St Joseph's Prep Hawks

NEVILLE ISLAND Island Sports Class AA Peters Twp stakes claim to 2nd straight Penguins Cup & awaits Flyers Cup foe ! The buzz in Kittanning has reached an all-time high of late and resulted in wonderful league rep staples Max Pozzuto and Tim Lane going ‘California blond’ like the rest of the Wildcats. The Kittanning hockey program has returned to the glory of the Armstrong Central days on the mid-1990’s where they battled Meadville in two consecutive Penguins Cups, winning one before bowing to Council Rock in the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup in 1991 5-4. Although head coach Jeff Smouse probably doesn’t remember the Armstrong Arrows of the 70’s and 80’s, there are plenty of long-time supporters of the program to relay the stories of Eric ‘Zip’ Zimmerman, Pat McCue, Brett Frederick and some of the array of talent, which has come and gone through the Belmont……but the one missing piece to that puzzle is that elusive State Championship which has not been a part of the 460+ wins in 32 years for the Kittanning /Armstrong High School program. Its seems there is always a star studded team in their way of that glory as in the 1970’s it was Churchill and the 1980’s North Catholic or Upper St Clair or 1990’s Meadville that has been in the way of that crown. I am sure that Peter Twp Mark Cooper has no idea what this all means as the Peters Twp coach knows that his team has replaced the Thomas Jefferson dynasty as the team to beat in Class AA and the label of top team in Class AA with their overpowering run to the State Championship in 2002 culminating in a 10-3 pounding of Archbishop Carroll last year. The Indians have been even more impressive in this year’s playoff run outscoring their first two opponents 17-2 including an impressive machine like 8-0 beating of Greensburg CC in the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals. There is no question that if Peters can complete the run with a 2nd Class AA Pennsylvania Cup, they will go down as one of the most dominant Class AA teams in history including 1999 Thomas Jefferson, 1997 Erie Cathedral Prep, 1994 Greensburg CC, 1984 Canevin or 1982 Erie Fairview teams , who not only finished the deal as Pennsylvania Cup Class AA champions, but did it with such overwhelming dominance that they will be remembered for a long time after this season is over. If they don’t win the State Title, they will join 1996 Indiana or 1992 Johnstown or the Franklin teams of the mid-1990’s as teams who were great teams but couldn’t get the job done. So Kittanning would be the next team in line for Peters Twp to put behind them on their way to possible glory and oh by the way all of their studs where in the house before another packed house at Island Sports Center. Peters Twp wasted no time pressuring Kittanning’s defense and it didn’t take long for them to get on the board as Pa Hockey Top 25 Matt Schwartz overpowered Adam Toy with a wrist shot to the stick side to give Peters a 1-0 lead at 9:15 of the first period. On the very next shift, it was Chris Clackson talking a pass from Mike Papciak and beating the Kittanning defense and Toy on the backhand for a 2-0 lead and the Indians where on a roll at 7:53. Maybe Kittanning was a little nervous, but the ‘Cats settled down and got some chances on Kyle Kittleberger. After Kittleberger robbed Eddie Germy from in front, Luke Heller scored on a rebound over the PT goaltender at 1:34 to cut the lead to 2-1. Kittanning was back in the game but not for long as the talented Chris Clackson made ‘more moves than Mae West’ on the Kittanning defense and Toy and buried his second goal for a huge goal and 3-1 lead for PT at 1:12. On to the second period and Kittanning looked to be lulling Peters into a defensive game early on but the Indians pounded Adam Toy and the Wildcat defense for an unreal 23 shots on goal. Mike Papciak got things started at 11:11 as he showed great patience and found Brandon Rubeo on the doorstep and threaded a beautiful pass to Rubeo, who made no mistake into a wide open net behind Toy and a 4-1 lead. Peters played opportunist as Greg Crogan picked the pocket of Kittanning’s forward kept the puck in the zone and moved it to Brandon Rubeo, who found his linemate Papciak, another Pa Hockey Top 25 selection, who buried a shot past Toy and the Indians were off a running with a 5-1 lead at 9:06. Chris Clackson completed the hat trick at 7:44 on another assist from Papciak and Peters Twp was well in control with a 6-1 lead with over half the game gone. Eddie Germy responded with a goal off some hard work by he and Joel Shriver and cut the Peters lead to 6-2 at 7:26. Peters continued to keep the pressure on Kittanning as they took a commanding 6-2 to the locker room. The play was really chippy in the third period as twelve penalties were dished out as Kittanning tried to fight back in to the game. Zach Cain beat Kittleberger in behind the Peters defense on another excellent play by Joe Shriver, who although he didn’t receive an assist did a great job getting the puck off the far boards and in front of the net at 6:47 to cut the lead to 6-3 in favor of Peters Twp. The Indians closed out the game limiting the Wildcats to five shots in the third period and Peters Township scored an impressive 6-3 Penguins Cup Class AA Championship win over Kittanning and secure a trip to West Chester next week against the winner of Holy Ghost Prep and West Chester Henderson. As legend would have it, the Bantam Hornets contest played after the Class AAA Penguins Cup ended in the middle of the game due to an ugly hit along the boards with a handful of parents in the stands and no scouts in sight…….maybe after all High School Hockey is alive and well and the players can play both !

NEVILLE ISLAND Island Sports Class AAA Franklin Regional has had a magical run since winning the Class AAA East Division title by defeating Latrobe 5-3, Mt Lebanon 5-4 in a double overtime thriller and three- time Pennsylvania Cup Class AAA Champion Bethel Park in the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals. Now I am sure Panther head coach Jim Damp may not know about the cloud over Franklin Regional, which existed after four straight Penguins Cup appearances in Class AA from 1993 through 1996, which resulted in four straight losses, but I am sure Meadville coach Jamie Plunkett probably remembers because that is exactly when the Bulldogs were in the midst of winning five straight Class AAA Pennsylvania Cups. So immediately prior to the Bulldogs winning those, Franklin was dropping four straight. So the novice hockey fans says that it means nothing because this is a whole new group of players and a different time period…..well for all of you maybe you need to pay a little better attention. Franklin Regional fans filled the Island Sports Center including a huge contingent of Panther students. Jamie Plunkett is the undisputed Dean of Western Pennsylvania coaches and in 18 years with the Bulldogs he has brought home seven Pennsylvania Cup Championships and eight Penguins Cup included in the 13 Penguins Cup Final appearances since 1987, when the magical run began for Pennsylvania’s most successful hockey program. There is a bad taste in Meadville’s mouth in the form of the last eight winters that the Bulldogs have not been standing in the final game of the season as winners including the past two where the Dawgs have bowed out early in the playoffs or 1999, when Meadville dropped a heartbreaker to Conwell Egan in triple overtime or maybe even Bethel Park or Central Catholic ousting the Bulldogs from the same Penguins Cup in 1998 or 1997. So why was Dr. Plunkett so joyful prior to the Penguins Cup final at Island Sports Center…..maybe he was just happy to be there or maybe was just happy that Bethel and Central where sitting out this one or maybe the thought of some fresh meat in the form of a very nervous and inexperienced Franklin squad was just what the doctor ordered to propel Meadville to its 9th State Championship game. For Bulldog forwards Jeff Holabaugh, Christian Nickerson, and Brian Bahurinsky this was a chance for redemption and each of these players knows exactly what needed to be done and were ready to carry their team onto the State Final. The line if Nickerson, Holabaugh and Bahurinsky continued their torrid playoff stretch, as the Dawgs forced turnovers and turned up the heat on the jittery Franklin defense. The result was Christian Nickerson getting behind the defense and slipping a forehand past Brandon Stallard to give the ‘Dawgs a 1-0 lead at 10:59. Holabaugh took a perfect pass from Bahurinsky and beat the Franklin defense and beat Stallard cleanly at 7:35 and all the sudden it was 2-0 Meadville. Late in the first period it was Dan Craven banging home a Phil Siverd rebound with just :55 left and the Bulldogs where on top 3-0 after one period. In the second period, Nickerson used his speed to beat Franklin’s defense and drew two defenders to him and found a wide open Bahurinsky in the slot and # 24 in white buried a shot low on the ice [imagine that!] on Stallard’s stick side and Meadville was on top 4-0 with exactly 12:00 remaining. Franklin finally got on the board as Michael Roth scored at 10:14 to make the game 4-1, but the Panthers could not penetrate the smothering defense of the Bulldogs to gain any more ground. Luke DeLorenzo and Jimmie Daugherty had the bet chances, but where stopped by Danny O’Sharuk. If there was one play which exemplified this Penguins Cup it was late in the second period, when Brian Bahurinsky beat a tired Sean Buckley to the puck and then beat Brandon Stallard at 1:48 to give Meadville a 5-1 lead going to the locker room. Franklin started the third period like it probably wished it had started the game as Daugherty beat O’Sharuk with a quick shot which trickled past the Bulldog goaltender to make it 5-2 at 14:39. This would be the Bulldogs day as Bahurinsky completed his hat trick with 6:48 remaining and Jeffrey Holabaugh would ring up two more goals at 4:49 and 1:33 for another hat trick as Mike Roth closed out the scoring with just 10 seconds left for an 8-3 final in favor of the Dawgs and Meadville would ring up Penguins Cup # 9 and move on to West Chester to face the Flyers Cup champions next Sunday.

Professional analysis and interviews for Pa Hockey Analysts and esteemed coaches in Western Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Cup Finals Peters Twp Televison Peters Twp vs Holy Ghost Prep Heck Video Productions Westmont Hilltop vs Radnor Replays of the Class AA Kittanning Wildcats playoff action are available from Family Life Television [click on the Wildcat logo] [Videos are very reasonable and professional] - Penguins Cup Semi Finals vs Thomas Jefferson - Penguins Cup Finals vs Peters Twp Replays of the Class A Westmont Hilltop Hilltoppers and the Bishop McCort Crimson Crushers are available from Heck's Video Productions [Videos are very reasonable and professional] - Penguins Cup Semi-Finals Serra vs McCort - Penguins Cup Semi-Finals Westmont vs Mars - Penguins Cup Finals Westmont vs Serra Upcoming Broadcast - Sunday March 30th - IceLine West Chester - Class A Championship Westmont Hilltop vs Radnor Please support Family Life and Heck's who bring us great playoff action !! Click on the Westmont logo to contact Heck's Video Productions All of the Penguins Cup games will be available on Video Tape Serra vs Westmont Hilltop - Heck's Video Kittanning vs Peters Twp - Family Life Franklin Regional vs Meadville - TBA Please stay tuned for more info.........only on Pa Hockey !

Another Who’s Who night at Rostraver – The faithful and frolic were out in full force last night as Miss Jane’s Romper Room saw the Western Pa elite fans as Dave ‘5:30 to get a table’ Scott, Gateway’s Dan Serakowski, Ray ‘Mr Underground’ Leith’ Dennis Shannon, Plum’s Stu Relnick and Jerry ‘Dr Evil’ Bass, ESPN’s Mark Madden , ‘Big Bern’ Chmiel and Audrey, WJPA’s Earl ‘ Mr Hockey’ Bugaile, PG’s Marky ‘AC/DC’ Bilson, Shady Side’s Lenny Semplice and Bob Kennedy, Ron ‘No Shenanigans Mort’ Steedle, Penn Hills Kenny and Ryan Jones, Gateway retired Brian-trust Zach Flora, Dave Himes and Matt Kopaczynski, Slippery Rock Bobby Black, Latrobe’s Ron Makoski, Mt Lebanon’s Paul ‘doing an impression of Luke DeLorezo’ Taibi, Ron ‘Mr Hospitality’ Pusz and Meadville’s Bulldog staples Chip and Carol MacEarlane along with Hap and Haz [Plunkett’s college pals] and the imfamous Bob Montana were all ‘in the House’ as frills and thrills of the Penguins Cup playoffs reached a crescendo ! Meadville defeats CC & is back to Penguin Cup for first time since 1999 ROSTRAVER – Central Catholic and Meadville is one of the best rivalries in all of High School Hockey. The mutual respect between the programs has been developed since Kevin Zielmanski took the helm at Central in 1998 and they defeated Meadville in the Penguins Cup and went onto the play LaSalle for the State Championship losing 3-2 in the waning moments. The two teams have played many memorable games since then including the 1999 Final, which Meadville won in overtime on a Nick Tucci goal and last years overtime thriller in Meadville, won by Central Catholic on a goal by Thomas Grossman. The Vikings defeated Upper St Clair 9-6 and Baldwin 6-3 to reach the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals at Rostraver. Meadville head coach Jamie Plunkett has had tempered excitement about the Bulldogs chances this year and is trying to get his team back to the State Final for the first time since 1999’s triple overtime loss to Conwell Egan. The Bulldogs look as if they are starting to peak and may just be getting hot enough on the goal scoring side to pull it off to go along with their smothering defensive work and excellent goaltending of Danny O’Sharuk, as they have defeated North Hills 7-1 and Plum 4-1 yielding very little shots in both games and even less scoring chances. Meadville continued their stellar defensive play against Central Catholic in the first period at Rostraver, thwarting scoring chances with great back checking and even better control of rebounds in front of O’Sharuk. Christian Nickerson converted a breakaway at 7:36 of the 1st to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead. On to the second and Central Catholic tied the game on a pretty passing play as Matt Urso found Matt Capalongo streaking down the slot and Cappy buried a shot past O’Sharuk and the game was tied at one apiece at 13:43. Central Catholic was now back on track and after Brian Adamczak made an excellent glove save on Ricky Thomas at 7:36, the game appeared to be leaning the Vikings way. That was all put to rest as Brian Bahurinsky scored on a rebound at 6:02, just sneaking a shot past Adamczak on the short side and giving the Dawgs the lead 2-1. Meadville wanted this game a little more and came out in the third with fire outshooting the Vikings 25-16 of the evening. Christian Nickerson hit the post at 13:39, but made the best of another breakaway as he just slipped a shot past the CC goaltender for a huge insurance goal and a 3-1 lead. Central showed their frustration as Meadville went on a 5 on 3 with 6:43 left in regulation, but could not score as Adamczak kept Central alive and down by two. Justin Wehrle sent the Central fans to the exits as the big defenseman blasted a slapshot from the right point, which had the Dawgs faithful dancing in the far stands and in Murph’s Pub at Rostraver with a 4-1 lead. Nickerson put an exclamation point on a breakthrough game for the speedy Meadville forward as he picked up the hat trick with an empty netter with :16 left sending Meadville to their first Penguins Cup since 1999. Franklin Regional ends a great run by Bethel Park & moves on ! ROSTRAVER – The toughest part of the Penguins Cup playoffs for players, coaches, parents and fans is the disappointment of being eliminated from the opportunity to compete for a State Championship. For the past three years, head coach Jim McVay and the Bethel Park program has been the standard of Interscholastic Hockey not only in Western Pennsylvania but across the State as well. There is no question that the three consecutive State Championships have brought a little animosity amongst people who face the Blackhawks as every team wants to test their skill against the Champions and it is inevitable that sooner or later the Champs would be de-throned. Having said all of that Bethel Park was back at Rostraver and haven’t lost a Penguins Cup playoff game since 1999 in a double overtime thriller to Meadville 2-1, which is just been a fantastic run for the Hawks. So a team which lost a busload of seniors from last years squad was trying to complete another run with wins over Penn Trafford 4-3 OT and North Allegheny 2-1. Franklin Regional is back to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals for the first time since 1996 when the Panthers lost to North Catholic in a nailbitter at the Civic Arena in the Class AA Penguins Cup. That group of Panthers went home empty from four consecutive Penguins Cup Finals appearances and is still trying to erase it from memory. In 1998, the Franklin Regional program move to the brand new Center Ice Arena in Delmont and has built their numbers and is now reaping the benefits of having a rink right in the community. Long time Allegheny Hockey Association coach Jim Damp took the helm at Franklin this season, with renewed vigor as he has coached many of the Panthers since they were toddlers. A great performance in the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase in which the Panther reached the finals before bowing to Peters Twp made this team believe that maybe the Panthers could surprise everyone make a magical run in the playoffs and the addition of the very talented Luke DeLorenzo, would really give this group of FR players a legitimate shot at a dream season. Then it hit home when Franklin defeated Bethel Park on senior night 6-3 in front of a packed house at CI, that this was a reality and they have carried it through the playoffs defeating Latrobe and Mt Lebanon in a classic 5-4 overtime thriller to advance to Rostraver. Franklin Regional fought off their nervousness in the first period and channeled their energy on the ice. Dakota Drew hit the post at 10:56 and Brandon Stallard was standing tall for the Panthers as he stopped Brandon Hanley at 8:42 and Grady Clingan at 5:33. Bethel Park had several chances on the power play but could not score the opening goal in a scoreless first period. Bethel had a great chance early in the second but Stallard made another great save on Clingan at 14:34. Franklin play opportunist as Luke Baughman stole the puck from the Bethel defense and poked it home past Matt Feige at 13:14 and Franklin had a 1-0 lead. Bethel could not score on power play # 4 as Stallard stopped Clingan again at with a glove save at 8:31 of the 2nd. After Feige made an excellent save on Michael Roth at 6:50, he could not stop Luke DeLorenzo, who picked up a rebound of a Sean Buckley shot and gave Franklin a 2-0 lead at 5:24. Brandon Hanley just missed getting the Hawks back within one as his shot sailed just wide of the net at 4:38. Then Franklin extended its lead at 3:03 as Dakota Drew tipped in a Buckley shot from the left point past Feige and Franklin Regional was shocking the world 3-0. Brian Bakowski replaced Feige and Bethe Park appeared to get on the board at 1:10, but the goal was disallowed and the score stood at 3-0 Franklin at the end of two. Bethel Park was now desperate and came out pressing the attack and their night would be indicative of a play at 10:47 as the usually deadly Brandon Hanley missed a wide open net as Franklin worked to keep Bethel out of their end for the majority of the third period. Jimmy Daugherty would want to put the exclamation point on this one and he did at 4:45 as the speedy and feisty Franklin forward scored on a spin-a-rama slapshot over the shoulder of Brian Bakowski and Franklin now was in control 4-0. The champions Bethel Park never gave up and scored two late power play goals by Conner McLean at 2:59 and Grady Clingan at 1:23 sandwiched between a FR Joe Ferrario empty netter at 2:12 making the final outcome 5-2 and sending Franklin Regional to the Penguins Cup AAA Final for the first time ever to face the Meadville Bulldogs, a rematch of a rough affair in January won by Meadville 4-1.

Kittanning takes that next step in Double Overtime thriller! ROSTRAVER ~ The Dean of Western Pa Class AA coaching, Thomas Jefferson head coach Don Powell calls his team the ‘Young Piranhas’ because of their tenacity and intense work ethic. The Jaguars advanced to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals against Kittanning with a big win over Canon McMillan last week and did so with a strong third period where the Jags shut down the Big Macs with great defensive play. TJ was looking to return to the Penguins Cup for the first time since 2000, when they completed the hat trick and won their third straight Pennsylvania Class AA State Championship. The coaching contingent for the Jaguars was on hand in Kittanning last Thursday night to get a look at the Wildcats for the first ever playoff meeting between the schools. Kittanning coach Jeff Smouse, on the other hand, must be living a dream after the exciting 3-2 win over Indiana before a packed house at the Belmont last week. The Wildcats motto all season has been ‘Unfinished Business’ and after losing to Indiana last year at Rostraver, Kittanning vowed to return to the big dance and this time they brought half of Armstrong County with them to take on a big throng of TJ supporters. The ‘Cats’ were looking to return to the Penguins Cup for the first time since 1991, when they carried the banner of Armstrong Central and defeated Meadville 7-4 at the Civic Arena before bowing to Council Rock in the State Finals, so for many a long-time Armstrong County hockey supporters, this is their version of ‘Unfinished Business’. For the first two periods of the Penguins Cup Class AA Semi Final, it was a defensive struggle as the teams matched blow for blow like a heavyweight boxing match or maybe a chess match was more indicative of what went on. As the Dean of AA Coaching Powell and the brain trust of Kittanning Jeff Smouse and ‘the Professor’ Al Stipp charted and plotted and matched lines and matched shits as well. The duel-taking place on the ice was just fantastic as Adam Toy and Danny Hartman, showed all of Western Pennsylvania why they were selected as Pa Hockey Top 25 selections and why Kittanning and Thomas Jefferson have been very successful this season, with great defense and excellent balance across three lines. Like a Broadway musical moving toward a climax the teams forged on after two periods in a 0-0 tie with Thomas Jefferson holding a slight advantage in shots 15-13. The third period was much like the first two as Toy and Hartman’s goaltending turned brilliant. In the middle of the third, Kittanning’s Dustin Kellner was slammed to the boards on a big collision behind the net and TJ broke out with a two on one as Brandon School moved up ice with great opportunity for the Jaguars and Kittanning got a huge break when the linesman using his discretion, blew the play dead since Kellner appeared hurt on the play. With 7:18 to play, the Jaguars were whistled for a penalty putting the Wildcats on the power play and a golden opportunity to score the games first goal…. and as fate would have it they did and it was Dustin Kellner walking out of the corner and beat Danny Hartman for a 1-0 Kittanning lead with 6:13 left. The Wildcats adjusted their fore check going to a 1-4 and frustrated the Jaguars, but TJ fought through the dreaded trap and forced a face-off in Kittanning’s end with a little over 4 minutes left. C.J. Parkinson showed great composure as he found Luke Wawrzeniak alone in front and Luke banged home a shot past Adam Toy to tie the game with 3:24 remaining. The game went into overtime and thanks to Adam Toy and Danny Hartman’s continued stellar goaltending neither team could score and there were many opportunities at both ends. The chess match continued as both teams fought to not make mistakes, while looking for that one opportunity to end it and Jessie Shriver just would not be denied as he outworked two Jaguars in the corner and threw the puck in front with under a minute left in Overtime # 2 and a big scramble ensued as it was Dustin Kellner, who found the loose puck and in one motion wristed one past Hartman sending the Kittanning Wildcats dancing onto the Penguins Cup with just 49.7 seconds remaining in the second extra session, ending what will go down as one of the Classic AA Playoff games in history. The Peters Machine shows why they may be the best team in the State at any level ! In 1996, Greensburg CC won their third State Championship under Butch Marrietta and for those who don’t remember the journey, the Centarians completed a magical run which included a win over an Indiana team, thought to be at the time one of the most dominating Class AA teams in State History. Indiana was coming off a 6-0 whitewashing in the Penguins Cup of Beaver, while GCC outlasted Erie Cathedral Prep in one of the best double overtime playoff games in State History. GCC went on to win the Class AA Penguins Cup and Class AA State Championship with an improbable comeback down 3-0 and beat Indiana 4-3 at Iceoplex. So when Greensburg CC handed Peters Twp a 4-3 loss earlier this season, I am sure coach Joe Dytka felt that the Centarians could slay the dragon AKA Peter Twp. Peters Twp head coach Mark Cooper is going to need some therapy sooner or later, because this group of Peters Twp Indians is gonna drive him nuts with all of their flight plans and the multiple personalities on the defending State Champions. There is no question that the Indians are the best team in Class AA and they have proven it, but winning a State Championship is a different story as one bad outing sends you home and no one knows that better than coach ‘Coop’. If he doesn’t believe me, just read the aforementioned story about Indiana again. Peter Twp had all of the suspects, prospects and players in uniform as they took the ice against Greensburg CC, maybe with a little payback in mind for their early season loss to the Centarians. The defending champs came out on all cylinders in the first period as Corey Bovalina banged home a rebound past Jake Genes at 13:08 to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Mike Papciak extended the lead to 2-0 at 8:43 and Mike Sherer added another at 6:47 to give PT a commanding 3-0 lead at the end of one. On to the second, and after a goals was waived off for Peters Twp Christian Minella slammed home a shot from in close to make it 4-0 at 11:10 and Brandon Rubeo turned it into a rout with just 6:35 left in the second at 5-0 PT. Kyle Kittleberger stopped a couple of GCC chances and Peters Twp was well on its way to the Penguins Cup at the end of the second. Peters continued its onslaught in the third as Matt Clackson scored on the rebound at 11:29 and a backhand at 6:30, while brother Chris Clackson closed out the scoring late in the third period and Peters Twp sent the patrons home early with a convincing 8-0 shellacking of Greensburg CC. The win sets up a match up with Kittanning, which will be a rematch of sorts of an upset by Peters over Kittanning in 1998 in the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals, but this time Peters will be the favorite and Kittanning will be the underdog……..the Kittanning coaching brain trust may want to give coach Marrietta a call for some advice how to slay the dragon because judging by the performance by Peters Twp versus GCC, the well oiled machine is out to prove they are the best team in the state at any level.