Churchill Chargers - 1977 & 1979 AAA

Bethel Park shows why they are the Champions ! ROSTRAVER - Bethel Park survived a first round scare with Gateway because hot goaltender David Himes almost caught lightning in a bottle. Blackhawk coach Jim McVay takes nothing for granted and prepares his team for the playoffs to play a 45 minute game. Central Catholic on the other hand is looking to re-write a little history as they defeated Meadville in Meadville last Monday night in a classic overtime affair. Now the game plan and target was the two time defending State Champions and the Vikings welcomed leading scorer Jeff Race back into the lineup and hope he would provide that extra intangible to vault CC to an upset win. Central came out early determined to win the battles for loose pucks and get shots on Bethel. The Vikings went on the power play at 12:06 and looked to take the lead, but the Hawks Justin Glock had other ideas as he walked around the CC defense and beat Russ Hefner to give Bethel a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead. That 45 minute game plan came into play as Central's new young gun Eddie Martin outworked the Bethel Defenseman for the puck and snapped a shot through a screen past Matt Feige with just :07 left in the 1st and the score was tied at 1-1. The second period was very even with both teams getting some opportunities and near misses. Central's Martin dug the puck out of the corner and found C.J. Bruce cutting to the net, who beat Feige on the stick side to give Central a 2-1 lead with just 1:00 left in the middle frame. Could this be the upset or would the champs refind their third period magic ? On to the third and Central keep Bethel out and Hefner began to play spectacular stopping everything the Hawks could muster. Then a mistake with an undiscipline penalty by CC put BP on the power play and then another penalty behind the play put the Blackhawks on a 5 on 3. 5 on 3's are like sucide against the Bethel Park power play and Brandon Hanley found an open area between the circle and shoved a shot down on the ice through a screen and into the net to tie the game at 7:28. Now Bethel smelled a wounded animal and this is when the champs go for the jugular and put their opponents away. It nearly happen with 2:35 left as a BP shot trickled through Hefner and toward the goal line, but a great play by Zach Roberts to dive and clear the puck to saftey preserved the tie and send the game to OT. Overtime....Central must have liked that sound and after beating Meadville last week, they had confidence and the unthinkable almost happened as Jeff Race's shot beat Feige between the legs and just went wide on the opening shift of OT. Bethel Park came right back down the ice and Steve Preite found Jason McLean cutting down the right side, who slid a one timer past Hefner to give Bethel a hard earned 3-2 overtime victory. The win also kept alive the undefeated season for the Hawks, who will look to join the 1987 Upper St Clair Panthers as the only undefeated AAA team in Pa State History, whose goaltender was none other then BP coach Jim McVay !

Peters finally cracks gritty Latrobe club for Final berth ! ROSTRAVER - Latrobe entered their Penguin Cup Semi-Final matchup with Mark Cooper's # 1 Peters Township squad, relishing their two big playoff victories over Greensburg CC and Pine Richland. Coach Coopers team on the other hand has waltzed into the semi-final round with convincing poundings of Moon and defending State Champ Beaver and had to believe that Latrobe would be a stiffer challenge. Coach Makoski's Wildcats carried the play in the opening moments to Peters and Nick Loughner buried a Matt Makoski rebound at 13:46 of the 1st period and Latrobe took a surprise 1-0 lead. Peters Twp handled this well and responded as speedy Matt Schwartz scored on the backhand to tie the game at 1-1 at 9:49. The Indians have depth and balance across all of their forward lines and began to wear down Latrobe early, but could not solve Wildcat goaltender Matt Bloom until 1:31 remaining in the first period, when freshman Chris Clackson scored to give Peters the 2-1 lead. The Indians continued their assalt on Matt Bloom and it looked as if Latrobe would remain in this game as long as their goaltender kept turning away shots. Then the Wildcats got a break as two Indians were whistled an sent to the box putting Latrobe on a 5 on 3 advantage at 3:55. Tim Armanious scored an apparent tying goal, but the whistle blew prior to the puck crossing the line and the score remained 2-1 at 3:24. Peters Brandon Rubeo made a terrific clearing play late in the Latrobe power play and the Wildcats never threatened again. The Indians killed the penalties in a key turning point of momentum. Now Peters was looking for the knock out punch as they continued to pressure Latrobe with their awesome offense and at 8:48 of the third, Matt Clackson blasted a slapshot which beat Bloom and put the game on ice at 3-1. Jeremy Simmons added another to make the final outcome 4-1 and Peters Twp will make its second appearance in the Penguins in their history (the other in 1998) against Indiana.

Indiana hitting full stride with big win over Kittanning ! ROSTRAVER - Kittanning coach Jeff Smouse had mixed emotions entering the Wildcats Penguins Cup Semi-Final matchup with arch rival Indiana. On one hand, coach was very excited about the opportunity for his young team and on the other hand he knew of the firepower they would face in Ron Hellen's Indians. Indiana looked to be the nervous team early as they agressive Wildcats carried the play in the opening minutes being cheered on by a large contingent of Kittanning faithful. The Indians survived a couple of power plays and the score remained 0-0 until Aaron Smith's wrist shot at 2:32 beat Adam Toy to give Indiana a 1-0 lead, which it maintain after one. In the second period, the Indians took the game over as freshman phenom Casey Haines threaded a beautiful back door pass to Zach Diamond at 8:51 to make it 2-0. Then, captain Nicko Spielmann had his shot blocked but recaptured the puck and walked down the slot at 6:27 and beat Toy and made it 3-0. Mike Nesper blew by the Wildcat D shorthanded and scored another Indian tally at 1:53 to put the Indians up 4-0 and one period away from their first trip to the Penguin Cup Finals since 1996. In the third period, Haines and Diamond added goals and Mike Lady earned the shutout stopping all 24 Kittanning shots for a 6-0 victory. The Indians got a terrific effort as they have all season from the defensive corps and excellent backchecking from their second and third line forwards, who will play a key role in the Indians chances for their first Penguins Cup ever against Peters Twp.

Crimson Crushers reach Penguin Cup for 10th time in 11 years ROSTRAVER - The Elizabeth Forward Warriors in their first year of varsity hockey since 1997 had to be a little in awe of the cinderella nature of the path, which carried them to the Penguin Cup semi-final matchup with perennial Class A power Bishop McCort. The Crushers on the other hand were looking for their 10th trip in 11 years to the Penguin Cup finals and possibly a rematch with Serra for the 3rd straight season. The game was a rematch in which BM defeated EF 3-1 on the opening night of the season. McCort came out with pressure early on the Warriors and established that they would win the battles for loose pucks. Matt Belsky's wrist shot found the net at 11:29 for a 1-0 McCort lead. Matt Domonkos added to the lead at 7:15 with a quick shot on the stick side to make it 2-0. After EF got through the early game jitters, they settled down late in the opening period and started to get some chances. Billy Repas picked up a Jason Wallace rebound and the Warriors were on the board with 2:46 left. The Crushers showed why they earned the # 1 seed as Joe Delic got his own rebound and scored a huge goal at :50 to regain the two goal advantage at 3-1. To start the second period, Reichl made a splendid sliding stop at 14:22 on Danny Thomas and EF came right back and scored as Mike Mitchko beat Anthony Feyock on a great move and all the sudden it was 3-2. Then the big line for the Crushers took things into their own hands as Delic, Matt Domonkos and Thomas scored in a five minute span and McCort surged to a 6-2 lead. McCort's Thomas and Mitchko traded goals in the third period as Bishop McCort advanced to the Penguin Cup for the 4th straight season with a 7-3 victory. A scary moment in the third as freshman sensation EF forward Jeremy Delmaster was involved in a collision and was taken off on a stretcher and we would like to wish him a speedy recovery.

Serra looking for a three-peat ends Freeport run ! ROSTRAVER - Freeport entered the Penguin Cup Semi-Finals on a roll, winning 14 games in a row after a 3-5 start. The defending Pa State Champion Serra Catholic Eagles has an interesting start to its season as well as three of their key players sat on the sidelines and watched a new breed of freshman and sophomores carry the team through the first six games. Serra's game breaker is Steve Leppo and with him in the lineup, the Eagles have been virtually unbeatable. At 13:25 of the first, Leppo gave Serra the lead on a beautiful shot down low on the ice for a 1-0 lead. Freeport's Mike Bender nearly tied the game at 12:10 as his shot hit the post. The Eagles extended the lead to 2-0 at 6:07 as C.J. King faked the slapshot and found Jesse Lubasch wide open, who beat Derek Gaworski through the 5 hole. The play was set up by a great lead pass by goaltender Timmy Johnson. Freeport got a break late in the first when two of their defensemen collided and Leppo was in again and stopped by Gaworski. On to the second and with the Eagles on the power play, Gaworski was holding his team in the game with several great saves. Then, controversy as Lubasch shot the puck and Gaworski apparently made the stop and the goal light went on and the official, who was in no position to make the call, called it a goal and Serra now led 3-0 at 9:33. Then on yet another power play chance, the Eagles capitalized again as Lubuasch return the favor to C.J. King coming late on the play and threaded a pass to C.J. who buried a wrist shot and Serra was on its way 4-0. While Gaworski was trying to hold down the fort at one end, Rob Plocki found Jason Bubb to put Freeport on the board with only 1:03 remaining in the 2nd. Timmy Johnson made several key saves as Freeport built some momentum. The Yellow Jackets continued to press in the third period as Dustin Gaworski scored upstairs at 6:07 to cut the lead to 4-2. Serra would hold on for the victory and a 3rd consecutive trip to the Penguin Cup Finals to face McCort. The end of the game was marred with penalties in one of the most poorly officiated games thus far in the playoffs, as any chance that Freeport may have had in the third was eliminated by questionable calls by the dual referee system. Their was a second on the motion by the Freeport fans, who showered the ice with debris to voice their displeasure with the decidely one-sided officiating crew.