Fairview Tigers - 1977 - 1981 - 1982 AA

Serra Catholic likes them BM or MB ! HARMARVILLE - Serra coach John Mooney was looking for ways to help his team to get motivated to play Philadelphia AAA power Monsignor Bonner without stars Steve Leppo and Jessie Lubasch. The first way would be to tell his goaltender Tim Johnson to imagine that they were playing Bishop McCort.....who Johnson has had great success.....change the "BM" to "MB" and Johnson will deliver...sounds reasonable. Johnson stopped 38 of 40 shots as teammates CJ King [3 goals] and Cody Moy [2 goals] paced to Eagles to a 6-2 victory over the Friars.

CRANBERRY - Latrobe coach Ron Makoski is starting to like the Wildcats move to AAA for the 2002-2003 season as his team is undefeatedat 2-0-0. North Hills started out with three quick wins and has dropped its last two including a stunning loss to upstart Penn Trafford last week. The Indians got on the scoreboard as John Adams scored at 6:32 of the opening period as North Hills took the lead to the locker room. Latrobe came out storming in the second period as Jordan Miller scored at 11:41 and then again at 6:08 to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. Matt Makoski extended that lead to 3-1 just 1:08 later at the five minute mark and Latrobe went on to win behind fine goaltending by Josh Gross, who stopped 22 of 23 North Hills shots.

CRANBERRY - Brian Hershberger's Tigers have opened the season with a monsterous schedule over the opening five games for 2002-2003.....factor Mt Lebanon, Meadville, Bethel Park and Franklin Regional and it couldn't get much tougher, so the scheduling gods put Central Catholic in line. You see, since Kevin Z has been at Central, the Vikings have never been under .500 until this season's 1-2-0 start. In fact, some of the young Vikings are taking it personal to climb out of the albatross in the PIHL North division. After a scoreless first period, North Allegheny took the lead as Brian Lancaster found Bill Waldschmidt in the slot, who beat Brian Adamczak to make it 1-0. Central's Joe Coulter scored at 8:53 on the backhand to tie the score at 1-1. NA regained the lead at 3:24 as Brian Maloney poked home a Tim Ward rebound and the Tigers took a 2-1 lead to the final period. Central was now pressing for the equalizer and carried the play early in the third and they got it as CJ Bruce took a nice setup from Coulter to tie the score at 2-2. NA made a mistake by giving the Vikings the power play at 9:50. It didn't take long for Central to make them pay as Eddie Martin walked off the far boards beat an NA defender and snapped a wicked shot upstairs to give CC its first lead 3-2 at 8:43. Central continued to bottle up the Tigers and while killing a penalty in the waning moments thought they had iced the game as Matt Capalongo's apparent shorthanded goal was waived off at 1:44. The Vikings finally got the insurance tally as Bruce added an empty netter with 37 seconds left to insure a 4-2 Central Catholic win.

AIRPORT- Quaker Valley has started off this season with a couple less than convincing victories over Sewickley Academy and Blackhawk and coach Kevin Quinn had to be concerned as Westmont strolled into town for a big Class A matchup. The Hilltoppers Art McQuillan has his club back on track after an opening thumping by Mars and was looking to introduce the Quakers to Westmont Hockey with the sludging and trudging and backchecking and forechecking. It may have been just what the doctor ordered for Quaker Valley. After a scoreless first period, export Filip Haukka got Westmont on the board midway through the second period to give the Mighty Hilltoppers a 1-0 lead. Back and forth they went with Pat Krumenacker and Jed Michael keeping their creases clear until 6:28 of the third, when Sam Herring picked up the puck off the boards and beat the Westmont defense and scored on the backhand to make it 1-1. Less than a minute later, the Hilltoppers Scott Kenner took a Justin McCloskey pass from the corner and beat Michael to make it 2-1. Sludging and Trudging the Hilltoppers where in position to capture their third victory in a row. With a minute remaining, a QV power play at 1:13 and a pulled goalie resulted in a Jeff Castle goal to tie the game with just 41 ticks remaining. Then after the ensuing faceoff, Herring spotting David Malarcik in the slot, who buried a shot past Krumenacker and miraculously Quaker Valley now had the lead, which they would hold onto for a breathtaking 3-2 victory.

MONROEVILLE - Stu Relnick's Plum Mustangs are already in the middle of a hot battle with Gateway and Franklin Regional for the East Division lead. The division is very close and will come down to the wire at the end of the season. Woodland Hills, on the other hand, is the 'sacrificial lamb' of the PIHL. A debate of where should the league hide the likes of the Wolverines and Connellsville. Unfortunately for the thirteen or so players who suit up for the turquoise and white and coach Tim Wilt, it seems they have no choice but to just play and do their best. The shame is that this team and Connellsville should be playing Junior Varsity.....thats where they belong and since no one will say anything ...I will !! So my 'twisted facts' and 'my supposed undermining of the league' fans can read this and shut their mouths and maybe learn something. Maybe the 'supposed powers' should go watch the waste of time and money that took place on Tuesday at the Golden Mile. Neither team benefited and neither team improved and maybe a couple of players in Black and Purple padded some stats. But you can bet both organizaions will be billed for the game costs ! Anyway THAT WAS THE EDITORIAL and the game summary, well lets just say it was ugly......10:59 and 10:31 and 8:35 and 8:00 and 8:04 and finally :43 of the first Plum scored 6 goals to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Four more goals in the second and mercy two goals in the third for a 12-0 Plum victory. Rob Tunon led the way with four goals and six assists and a ten point night for the Mustang senior. Ryan Griffin, Dave Dincau [two goals], John Kalichuk, Phil Mains, Mike Renna, Travis Senchur, and Aaron Arnold scored as Plum outshot Woodland Hills 50-9 on the evening.