St Joseph's Prep Hawks

Greensburg CC 6 Kittanning 4 Greensburg – Greensburg CC’s Bill Bucholtz has been hit hard by a departure of several key players from the Greensburg Central program, most notably Alfonso Arevalo. To make things even more interesting for the Centurians, Franklin Regional has moved in from Class AAA and this season’s upstart Greensburg Salem has stepped to the plate making the East Division of Class AA very interesting and for the first time in many moons, the Centurians are not the favorites or even really thought of as the top team in their division. Kittanning is coming off a Penguins Cup final appearance from a year ago and Jon Yackmack knows that his team is only as good as its last shift. Unfortunately, the Wildcats have become a target on the schedule for all of their opponents including a loss to division foe Hampton. Kittanning is off to a 2-1-0 start and must play every night to duplicate the feat from a year ago, which will be a lot tougher given the parity in Class AA. At 13:47 of the opening period, Shane Troup beat Ryan Homanics through the 5-hole to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Moments later at 12:57, Kittanning went on the power play and appeared to score a 2nd goal as Jurgen Koster was parked at the left post for a back door play, but Ryan Homanics robbed him as he sprawled and just got enough stick on the puck to keep it out. The Centurians countered at 9:32 as after some substantial Chris Kovalchuk scored after a scramble in front beating Joey Mecurio to tie the score at 1-1. With the Wildcats on the power play, Luke Vukemarovich played opportunist scoring on a wrist shot down on the ice with 4:28 remaining in the opening period to give GCC the lead 2-1. With Kittanning on a late man advantage, Homanics made a real nice save at the buzzer as GCC outshot Kittanning 15-10. On to the 2nd period and Kittanning freshman Jurgen Koster lit the lamp at 13:04 to knot the score at two apiece. Greensburg CC continued to outshoot Kittanning carrying the play in the middle period. Greensburg CC regained the lead at 13:28 as David Mattock scored on the ice to the stick side on a partial breakaway to give the Centurians a 3-2 lead. With a power play opportunity at 12:05, GCC had a chance to put a cushion between them and the Wildcats and they did as Todd Kacin cashed in on a pass from Luke Vukemarocvich at 11:12. Kittanning came right back at 10:36 as Joey Ford scored on a Nick Troup rebound to cut the lead to 4-3. The Wildcats went on the power play at 9:47 and equaled the score at 8:53 as Klaus Koster scored from the doorstep beating Ryan Homanics to make it a brand new hockey game. Greensburg CC went on the PP in the games final moments and Luke Vukmarovich buried a shot just inside the post with 1:05 remaining on the power play to give the Centurians a 5-4 lead and David Mattock closed it on with an empty netter with 14 ticks left to give GCC a 6-4 victory including a 35-27 shot advantage.