St Joseph's Prep Hawks

 

CRANBERRY –

 

       After the 12^th Annual Meadville Bulldog Invitational played this past weekend, it is pretty clear that LaSalle is one of if not the prohibitive favorite to win the Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championship in 2008. That being said the Western Pennsylvania teams are lining up to take a run at the Penguins Cup and more than likely an opportunity to face the Explorers when the title is on the line.

         History is on Western Pa’s side as the Penguins Cup champions have won 13 out of the last 16 Pennsylvania Class AAA titles and three of those years when Pa Hockey had Malvern Prep ranked # 1 for much of the season in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and the Friars failed to close the deal, except in 2004. North Allegheny, the defending AAA State Champions, took an 11-0 pasting from the Explorers and then regrouped to face Meadville in a very important seeding contest. Although, the Tigers have clinched a playoff spot, North Allegheny is focused n securing a # 2 or 3 seed to avoid any possible match-up with Pine Richland.           Meadville, who is currently around the 8^th seed is anxious for the return of Billy Espy, who may return tto the lineup for the stretch run. The Bulldogs are currently a one trick pony with Morgan Nickerson, Nick Fedorka and Drew Finton carrying the offensive load and any additional depth will bolster Meadville’s chances in the Penguins Cup playoffs. Head Coach Jamie Plunkett faces division foes NA, McDowell and Seneca Valley over the next few games and will be a key point in the Dawgs schedule, if they hope to ramp up their playoff seeding.  

         The opening period featured some pretty close checking as Meadville outshot the Tigers 6-5. NA’s Brady Waldschmidt’s shot at 11:53 appeared to go up under the crossbar but the official did not make the goal signal. The Tiger’s Josh Herbert fired a lasar off the corner of the crossbar at 10:41 to no avail. Meadville had its beat chance at 2:37 as Aaron Nye stole the puck and shot the puck from the faceoff circle, but Max Richards came up big.

 

           Meadville went on the power play early in the 2^nd ,but NA was equal to the task. The Bulldogs best chance came as Morgan Nickerson had a breakaway, but Richards stopped him. North Allegheny had its chances as well as Donnie Lewis had a quick backhand turned aside by Bryan ‘the Duck’ Danczak at 9:07. Josh Herbert was turned aside at 7:55 and then Joe Snatchko rung one off the pipe with 4:39 to go in the 2^nd.

          The Tigers finally broke the ice at 7:55 of the 3rd period as Josh Herbert scored on the wraparound to make it 1-0. NA and Meadville.played strong defense in the third period similar to a playoff game limiting the scoring opportunities around Max Richards and Bryan Danczak. Josh Herbert added an empty netter from the Red Line with :32 to go to make the final count 2-0 in favor of the Tigers. Final Shots for the game were 21-21.     .

MEADVILLE - Meadville and St Ignatius met in the finals of the Bulldog Invitational, which would be a tall hill for Jamie Plunkett's squad to overcome the three time Bulldog Invitational champions from Ohio. Meadville had confidence due to its 5-1 preliminary round victory over Ignatius but knew it was helped by two 5 on 3 goals in that contest. Justin Werle scored to give Meadville a 1-0 lead in the first period on a power play goal at the 7:51 mark. Meadville held onto the slim advantage until St. Ignatius tied it with 9:46 left in the 3rd period on a goal by Jeff Leciejewski. D.J. Craven tipped a David Moyer shot with 6:05 left in regulation to give Medville a 2-1 lead on the power play. goal. The Wildcats tied the game with 32 seconds left on a goal by Dan McClain. McClain is the Wildcats top player and he took a shot just inside the blueline that fooled Dan O'Shurak and went between his legs for the equalizer. The championship went into the first 15 minutes of overtime provided both teams chances to end it but both goaltenders played well. St. Ignatius goaltender Chris Sanchez was the MVP for his team. He made 56 saves on the evening including 18 in overtime. The ice was resurfaced after the first overtime and the teams changed ends and the second overtime ended with 4:02 remaining as Brian Bahurinsky scored on a rebound from a Justin Werle slapshot. Sanchez came out to play the Werle shot and couldn't control the rebound as Bahurinsky scored in to an empty net for a 3-2 final. Werle was named the MVP for Meadville.

 

 

12th Annual MEADVILLE BULLDOG INVITATIONAL
2008 Tournament Schedule
SCHEDULE						1/20/2008 21:43
Pool A		Record	Points	Pool B		Record	Points
Sylvania Northview		(2-0-1)	1	LaSalle		(3-0-0)
St Ignatius		(2-1-0)	2	St Edwards		(1-1-1)
Meadville		(1-2-0)	3	North Allegheny		(1-2-0)
Mt Lebanon		(0-2-1)	4	McDowell		(0-2-1)
							0
GAME #	DATE	TIME	DAY	HOME TEAM		AWAY TEAM
MEADVILLE AREA RECREATION CENTER  - MEADVILLE, PA.
1	18-Jan-08	4:45 PM	Friday	St Edwards	1	McDowell	1
2	18-Jan-08	6:30 PM	Friday	LaSalle	11	North Allegheny	0
3	18-Jan-08	8:15 PM	Friday	Meadville	1	St Ignatius	2
4	18-Jan-08	10:00 PM	Friday	Mt Lebanon	2	Sylvania Northview	2
5	19-Jan-08	7:15 AM	Saturday	North Allegheny	4	McDowell	3
6	19-Jan-08	9:00 AM	Saturday	LaSalle	1	St Edwards	0
7	19-Jan-08	11:00 AM	Saturday	Sylvania Northview	6	Meadville	3
8	19-Jan-08	12:45 PM	Saturday	St Ignatius	2	Mt Lebanon	1
9	19-Jan-08	2:45 PM	Saturday	St Edwards	2	North Allegheny	1
10	19-Jan-08	4:30 PM	Saturday	McDowell	0	LaSalle	6
11	19-Jan-08	6:15 PM	Saturday	Sylvania Northview	4	St Ignatius	2
12	19-Jan-08	8:00 PM	Saturday	Meadville	4	Mt Lebanon	0
	SEMI-FINAL
13	20-Jan-08	8:00 AM	Sun	Sylvania Northview	1	St Edwards	2
14	20-Jan-08	10:00 PM	Sun	LaSalle	9	St Ignatius	0
	CHAMPIONSHIP
15	20-Jan-08	3:00 PM	Sun	LaSalle	4	St Edwards	1

***Check out the Meadville Bulldog Invitational Website for Game Summaries and Highlights*** 

 

 

   The Penguins Cup Playoffs are headed down the stretch run at Class AAA, Class AA and Class A as the teams in Western Pa all begin to prepare to make a run for the Penguins Cup.

Check out the feature you will see 'Only on Pa Hockey!' as we bring to the wire of the regular season into March Madness and the Western Pa Hockey Playoffs.

We will also keep tabs on the Team as they clinch playoff berths and Division titles:

Congratulations to the following teams for clinching a berth in the Penguins Cup Playoffs:

Class AAA - Pine Richland - Mt Lebanon - North Allegheny - Seneca Valley - Bethel Park - Central Catholic - Meadville - State College - Shaler - Norwin - McDowell - Upper St Clair - Fox Chapel - Penn Trafford - Canon McMillan

Class AA - Latrobe - Canevin - Franklin Regional - West Allegheny - Peters Twp - Thomas Jefferson - South Park - Montour - Moon - Greensburg CC - Indiana 

Class A - Mars - Quaker Valley - Serra Catholic - Freeport - Bishop McCort  - Beaver - Westmont Hilltop - Sewickley Academy - Somerset - Hampton - Richland Cambria   

And to the 2008 Division title winners 

Class AAA - Pine Richland - Mt Lebanon - North Allegheny - State College 

Class AA - Latrobe - Franklin Regional - Canevin - South Park

Class A - Mars - Quaker Valley - Bishop McCort - Serra Catholic