Downingtown East Cougars

~ Central Catholic Invitational [November 2003] Nov 20 - 23, 2003 at Harmarville - BladeRunners Note: Game Summaries & Pictures are now available SUNDAY 11/23 CHAMPIONSHIP Meadville 7 Pine Richland 1 ****GAME SUMMARY NOW AVAILABLE**** SEMI-FINALS Pine Richland 3 North Allegheny 2 [OT] Meadville 4 Thomas Jefferson 3 [2 OT] ****GAME SUMMARIES NOW AVAILABLE**** Consolation Round Monsignor Bonner 4 Archbishop Ryan 4 Lancaster B 4 South Park 4 Central Catholic 3 Upper St Clair 2 [OT-Shootout] Holy Ghost Prep 5 Fox Chapel 4 Mt Lebanon 4 Orchard Park 2 Lancaster 1 Bethel Park 0 Preliminary Round MOUNT LEBANON 4 UPPER ST. CLAIR 1 Highlight: Mike Jordan with 2 goals for Blue Devils BETHEL PARK 4 LANCASTER B 1 Highlight: Mike Diethorn & Conner McLean with a pair of goals THOMAS JEFFERSON 4 FOX CHAPEL 1 Highlight: Brandon School 2 Goals & Danny Hartman 17 Saves NORTH ALLEGHENY 4 ORCHARD PARK 3 Highlight: NA scores 3 in the 3rd to win it PINE-RICHLAND 5 ARCHBISHOP RYAN 4 Highlight: Ryan Tessmer 4 points as PR holds off rally by Raiders CENTRAL CATHOLIC 8 MONSIGNOR BONNER 2 Highlight: Matt Urso & Joe Coulter 3 pts & Michael McGurk 2 Goals LANCASTER A 3 MEADVILLE 3 Highlight: Tom Zielinski 34 saves for Lancaster HOLY GHOST PREP 1 SOUTH PARK 0 FOX CHAPEL 9 LANCASTER B 4 Highlight: Matt Quigley 3 G + 2 A & Joe Budz 2 goals THOMAS JEFFERSON 2 BETHEL PARK 1 ***GAME SUMMARY IS NOW AVAILABLE*** MOUNT LEBANON 4 ARCHBISHOP RYAN 3 Highlight: Mike Jordan 2 Goals PINE-RICHLAND 6 UPPER ST. CLAIR 0 Highlight: Ryan Tessmer 2 goals + Nick Gazzo 20 saves for SO ORCHARD PARK 5 MONSIGNOR BONNER 4 NORTH ALLEGHENY 4 CENTRAL CATHOLIC 2 ***GAME SUMMARY IS NOW AVAILABLE*** LANCASTER 8 HOLY GHOST PREP 1 Highlight: Jeff Rutkowski with the hat trick for Lancaster MEADVILLE 4 SOUTH PARK 1 Highlight: Phil Siverd 2 goals for Bulldogs THOMAS JEFFERSON 8 LANCASTER B 1 BETHEL PARK 5 FOX CHAPEL 0 Highlight: Michael Mastracci with 20 saves for the Hawks UPPER ST. CLAIR 7 ARCHBISHOP RYAN 1 Highlight: Anthony Sirabella & Jono Lohman a pair of goals for USC PINE-RICHLAND 2 MOUNT LEBANON 1 ***GAME SUMMARY IS NOW AVAILABLE*** ORCHARD PARK 3 CENTRAL CATHOLIC 2 Highlight: Kevin Sheehan nets 2 goals for Orchard Park NORTH ALLEGHENY 5 MONSIGNOR BONNER 1 MEADVILLE 8 HOLY GHOST PREP 1 Highlight: Christian Nickerson, Phil Siverd & Rick Thomas lead way for Dawgs to Semis LANCASTER 6 SOUTH PARK 1 *See the History of this Tournament by Clicking on Pa Hockey Logo*

12/2/03 ~ QV flexes muscles by wearing down Deer Lakes CORAOPOLIS Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn has resigned himself that he will not have the services of Ben Herring for a better part of the season and I hope he knows that the Penguin Cup Playoff Rules require a player to play 10 games to be eligible for the Playoffs. Unfortunately, Herring has become yet another fallen victim to being developed by Quaker Valley and the Beaver County Midget program, and then being snatched by the Pittsburgh Hornets, who make high school aged kids sign [10 + pages] contracts stating their commitment to the organization, which includes something along the lines of NEVER missing a practice for ANY High School activity. So Ben’s being deprived of being an opportunity to enjoy his senior season at Quaker Valley, a team he grew up with for the pipedream of being the next Ryan Malone…..and I have news for you Ben, Ryan played for Upper St Clair and R.J. Umberger, the next NHLer from Western Pennsylvania played for Plum when there was a sensible agreement that you played High School during the week and Amatuer or Travel during the weekend. Anyway, the Quakers have moved on without Herring, who has played only a handful of games, and according to people close to the team, play better without him. Quaker Valley is one of the top teams in Class A because of the great coaching and stability of Quinn and assistant Jim Miller, who have been with the program from the beginning. The Quakers have two bonafide superstars in Sam Hairston and Furman South, who have really carried the scoring for QV to a 4-1-0 start, lone blemish a tough 4-3 loss to Somerset. I am sure Deer Lakes coach Al Palowski has a ton of empathy for Quinn, as the Lancer coach has seen a handful of Deer Lakes players plucked away for Junior B or Shadyside Academy and is doing an unreal job just keeping his alma mater afloat. Deer Lakes has talent but their bench looks more like men’s league than Varsity with only a dozen or so players dressed for each game. The Lancers do have some nice looking players in Brendan Orris, Jason Graney and foreign exchange student Stefan Karsay, who have been called on to replace Matt Disanti and Sean McIntyre. The Lancers opened the scoring as Brendan Orris scored at 7:16 for a 1-0 lead. QV’s Sam Hairston tied the game a short time later at 4:42 at 1-1. This was a pretty even game in the opening period as the Quakers out shot DL 11-9. On to the 2nd and Jason Graney gave Deer Lakes the lead with 9:44 remaining 2-1, which the held onto until with 5:48 remaining Kelly Elson beat Jiri Frkal to tie the score. Deer Lakes was under siege at this point as the Quakers blasted 16 shots at Frkal for the middle period, while Jed Michael saw only 5 shots, the result was that the roof came crashing down on the Lancers, as Hairston scored his 2nd goal at 4:57 and completed the hat trick with 1:51 remaining to break open a tight game to a 4-2 QV advantage. Jason Burrus added a tally with just 11 seconds left which may have put the dagger in the Lancers at 5-2. Hariston picked up his fourth goal just 15 seconds into the final period beating Frkal on the backhand to make it 6-2. Furman South got into the act burying a wrist shot upstairs over the glove hand at 12:42. Jason Burrus banged home a Hairston shot at 9:34 as the Quakers seemed to be getting stronger and the rout was on 8-2. QV’s foreign exchange defenseman from Denmark Jeppi Boldsen put the exclamation point on a 9-2 Quaker Valley victory, with a big blast from the right point as the Quakers out shot Deer Lakes 35-23 on the evening.

CORAOPOLIS ~ Blackhawk coach Dave Stepanian loves the fact that his team is off to a 6-0-0 start, in first place and ranked # 4 in the Post Gazette poll. The Cougar coach knows that his team will do better when it faces division foes Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley plus Wheeling Park after that over the next week or so. Blackhawk has done it with the excellent goaltender of John Fitzgerald and the stalwart defensive tandem of Sam Kristian and Eric Steadman leading the way. Quigley has had a rough start in 2003-2004, but head coach Bob DiVito and his trusty assistant coaches Hank and Chris Cummings know having stud forward Kenny Lytle back in the lineup would boast the fragile ego of a club which is off to an 0-4-1 start with losses to ranked teams Serra, Elizabeth Forward, Quaker Valley [2-1 OT] and Wheeling Park and a tie with defending Penguin Cup champion Westmont Hilltop. The Spartans also play with heavy hearts as long time Quigley stalwart Josh Singleton passed away on 9-14-2003 and his jersey hangs above their bench in memory, as he is sorely missed by the Quigley folks. The first period saw some good end to end action as John Fitzgerald made the games first big save on Josh Backus with a sliding stop at 13:01. The deceptive Matt Stepanian showed great presence as he gathered the puck below the goal line and threw the puck at the backside of Josh Brunner and trickled behind the Quigley goaltender for a 1-0 Cougar lead at 8:37. Blackhawk had a couple chances to go up 2-0 with no avail in the middle of the first period. John Fitzgerald became the story in the opening frame as he stoned Josh Backus again from point blank range at 7:17 and made several key saves in killing off a Spartan power play to hold onto a slim 1-0 advantage at the end of one period. On to the 2nd and Drew Bosco got behind the Quigley defense and beat Brunner on the forehand at 8:57 for a 2-0 lead for Blackhawk. Quigley showed great character by turning up their game a notch led by freshmen Sean Wormald and Tim Powell, who almost scored but were turned away by Fitzgerald. Then the Spartans got a break late in the period on a 3 on 1 as Josh Backus put the puck to the net and Kenny Lytle slammed home the rebound with just 48 ticks left and cut the lead to 2-1. Quigley kept on coming and almost tied it forcing the Cougars to take a penalty and put the Spartans on the power play to start the third. Quigley almost tied it on the power play in the 3rd as Nate Dobson just missed at 13:55. The Spartans finally tied the game at 9:45 as Kenny Lytle got behind the Blackhawk defense and made no mistake as he buried a shot upstairs on the stick side to knot the game at two apiece. Blackhawk showed resilience and why they are undefeated as all of their players seem to do the little things necessary to win close hockey games, a sign of good coaching. While Quigley was pressuring to go ahead, the Cougars struck when the had to as Drew Bosco and Eric Steadman provided some nice work to get the puck into the Quigley zone and to the front of the net where unheralded Zach McMillan was stationed and hit paydirt beating Brunner on the rebound at 5:03 for the game winner and a 3-2 Blackhawk victory and a perfect 7-0-0 record.

12/2/03 ~ QV flexes muscles by wearing down Deer Lakes CORAOPOLIS Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn has resigned himself that he will not have the services of Ben Herring for a better part of the season and I hope he knows that the Penguin Cup Playoff Rules require a player to play 10 games to be eligible for the Playoffs. Unfortunately, Herring has become yet another fallen victim to being developed by Quaker Valley and the Beaver County Midget program, and then being snatched by the Pittsburgh Hornets, who make high school aged kids sign [10 + pages] contracts stating their commitment to the organization, which includes something along the lines of NEVER missing a practice for ANY High School activity. So Ben’s being deprived of being an opportunity to enjoy his senior season at Quaker Valley, a team he grew up with for the pipedream of being the next Ryan Malone…..and I have news for you Ben, Ryan played for Upper St Clair and R.J. Umberger, the next NHLer from Western Pennsylvania played for Plum when there was a sensible agreement that you played High School during the week and Amatuer or Travel during the weekend. Anyway, the Quakers have moved on without Herring, who has played only a handful of games, and according to people close to the team, play better without him. Quaker Valley is one of the top teams in Class A because of the great coaching and stability of Quinn and assistant Jim Miller, who have been with the program from the beginning. The Quakers have two bonafide superstars in Sam Hairston and Furman South, who have really carried the scoring for QV to a 4-1-0 start, lone blemish a tough 4-3 loss to Somerset. I am sure Deer Lakes coach Al Palowski has a ton of empathy for Quinn, as the Lancer coach has seen a handful of Deer Lakes players plucked away for Junior B or Shadyside Academy and is doing an unreal job just keeping his alma mater afloat. Deer Lakes has talent but their bench looks more like men’s league than Varsity with only a dozen or so players dressed for each game. The Lancers do have some nice looking players in Brendan Orris, Jason Graney and foreign exchange student Stefan Karsay, who have been called on to replace Matt Disanti and Sean McIntyre. The Lancers opened the scoring as Brendan Orris scored at 7:16 for a 1-0 lead. QV’s Sam Hairston tied the game a short time later at 4:42 at 1-1. This was a pretty even game in the opening period as the Quakers out shot DL 11-9. On to the 2nd and Jason Graney gave Deer Lakes the lead with 9:44 remaining 2-1, which the held onto until with 5:48 remaining Kelly Elson beat Jiri Frkal to tie the score. Deer Lakes was under siege at this point as the Quakers blasted 16 shots at Frkal for the middle period, while Jed Michael saw only 5 shots, the result was that the roof came crashing down on the Lancers, as Hairston scored his 2nd goal at 4:57 and completed the hat trick with 1:51 remaining to break open a tight game to a 4-2 QV advantage. Jason Burrus added a tally with just 11 seconds left which may have put the dagger in the Lancers at 5-2. Hariston picked up his fourth goal just 15 seconds into the final period beating Frkal on the backhand to make it 6-2. Furman South got into the act burying a wrist shot upstairs over the glove hand at 12:42. Jason Burrus banged home a Hairston shot at 9:34 as the Quakers seemed to be getting stronger and the rout was on 8-2. QV’s foreign exchange defenseman from Denmark Jeppi Boldsen put the exclamation point on a 9-2 Quaker Valley victory, with a big blast from the right point as the Quakers out shot Deer Lakes 35-23 on the evening.

CORAOPOLIS ~ Blackhawk coach Dave Stepanian loves the fact that his team is off to a 6-0-0 start, in first place and ranked # 4 in the Post Gazette poll. The Cougar coach knows that his team will do better when it faces division foes Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley plus Wheeling Park after that over the next week or so. Blackhawk has done it with the excellent goaltender of John Fitzgerald and the stalwart defensive tandem of Sam Kristian and Eric Steadman leading the way. Quigley has had a rough start in 2003-2004, but head coach Bob DiVito and his trusty assistant coaches Hank and Chris Cummings know having stud forward Kenny Lytle back in the lineup would boast the fragile ego of a club which is off to an 0-4-1 start with losses to ranked teams Serra, Elizabeth Forward, Quaker Valley [2-1 OT] and Wheeling Park and a tie with defending Penguin Cup champion Westmont Hilltop. The Spartans also play with heavy hearts as long time Quigley stalwart Josh Singleton passed away on 9-14-2003 and his jersey hangs above their bench in memory, as he is sorely missed by the Quigley folks. The first period saw some good end to end action as John Fitzgerald made the games first big save on Josh Backus with a sliding stop at 13:01. The deceptive Matt Stepanian showed great presence as he gathered the puck below the goal line and threw the puck at the backside of Josh Brunner and trickled behind the Quigley goaltender for a 1-0 Cougar lead at 8:37. Blackhawk had a couple chances to go up 2-0 with no avail in the middle of the first period. John Fitzgerald became the story in the opening frame as he stoned Josh Backus again from point blank range at 7:17 and made several key saves in killing off a Spartan power play to hold onto a slim 1-0 advantage at the end of one period. On to the 2nd and Drew Bosco got behind the Quigley defense and beat Brunner on the forehand at 8:57 for a 2-0 lead for Blackhawk. Quigley showed great character by turning up their game a notch led by freshmen Sean Wormald and Tim Powell, who almost scored but were turned away by Fitzgerald. Then the Spartans got a break late in the period on a 3 on 1 as Josh Backus put the puck to the net and Kenny Lytle slammed home the rebound with just 48 ticks left and cut the lead to 2-1. Quigley kept on coming and almost tied it forcing the Cougars to take a penalty and put the Spartans on the power play to start the third. Quigley almost tied it on the power play in the 3rd as Nate Dobson just missed at 13:55. The Spartans finally tied the game at 9:45 as Kenny Lytle got behind the Blackhawk defense and made no mistake as he buried a shot upstairs on the stick side to knot the game at two apiece. Blackhawk showed resilience and why they are undefeated as all of their players seem to do the little things necessary to win close hockey games, a sign of good coaching. While Quigley was pressuring to go ahead, the Cougars struck when the had to as Drew Bosco and Eric Steadman provided some nice work to get the puck into the Quigley zone and to the front of the net where unheralded Zach McMillan was stationed and hit paydirt beating Brunner on the rebound at 5:03 for the game winner and a 3-2 Blackhawk victory and a perfect 7-0-0 record.