Downingtown East Cougars

HARMARVILLE ~ Shaler was victorious twice last week and has quietly climbed back into playoff contention in a tie with North Allegheny at 8-11-1. Coach Rich Michalowski’s club has had its ups and downs this season and has struggled to score in the big games against the better teams. Central Catholic coach Kevin Zielmanski was looking for some healthy bodies Monday afternoon as three of their starting defensemen, Andrew Wroblewski, Matt Grabowski and David Mullock along with all-star goaltender Bryan Adamczyk would be sidelined for this evenings contest with Shaler. Coming off one of their worst performances of the season in a 5-1 setback to North Allegheny, it was back to the basics for coach Z. The Vikings set the tone early on with some aggressive forechecking and pinned Shaler in their own end. CC had several chances but could not solve Eddie Stotts, who was brilliant between the pipes for the Titans. Finally, with 2:20 remaining in the first period, Michael McGurk found Conner Hickton in front and Hickton slammed home a point blank shot to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Central Catholic continued to pressure Shaler’s defense and was beginning to wear down the Titans in the second. Chris Niznik worked the puck down low and spotted fellow defensive partner Billy Connelly in the slot and Connelly found the five hole on Stotts with 4:23 left and a big two goal margin. The Vikings had a five on three to start the third period and continued the barrage on Shaler and Stotts with a 28-10 shot advantage on the evening. Eddie Martin took a McGurk pass and flung it past Stotts to put an exclamation point on a great defensive effort by CC and a 3-0 victory.

HARMARVILLE ~ Somerset has turned the corner with its program this season with a 12-6-0 record and some pretty impressive victories over Quaker Valley, Deer Lakes and Freeport. Coach Cliff Ziegler’s club is in a battle to capture a home playoff game for the Eagles and a win over Deer Lakes would go a long way in determining that berth. Deer Lakes celebrated Senior Night with all of the glory deserved for its seniors with three national anthems for its exchange students, who have become a staple with the program. Coach Al Pawloski was looking for a big night from his big guns and maybe a little more defensive effort than their 11-8 setback to Blackhawk last week. It didn’t take long for the Lancers to get on the board as Sean McIntyre took a nice feed from Matt DiSanti at 12:15 and beat Wes Cramer to make it 1-0. Deer Lakes extended its lead with 2:20 remaining in the first as Andreas Backstrom picked up a loose puck and snapped a shot upstairs on the glove side for a 2-0 lead at the break. Early in the second, McIntyre picked up his second on a wrist shot at 13:42 and the Lancers where off and running 3-0. Somerset came right back as Jake Wheeler redirected a Brett Ziegler shot from the point to cut the deficit to 3-1. Just 19 seconds later Jonas Eliasson scored to give Deer Lakes their three-goal cushion back at 10:54. Gardiner McKay scored on the power play set up by Ziegler and the Eagles pulled back within striking distance at 4-2 with 9:20 remaining in the middle frame. Then the game turned into a Deer Lakes runaway as Sean McIntyre scored at 7:14 and 3:09 of the 2nd and the Lancers took a 6-2 lead to the ice cut. On to the third period and Somerset’s Nick Popovich scored off a Jordan Woy rebound to cut the Deer Lakes lead to 7-3. This was to be the Lancers night as Eliasson and Backstrom added two more and Matt DiSanti scored another as Deer Lakes went on to an important and impressive 11-4 victory before a packed house at BladeRunners. Maybe the most impressive performance was the quiet goaltending of Roman Drievenosky, who surrendered only four goals in a wide open defenseless hockey game as the Lancers are now back in the hunt for that home playoff berth.

HARMARVILLE ~ Shaler was victorious twice last week and has quietly climbed back into playoff contention in a tie with North Allegheny at 8-11-1. Coach Rich Michalowski’s club has had its ups and downs this season and has struggled to score in the big games against the better teams. Central Catholic coach Kevin Zielmanski was looking for some healthy bodies Monday afternoon as three of their starting defensemen, Andrew Wroblewski, Matt Grabowski and David Mullock along with all-star goaltender Bryan Adamczyk would be sidelined for this evenings contest with Shaler. Coming off one of their worst performances of the season in a 5-1 setback to North Allegheny, it was back to the basics for coach Z. The Vikings set the tone early on with some aggressive forechecking and pinned Shaler in their own end. CC had several chances but could not solve Eddie Stotts, who was brilliant between the pipes for the Titans. Finally, with 2:20 remaining in the first period, Michael McGurk found Conner Hickton in front and Hickton slammed home a point blank shot to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Central Catholic continued to pressure Shaler’s defense and was beginning to wear down the Titans in the second. Chris Niznik worked the puck down low and spotted fellow defensive partner Billy Connelly in the slot and Connelly found the five hole on Stotts with 4:23 left and a big two goal margin. The Vikings had a five on three to start the third period and continued the barrage on Shaler and Stotts with a 28-10 shot advantage on the evening. Eddie Martin took a McGurk pass and flung it past Stotts to put an exclamation point on a great defensive effort by CC and a 3-0 victory.

As many of you are aware, there was an unfortunate occurrance in Kittanning early Sunday morning as fire caused the Belmont Arena and the new Kittanning Locker Room a great deal of damage. Many people have asked how they can show support for the Kittanning Hockey Program and we at Pa Hockey would like encourage that all support be sent to the Kittanning Hockey Boosters by contacting Joe Avi or Jeff Smouse.....lets lend a hand to our good friends up north .....Thank You !

As many of you are aware, there was an unfortunate occurrance in Kittanning early Sunday morning as fire caused the Belmont Arena and the new Kittanning Locker Room a great deal of damage. Many people have asked how they can show support for the Kittanning Hockey Program and we at Pa Hockey would like encourage that all support be sent to the Kittanning Hockey Boosters by contacting Joe Avi or Jeff Smouse.....lets lend a hand to our good friends up north .....Thank You !