St Joseph's Prep Hawks

Franklin Regional 4 West Allegheny 0

DELMONT –

       West Allegheny is off to a terrific start at 11-1-0 with the only blemish a 5-4 overtime loss to # 1 Latrobe, which was a rematch of a second round playoff game last season. Norm Cook has a solid goaltending tandem in Kyle Mortimer and Anthony Sweet and lots of veteran leadership including Ryan Kumpfmiller and Jeff Cupelli. The Indians have a stranglehold on a playoff spot and are looking to nail down a top 4 seeding to clinch home ice through the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals, which is where they advanced a year ago. With Pine Richand now in Class AAA and out of the picture in Class AA, West A looks to be in the mix with Latrobe, Canevin and tonight’s opponent Franklin Regional.

        The Panthers are a team that continues to impress after their Director’s Cup final appearance against Bethel Park, in a game where FR was toe to toe with a Class AAA giant only to fall short in the third period. Franklin Regional has dominated the opponents they should beat and when it comes down to teams where they have to raise their level of play, this team is challenged. One example is an early season loss to Class AAA State Champions North Allegheny Tigers in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off, that FR lost 3-2 in the final seconds, another loss to # 1 Latrobe in the final minutes and a third period collapse against Canevin, resulting in a 2-2 tie. Franklin Regional, to become a champion, must demonstrate an ability to play a complete 45 minute game and do so for 5 games in the playoffs and if they can do that then they will go where no other FR team has gone before.

        The Class AA Penguins Cup race in 2007-08, looks very much like ten years ago when out of nowhere came Thomas Jefferson to win it all. So we could see a Franklin Regional – West Allegheny Penguin Cup final or possibly a Canevin – Latrobe final in March. The Panthers came out flying in the opening period and dominated West Allegheny outshooting them 7-0, until the Indians registered their first shot at 9:13 courtesy of Ryan Kumpfmiller, who almost slipped a low shot past James Orr. FR struck first with 6:06 to go in the opening period as Jared Yesko converted a goal mouth feed from Eugene Mack to give Franklin a 1-0 lead. The Panthers held an 11-3 shot advantage in the first period.

         West Allegheny goaltender Kyle Mortimer kept his club in the hockey game in the second period as the teams traded power plays, but again in was Franklin Regional that just seemed to be one step ahead of West A, outshooting them 11-5 and 22 – 8 thru two periods, but with a 1-0 lead, this was anyone’s hockey game heading to the third period.

         West Allegheny had to be feeling pretty good heading into the final period, in a game very similar to the Latrobe playoff win in March, they were outplayed and still had a chance to win. Franklin’s inability to bury opponents added to the suspense, but that all came to a end at 12:55 of the third period as Stephen Shirk banged home a rebound after Brian Buckley had two chances turned aside by Mortimer. With 11:05 to go, Tyler Fitzgerald hit the post and West A took a bad penalty with 10:52 left moments later and another one at 10:11 to put FR on a 5 on 3 and a chance to put the Indians away. Franklin did not let this opportunity slip as Johnny Cecere took a Eugene Mack pass and slipped it inside the post behind Mortimer with 9:11 to go in regulation to make the count 3-0. With 6:17 to FR scored again but the goal was waived off and the score remained 3-0. The Panthers would close it out on another 5 on 3 as Turner Andritz scored with a low shot to the stick side to make it 4-0 in favor of Franklin Regional, who out shot West Allegheny 43-13 on the evening and picked up an impressive 4-0 win at Center Ice Arena.