St Joseph's Prep Hawks

Greensburg CC Invitational Championship

  

Franklin Regional 2 State College 1

 

GREENSBURG –

 

          State College is coached by Tim Holdcroft, who played his hid High School Hockey at North Allegheny and will lead his school into Class AAA after a successful stint in the PIHL Open Division, winning the championship a year ago. The Little Lions will put a lot of miles on their car or buses this season, but most importantly will be eligible for the Pennsylvania State High School Hockey Championships in March. Moving to Class AAA will legitimize that this team will be playing for something this season. So after all of the arguing and debate about one of the worst ever ideas in High School Hockey [Open Division] is over, for State College at least, they can move on with life. After defeating an improved Penn Trafford squad 3-0 in the semi-finals on Monday night, the Little Lions can honestly say they intend to make a run for a Division title and unseat Plum and Penn Trafford in a division which I consider the weakest in Class AAA, but nonetheless State College has done themselves a huge favor in moving up to play with the big boys and even received a few votes in the Pa Hockey Pre-Season Coaches Poll and deservedly so. 

 

          Franklin Regional is ranked # 2 in the Pa Hockey Pre-Season Coaches Poll for Class AA and after a very nice showing in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off which included a close loss to defending State AAA Champions North Allegheny 4-3 in the final seconds and wins over Plum and North Hills. The Panthers are back in Greensburg where they are 4-0 after the Semi-Final win over Hempfield 4-1 to face State College in the Greensburg CC Invitational Championship. The Panthers have been to the finals of this tournament several times in recent years and won the GCC Invitational crown in 2001. While many consider Franklin a premier team in Class AA, this team will have to prove they can score in big games and pay more attention in the defensive end when the playoff bell rings in March to ultimately challenge for the Penguins Cup. 

 

          State College came out with a flurry of shots in the opening minutes of this championship contest. The best opportunity came at 6:37 of the opening period, when the Little Lions Nick Petrick took the puck from his own end and raced around the Franklin defense only to be stopped on a backhand attempt by James ‘Bobby’ Orr. Moments later, after some State College pressure, the Little Lions were awarded the games first power play at 6:21, but could not capitalize. State College dominated territorial play in the opening period and despite outshooting FR 16-2, the game remained scoreless after one. 

 

        With 11:30 remaining in the 2^nd period, State College’s Brian James got behind the the Panther defense and appeared to score, but his backhand scooted just wide of the net behind Orr. Franklin Regional went on the power play with 10:01 remaining in the second period, but State College killed it. State College had another chance and it was James again as on a 2 on 1, his shot could not get by Orr. The Little Lions were whistled at 8:59 putting the Panthers on a 5 on 3 for nearly a minute and a big chance to take the lead. The Panthers did not register a quality scoring chance on the 5 on 3 nor the remainder of the man advantage and the game remained scoreless. With 5:37 to go in the middle frame, State College went back on the power play. Franklin had a chance as Steve Shirk weaved his way through the State College defense shorthanded, but Lion keeper Calvin Michael was equal to the task at 5:11. Franklin had several chances on a scramble around the net, but Michael was able to control the puck and make the save. State College turned up the heat late in the period and FR could not clear the zone, but the game remained scoreless. The Panthers held the shot advantage in the 2^nd period 9-7.

 

        With 9:13 remaining in the third period, Patrick Coyne found a loose puck and beat Calvin Michael on a low wrist shot to the stick side for a 1-0 Panther lead. With 6:15 to go in regulation James Orr made a real nice stick save on Christian Conlin to keep FR in the lead 1-0. With 4:32 to play, Patrick Coyne unleashed a big wrist shot that Calvin Michael snagged. Moments later Christian Conlin got behind the Panther defense and did not score but drew a penalty putting the Little Lions back on the power play and another chance to tie the game, but Orr and the Panthers killed it. With 2:03 remaining, Conlin was stopped again from point blank range. With 1:20 to go Orr made another stick save on Jacques Guilleroy and another shot glanced off the crossbar just seconds later. State College pulled the goalie and after a scramble in front finally beat Orr as Brian James found the loose puck and scored with :29 to go and the game was tied 1-1. Shots in the third period were 12-3 in favor of State College and the game headed to overtime.

 

     With 3:56 to go in OT FR’s Eugene Mack had a great chance, but Calvin Michael stopped him from in tight. With 2:11 to State’s Cam Beuray had a great chance but could not beat Orr. The game headed to a shootout with the final shots 37-19 in favor of State College.

       In the Shootout, Patrick Coyne and Eugene Mack scored on the first two chances for the Panthers and James Orr did not allow a goal in four State College shooters, giving the Franklin Regional Panthers a 2-1 shootout win and the 2007 Greensburg CC Invitational Title.

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey Coaches Association and Pa Hockey conducted the 12th Annual Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The votes are streaming in and the results will be tabulated and posted here soon for Class A, AA and AAA. Who will be the favorites for the 2008 Penguins Cup ? We have the previews of our Elite 8 in each classification for Pa Hockey !

 

		PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL
		2007-2008  "AAA" DIVISION
CLASS		TEAM	RANK
			HERE
AAA		PINE-RICHLAND	1
AAA		NORTH ALLEGHENY	2
AAA		MT LEBANON	3
AAA		MEADVILLE	4
AAA		BETHEL PARK	5
AAA		CENTRAL CATHOLIC	6
AAA		MCDOWELL	7
AAA		UPPER ST. CLAIR	8

		PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL
		2007-2008  "AA" DIVISION
CLASS		TEAM	RANK
			HERE
AA		LATROBE	1
AA		FRANKLIN REGIONAL	2
AA		THOMAS JEFFERSON	3
AA		WEST ALLEGHENY	4
AA		MONTOUR	5
AA		GREENSBURG CC	6
AA		MOON	7
AA		PETERS TOWNSHIP	8

		PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL
		2007-2008  "A" DIVISION
			RANK
CLASS		TEAM	HERE
A		BISHOP MCCORT	1
A		SERRA CATHOLIC	2
A		MARS	3
A		QUAKER VALLEY	4
A		SOMERSET	5
A		HAMPTON	6
A		WESTMONT-HILLTOP	7
A		FREEPORT	8

Bethel Park races to big lead & holds off NA to win Fall Face-Off HARMARVILLE – For those people who follow hockey over a span of years, it’s really something to look forward to when two rivals get together and face off against one another and especially when something is at stake. Sure it’s October and the season is two and a half weeks away, but a Bethel Park – North Allegheny hockey game is quickly becoming a source of entertainment that one should mark on the calender, when it occurs. For the organizers of the expanded St Margaret’s Fall Face-Off, this game in the long run will bring more prestige to an event that creates awareness and raises funding to help people save lives, which is of the utmost importance in society. The history over the past couple of years alone of the Blackhawks of BP and Tigers of NA has been very interesting to say the least. NA has the upper hand defeating the Hawks in the past two Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase Director’s Cups in December 2004 and 2005, but it was the Bethel Park victory over the Tigers in the 2005 Penguins Cup that has really fueled this matchup as the Hawks edged NA 1-0 at the Mellon Arena to crush the Tigers long awaited quest for a Pennsylvania State Championship as BP moved on to defeat Malvern Prep and capture their 5th title under Head Coach Jim McVay in 8 years. Enter Jimmy Black, who most recently in April 2006 led the Pine Richland Rams to their first State Championship in any sport by capturing the Pennsylvania Class AA State title over Haverford. There is no question that North Allegheny has been knocking on the door of winning it as the Tigers fell to Mt Lebanon in March in the Penguins Cup finals at Mellon Arena for the second consecutive year and is looking for the intangible in a talent rich program working their way through the process of capturing glory and reaching the goal that has eluded them for 36 years. For the Tigers that road to the promised land will go through Bethel Park and possibly Mt Lebanon or Meadville to reach the State Finals in Philadelphia in March. So it’s October and this game is a pre-season tournament final, but don’t tell Bethel Park or North Allegheny, because they like the St Margaret’s Foundation have a mission, albeit very different, it is similar because the end goal is excellence, which is something all three organizations have shown incredible consistency in striving to meet their respective goals. Bethel Park struck first as Graham Cohen buried an opportunity after a flurry of activity around NA goaltender Adam Lutty at the 10:07 mark to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Danny Gaertner tied the game with 6:23 remaining on the power play picking up a loose puck in the slot a depositing it past Pete Cosentino for a 1-1 deadlock. The Blackhawks went to work applying the pressure to the Tiger defense and forcing turnovers which resulted in Cohen’s second goal at 5:09 and Kenny Lehmann’s goal rebound on the doorstep at 3:08 chasing Lutty in favor of Max Richards and resuling in a 3-1 BP advantage. Bethel gave Richards a rude welcome in between the pipes as Matt Seifert score on a backdoor play at 2:22 and Logan Bannon roofed a snapshot upstairs with just 48 ticks remaining to stretch the Hawk lead to 5-1 after the opening period. BP held a 14-4 shot advantage after the 1st period. On to the second period and Bethel Park took some ill advised penalties which helped the Tigers gain a territorial edge, thus resulting in more scoring opportunities. Donny Lewis started the comeback for NA with a tap in at 9:50, which was followed up by an excellent effort by Dylan Rohar to find a loose puck and bury it past Cosentino to make it a hockey game at 5-3 with 8:55 remaining in the second. Both goals came on the power play and the Tigers play opportunist again with 4:31 remaining as Rohar would not be denied scoring his second goal on another power play and cutting the Bethel Park lead to 5-4. In the third period, the game took on a different flavor with hard skating and close checking as Bethel and NA settled into a heavyweight title scrap as each tried to limit the other’s scoring chances. When North Allegheny took a penalty with 1:34 remaining it looked like this game was all over but he medals ceremony. NA coach Jimmy Black pulled his goaltender to even the players on the ice forcing an icing and a faceoff deep in the Bethel zone, the result was a near missed as Wes Waldschmidt had a golden opportunity to tie the game but was hooked giving NA a man advantage in skaters with their pulled goalie and 48 ticks left. Bethel Park was able to hold on and capture the St Margaret’s Fall Face-Off Championship in their first appearance. North Allegheny finished the runner-up for the second straight year as the Tigers have been in the finals 7 out of the past 9 years. An excellent hockey game for two teams who figure to have a hand in the 2007 Penguins Cup in March and will open the season against one another on November 2nd, when the push begins and will certainly add another chapter to an ever growing rivalry.

   
2007 – 2008

Moon Varsity Pre-Season Tournament

Airport Ice Arena  Tournament Schedule: Monday October 8th
    Latrobe 8 Beaver 1

    Moon 3 Serra Catholic 3

Tuesday October 9th
   Serra Catholic 2 Latrobe 5   

Wednesday October 10th
   Moon 6 Beaver 0 

Thursday October 11th
   Serra Catholic 8 Beaver 4

Friday October 12th
    Latrobe 7 Moon 2  

Championship Sunday October 14th
   Serra Catholic 3 Latrobe 1

   Highlights: Serra opened scoring with 2:38 remaining in First Period on a power play goal (Latrobe's Josh Harris was off the ice for a holding call). Goal scored from a scramble in front of the net. Serra's Joe Clark scored, assisted by Serra's Captain Josh Werner. The game remained 1 - 0 Serra until very late in the game. While Latrobe's Andrew Ong was off the ice on a slashing call, Jeff Rossi of Latrobe scored a shorthanded unassisted goal on a breakaway with 57.3 seconds left in the game. Regulation play and a five minute overtime ended in a 1 - 1 tie. In the shootout, Latrobe did not score while both Serra Catholic's Mike Puskar and Josh Werner scored. Serra's Stephen Derewonko stopped 29 of 30 shots while Latrobe's Nick Loyacona stopped 36 of 39 shots. 

The St. Margaret Fall Face-Off has done more than offer teams from different athletic divisions a chance to face each other on the ice. At least 18 lives have been saved with emergency equipment bought using money raised during previous tournaments, tournament director Dave Bianco said. Sixteen schools from southwestern Pennsylvania will take part in the St. Margaret's Fall Face-Off, an annual preseason hockey tournament. Last year's winner, the Fox Chapel Foxes, will have tough competition from the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils, the AAA state champs, and the Pine-Richland Rams, AA state champs. Bethel Park, Franklin Regional, Hampton, Indiana Area, Mars Area, Montour, North Allegheny, North Hills, Plum, Seneca Valley, Shaler Area, West Jefferson Hills and Upper St. Clair also will take part. The tournament starts Monday and runs through next Thursday at Harmarville Blade Runners. What began as a competition for high school teams from the northern and eastern suburbs will draw athletes this year from throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. Sixteen teams, twice the number that took part last year, will participate. This year's goal was $150,000, with the money primarily from corporate sponsorships and donations. That goal has been exceeded, with about $160,000 pledged. Proceeds will be used to buy automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, portable electronic devices that can shock a heart back into a normal rhythm. The first tournament was held 14 years ago and organized by Arthur Scully, former executive director of the St. Margaret Foundation and a hockey fan. Proceeds initially financed the foundation's community health programs, but, for the past eight years, funds have been used exclusively to buy AEDs. Read the FULL ARTICLE in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette North and East regarding the St Margaret's Fall Face-Off. e Monday evening the St Margaret's Foundation and the Pa Hockey Network will be broadcasting live from Harmarville, a unique pre-tournament show featuring many of the supporters of the event and coaches and players from the schools participating. The Dynamic Trio of Dave 'the Boy Wonder' Fryer, Ron 'Alfred' Steedle and Jeff 'Batman' Mauro will be on hand to provide the color, candor and catch up with some very special guests........... the On-Demand Webcast is now available !