message. Let her know that she's not alone."
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League has barred Armstrong students from attending games for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. The Armstrong team has also been placed on probation for the rest of the season, including the playoffs.
The board of directors from Mars Hockey Club issued the following statement Saturday:
"The Mars Hockey Club wishes to honor and protect the privacy of our goalie. Our top priority is to facilitate a safe and healthy environment where she, and all of our student athletes, can continue to do what they love: play hockey."