St Joseph's Prep Hawks

14th Annual McDowell High School Tri-State Invitational Championship McDowell 6 Cary-Grove Illinois 5 Preliminary Round McDowell 3 Cary Grove (Illinois) 2 McDowell 9 Fairview 0 McDowell 4 Ft LeBouef 0

15th Annual St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off

       Invitations are now being issued to participate in a 16-team showcase of the top Varsity high school teams from Western Pennsylvania in the Premier Interscholastic Pre-Season tournament. The 15th Annual St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off will host the best teams in Western Pennsylvania for the FFO Championship Director’s Cup, that will be dedictaed for this year's event. This year’s field will include defending Fall Face-Off Champions Bethel Park Blackhawks, the 2007 Pennsylvania Class AAA Champions North Allegheny Tigers and the 2007 Pennsylvania Class AA Champions Pine Richland Rams.

        The philosophy of the St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off is to challenge top-level Varsity teams, who do not face each other during the regular season to compete at the same level. Each team is guaranteed three divisional games. The top teams from each bracket will advance into the medal round. The tournament will be played on two rinks in prime time and the St Margaret Fall Face-Off Final will be held on October 11th. The Pa Hockey Network plans to Webcast the event including a pre-tournament preview, the 1st Annual Skills Competition, the Medal Round Semi-Finals and Finals.

     Check out the St Margaret Fall Face Off LINK Site at http://eteamz.active.com/pahockey/index.cfm?league=604905&subsite=4200813.

Pittsburgh 2 Missouri 1 2007 Chicago Showcase – Quarter-Finals BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS – Team Pittsburgh returns to the quarter-finals of the Chicago Showcase, where a year ago they did not play their best game against Team Tri-State [now Midwest], but was able to come away with a victory to advance to the Semi-Finals, only to lose to North Dakota. Head Coach Jim McVay has been a little superstitious throughout the tournament sticking to the routine laid out with team functions and this has really helped to mould this unit. Pittsburgh has just gotten better as the games have progressed with wins over North Dakota and Illinois. Missouri was able to win the B Bracket with wins over Colorado (2-0) and Indiana (4-1) and a tie with Team Midwest (4-4) in the final game of the preliminary round. The Mid-States Hockey Association of Missouri has produced some pretty good hockey clubs over the past few years in CBC and DesMet, who have dominated the landscape of hockey in that State and travel to outlying areas to play pretty good competition. Missouri got the first opportunity on the power play at 13:43 , which was nullified at 12:46 by a penalty. Pittsburgh had an abbreviated power play and Bethel Park’s Bryan Brown had a point blank chance with the penalty running out was stopped by goaltender Corey Rickermann. Pittsburgh had several shots but could not dent the Missouri goaltender and Missouri went on the power play with 5:32 to go in the opening period and as the penalty ended Pete Bensing’s shot from the center point through traffic bounced past North Allegheny’s Max Richards with 3:30 to go to give Missouri a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh’s very next shift was terrific as they continue to test Missouri goaltender Corey Rickermann to no avail. With 55 seconds to go in the period, Pittsburgh went on the power play and could not score. Shots in the first period were 19 – 3 in favor of Pittsburgh, but the scoreboard read 1-0 in favor of Missouri. Pittsburgh went on a 5 on 3 at 16:39, but Rickermann kept them out. Pittsburgh kept working hard and forced another man advantage with 11:23 to go and again after lots of shots could not score. Pine Richland’s Phil Trombetta was robbed by a glove save at 8:59. With 5:26 to go Missouri got a gift penalty putting them on the power play and Bethel Park’s Kenny Lehmann was in on a shorthanded breakaway and stopped by the Missouri goaltender with 5:01 to play. Pittsburgh was whistled with 4:10 to go for too many men on the ice creating a 5 on 3 for 44 seconds and a crucial part of this hockey game in my opinion. Pittsburgh showed some inspired penalty killing and Missouri showed an extreme lack of skill and inability to move the puck. With 1:04 to go another chance for Pittsburgh and with 18 ticks to go another Missouri penalty created a 5 on 3, which would carry over to the 3rd period. Pittsburgh continued to dominate play outshooting Missouri 15 – 9 in the 2nd period. On to the third and Pittsburgh starts with a 5 on 3 power play and the game on the line. Pittsburgh continued to pressure but could not score and Missouri survived and clung to a 1-0 advantage. With 11:31 to go another power play chance for Pittsburgh, which increased to a 5 on 3 with 10:58 to play. Pittsburgh piled up the shots and was given a weak penalty at 9:33 and Pittsburgh got the break they need as Pine Richland’s Phil Trombetta sprung Bethel Park’s Kenny Lehmann, who buried a wrist shot to tie the game. Moments later at 8:40 Meadville’s Morgan Nickkerson broke down the left side and buried a wrist shot on the ice to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. With 5:56 to go. Missouri went on the power play with a chance to tie the game, but Pittsburgh’s penalty killing was too strong and they held off Missouri for a hard fought 2-1 victory and advanced to the semi-finals against New York tomorrow morning. Pittsburgh outshot Missouri 24-6 in the 3rd period and 58-18 for the game.

Pittsburgh 5 New York 4 2007 Chicago Showcase – Semi-Finals BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS – The interesting part about the Semi-Finals of the Chicago Showcase is the absence of hoopla that is evident the first four days of the event. Gone is the cookout out front of the Edge in Bensenville, many of the 24 teams in the event are headed back home, many of the scouts are no longer present and the excitement in the building of game after game of action has diminished. Left are four teams, including three of four who realistically could not have figured to be a part of the championship chase. Wisconsin coach Mike Calouri has been here before and knows the drill of what it takes to be champions of a National High School Hockey Tournament, but for Ohio (C Bracket Champions and upset winner over # 1 seed Michigan), New York (B Bracket upset winner over Minnesota) and Team Pittsburgh, it’s uncharted waters. Pittsburgh did make the finals in 1999, with a group of a half dozen or so Division 1 studs, only to lose to Minnesota. As described by one of the long-time followers of the Chicago Showcase, Team Pittsburgh is that pest little brother that just won’t go away to the Interscholastic hockey powers like Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Northern New England, and Illinois, all whom are headed home and have no shot at the 2007 Chicago Showcase title. Team New York, which is comprised of players from clubs in the Long Island area knocked off Minnesota in the Quarter-Finals and is looking for their first trip to the finals in recent memory if ever. Team NY defeated Massachusetts 7-3, lost to Connecticut 3-2, iced Washington 5-1 and defeated Minnesota to get to this point. So before an intimate gathering of less than 50 patrons in the AHAI rink in Bensenville the game was under way. With 14:28 to go in the opening period New York got the first opportunity on the power play and was evened up at 13:08 on a call on NY. Another penalty on New York at 10:51, put Pittsburgh on their first unabbreviated power play, which was nullified by a Pittsburgh penalty. At 6:46 of the opening period, Alfred Vitsentzos scored on a tap in rebound as a result of sloppy defensive zone play by Pittsburgh. Moments later at 6:17 New York scored again as Jon Weintraub scored on a long shot from the center point. Pittsburgh came right back at 5:01 as Bethel Park’s David Spadacene scored on his own rebound on the backhand set up by BP’s Kenny Lehmann to make it 2-1. Pittsburgh went back on the power play with 3:24 to go and could not capitalize and disturbingly did not get the play set up in the zone real well. Pittsburgh outshot NY 10-4 in the opening period, but trailed on the scoreboard 2-1. Pittsburgh didn’t take long to tie the contest 2-2 as Logan Bannon scored on a David Spadacene rebound at 16:06. Moments later Bethel Park’s Bryan Brown just missed giving Pittsburgh the lead at 15:41. Mt Lebanon’s Mike Roman gave Pittsburgh its first lead at 13:56 of the period on a long slapshot to the stick side of Keith Kincaid to make the score 3-2. David Spadacene had a great opportunity to extend the lead at 10:21, but Kincaid made a spectacular save. After the teams traded power play chances, New York tied the score on a great individual effort by Stephen Mele, who burst don the left side and beat Mt Lebanon’s Robbie Behling on a backhand with 3:49 remaining in the 2nd period. Pittsburgh came right back as Pine Richland’s Phil Trombetta converted a beautiful cross ice pass from West Allegheny’s Ryan Kumpmiller to give Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead with 1:34 to play in the period. Pittsburgh did not do a very good job backchecking or playing defense and New York’s Michael Bochichio made them pay scoring on a turning backhand with under a minute to play in the 2nd period and the score was tied again 4-4. Pittsburgh outshot New York 19-13 in the middle frame. New York power play with 14:10 to go in regulation and Pittsburgh showed great resilience to kill it. With 11:45 to play in regulation, Pittsburgh went back on the power play and had several good chances but Kincaid made several nice saves. New York went on the power play and it wasn’t long as they took a penalty just ten seconds into the man advantage to nullify the power play at 7:17. With 6:01 to play, Pittsburgh would have a golden chance to take the lead on the power play on a 4 on3 and after some nice puck movement West Allegheny’s Ryan Kumpfmiller moved the puck to the front of the net and Central Catholic’s Chris Urso would not be denied fighting off two defenders to score a power play goal and give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead with 5:36 to go in regulation. With 3:24 to go. Pittsburgh went back on the power play, with a chance to extend the lead, but could not capitalize. Pittsburgh held on in the final minute scoring a 5-4 victory over New York and advance on to play Wisconsin in the championship. Pittsburgh outshot NY 13-4 in the 3rd period and 32-17 for the game. Team Pittsburgh returns to the final for the first time in 8 years seeking its first ever Chicago Showcase National Invitational Championship in 23 years.

Pittsburgh 5 Wisconsin 4 [Shootout ] 2007 Chicago Showcase – Finals BENSENVILLE, ILLINOIS – The 2007 Chicago Showcase between Team Wisconsin and Team Pittsburgh features two states that have ties of one of the most monumental moments in National Hockey League History for the Pittsburgh Penguins, when one of Wisconsin’s favorite sons Badger Bob Johnson led the Penguins to the 1991 Stanley Cup after years of service to the University of Wisconsin Badger hockey and to USA Hockey. After the greatest moment in United States Hockey history winning gold in the 1980 Olympics, growth of hockey in the USA exploded to the far reaches of the lakes of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and hotbeds such as Boston and the Northeast to places across the country. Today, 43 states across the United States compete for State Championships in places such as New Mexico, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, just to name a few, which is a testimony to the growth of the sport and for this event, the Chicago Showcase is really a celebration of Interscholastic hockey played in those aforementioned states. Team Wisconsin Head Coach Mike Calouri has been with the program for eight years now and hails from Madison after coaching for a couple of perennial powers and has dedicated his time to the Team Wisconsin program. Wisconsin advanced to the finals in 2005, only to fall to Minnesota 4-3 in the finals of the Chicago Showcase. He described to me the process of the playoff round as a ‘dogfight’ and it certainly was for Red to advance to these finals prior to defeating North New England 6-1 and Ohio 7-0. Wisconsin opened the tournament with a 4-2 loss to Minnesota and a tie with Northern New England 3-3 and then in one of the best hockey games of this tournament defeated defending Chicago Showcase champions New Jersey 4-2 in a nailbitter that went down to the final minute a one-goal game. Pittsburgh’s plight was similar, but has been a process of 23 years of first class service to Team Pittsburgh from General Manager Dave Klasnick, who passed the baton to Gina Colligan this season and unbeknownst to her would end with a joy ride to the championship under a team headed by Bethel Park Head Coach Jim McVay. The Team Pittsburgh hockey community stretches from the shores of Lake Erie to State College and throughout Western Pennsylvania and really has been boosted by the Mario Lemieux affect, which has resulted in rinks throughout the region and is evident throughout the lineup of Team Pittsburgh. Boys from places like Bethel Park, Freeport, North Allegheny, Meadville, West Allegheny, Franklin Regional, Mt Lebanon, Greensburg CC, Central Catholic, Montour, Serra Catholic, Pine Richland, Seneca Valley are the names we are accustomed to seeing their names with but representing Team Pittsburgh and Western PA Hockey is the unified goal of these young men. At 13:32 of the opening period, Wisconsin won the face-off cleanly and Ted Falk had a chance on a partial break and North Allegheny Max Richards was equal to the task. Pittsburgh’s first good chance came at 9:45 as Meadville’s Morgan Nickerson made his way through the Wisconsin D and fired a wrist shot and Bulldog teammate Luke Killmeyer pounced on the rebound, but goaltender Alan Armour made two nice saves. Pittsburgh’s inability to clear the puck out of the zone almost cost the a goal, but Mt Lebanon’s Mike Roman made a nice defensive play to clear the puck to safety. Pittsburgh took a bad offensive zone penalty with 21 seconds left in the first period. Shots on goal in the first period were Wisconsin 14 Pittsburgh 16 in a scoreless tie. On the power play, Wisconsin worked the puck to the bottom of the circle to Ian Andrews at 16:45 to Ian Andrews and Max Richards came up with a big save. Wisconsin took a penalty at 16:25 to eliminate the power play. At 14:19 of the second period West Allegheny’s Ryan Kumpmiller spotted Pine Richland’s Phil Trombetta at the right face-off circle, who blasted a snapshot over the glove hand of Armour to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh went on power play at 13:51, with a chance to go up two and did an unreal job setting up plays and shots, but Armour came up big and Wisconsin survived down by one. With 7:40 to go in the 2nd period, Pittsburgh went back on the power play and increased its man advantage at 6:33 to a 5 0n 3 and a key moment is this championship. At 6:09 of the 2nd a penalty shot was awarded to Wisconsin’s Ricky Wozniak after being hauled down on a partial breakaway and he scored on the forehand beating Max Richards to tie the score at one apiece. Pittsburgh came back as scored on the power play on a pretty passing play as West Allegheny’s Ryan Kumpfmiller scored at 5:13 set up by Meadville’s Morgan Nickerson to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Wisconsin outmanned Pittsburgh to the zone and was abale to tie the game at 3:19 as Keith Clawson scored finding a loose puck and chipping it past Richards. Pittsburgh went back on the power play at 3:0. Pittsburgh was really sloppy in its own end and Max Richards came up with a big save and apparently the official thought Wisconsin was overzealous and gave Pittsburgh a 5 on 3 and they converted as Meadville’s Morgan Nickerson scored from the bottom of the circle at 1:21 low on the ice on a pass from West Allegheny’s Ryan Kumpfmiller to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead. Shots on goal in the 2nd period were Pittsburgh with 20 and Wisconsin with 16. On to the third period and with 14:05 to go Wisconsin went on the power play with an opportunity to get the equalizer, which was killed by Pittsburgh. With 10:29 to go Wisconsin got a gift call for a power play chance and Pittsburgh killed it off surviving several good chances for Wisconsin. With 7:42 to play after a terrific play by Meadville’s Morgan Nickerson to keep the play in the zone and freeze the Wisconsin defense, Seneca Valley’s Nick Jones fired a wrist shot from the right circle on a super pass by Bethel’s Bryan Brown to give Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead. With 7:00 to play, Wisconsin answered as Alex Gerke scored on a long shot from the point to cut the lead to 4-3. With 1:11 to go Pittsburgh failed to clear and Wisconsin made them pay as they found the loose puck on the doorstep as Alex West poked it home to tie the game 4-4 and the game went to overtime. Shots Wisconsin had 24 and Pittsburgh with only 4 as Red dominated the third period. With 7:14 to go in overtime, Wisconsin was whistled for too many men on the ice and Pittsburgh was unable to really mount any good scoring chances. David Spadacene had a breakaway with :03 left and Alan Amour made a great glove save. Wisconsin was whistled for a penalty on the play. The overtime period ended and the teams play a 5-minute overtime would be played. 3:43 Bannon breakaway stopped by Amour…with 3:05 to play Logan Bannon apparently scored the game winner, but it was ruled the net was moved before the puck went in. With 2:33 to play, Wisconsin’s Ryan Smet got behind the Pittsburgh defense and Max Richards made a great glove save. 32 Morgan Nickerson great chance and puck just went wide. After the two overtime periods and two tremendous teams battling tooth and nail for a better part of 5 periods, tournament officials decided to have this one decided by a shootout. The goaltenders in the shootout were Alan Armour of Hayward, Wisconsin HS and Max Richards, from the Pennsylvania AAA State Champions North Allegheny Tigers. Both young men made countless stops in this contest and were to be counted on for more heroics in the 5-man shootout. Pittsburgh shot first, giving Wisconsin the opportunity to counter. First shooter Morgan Nickerson missed for Pittsburgh, as did Ryan Smet for Wisconsin. Pine Richland’s Phil Trombetta and Central Catholic’s Chris Urso scored and couple with misses by Wisconsin gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead. Wisconsin facing sudden death scored on two of their last three chances to forge a 2-2 tie as Tedd Falk and Ricky Wozniak came through in the clutch. There seemed to be confusion as to the shootout procedure as both teams used some of the same players from the original shootout. After four consecutive misses by both teams, Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Chris Urso and Wisconsin’s Zachary Kohn from Arrowhead HS traded goals as the score remained tied at 3-3 until the 5th Sudden Death shooter. Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Chris Urso made a nifty move to score his third shootout goal to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead. Zachary Kohn shot again and this time North Allegheny’s Max Richard’s stoned him giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 win in the shootout and a 5-4 win over Wisconsin in as thrilling of a hockey game as you will ever see. Pittsburgh captured their first Chicago Showcase National Title in 23 years with an impressive run of wins over North Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, New York and Wisconsin. As the cell phones rang and the joy erupted you can’t help but feel a special congratulations to General Manager Dave Klasnick, who has conducted this Team Pittsburgh program with class from the beginning in 1984 and was not able to attend the finals, but as always was more thrilled for the 20 young men who accomplished their goal of bringing Pittsburgh a hockey title for the ages ! Shootout Summary [Tied 2-2]: Pittsburgh # 11 No Goal # 17 Goal # 19 Goal # 9 No Goal # 6 No Goal Wisconsin # 23 No Goal # 21 No Goal # 9 Goal # 12 No Goal # 21 Goal Sudden Death Shootout Summary [Pittsburgh 2 Wisconsin 1] Ø 1st o P # 17 No Goal o W # 16 No Goal Ø 2nd o P # 11 No Goal o W # 21 No Goal Ø 3rd o P # 19 Goal o W # 19 Goal Ø 4th o P # 9 No Goal o W # 9 No Goal Ø 5th Ø P # 19 Goal Ø W # 19 No Goal