News and Announcements
Pine Richland scores 3 in the 3rd to defeat Peters
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Dec 1, 2005 4:00PM PST
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CANONSBURG –
Pine Richland is off to a 5-0-1 start and after an opening 4-4 tie against Canevin has plastered the Class AA competition by a 51-4 margin running off five straight victories. I am sure many of the Rams have had this date scheduled on the callender from the time the schedule was published and have been pointing toward this game even though it is the first of December. Head Coach Jimmy Black’s team is no secret and they are a contender for the 2006 Penguins Cup, fresh off the final appearance a year ago when PR lost to Peters Township, who went on to win the 2005 Pennsylvania State AA Championship in Hershey 4-0 over Haverford.
It would have been a pretty romantic match-up, if the Indians now 3-1 would have defeated Thomas Jefferson, who rattled off five unanswered goals for a 6-4 upset at Rostraver on Monday night. Peters Township has won the Pa State Title three out of the past four years and has a stranglehold on the Penguins Cup for the past four years, with the only hiccup being a 4-2 loss to Archbishop Carroll in the 2004 Pa AA title game. Coach Rick Tingle’s squad is the favorite to win it again and when the Penguin allows his Peters Hornets out of practice, they are arguably the best team in the State of Pennsylvania at any level, but none where in attendance for this early season match-up with PR. All where in attendance Monday night against TJ, so there are no excuses for PT. Chris Papciak has rejoined the Indians squad adding to the firepower of this team come March, when as we learned a year ago it really counts.
A sparse gathering of Concerned Citizens of Peters Township and Pine Richland were in attendance for the big match-up. Peters would get the first opportunity on the power play at 12:39 and the Rams limited the chances and killed it off. PR received their first opportunity on the power play at 7:34 of the opening period and also failed to crack Mike Mastracci. At 4:50 of the first, PR went back on the power play, but Dustin Roux almost scored at 3:39 shorthanded or the Indians as his backhand just trickled wide. Mike Mastracci made a great stop on Josh Fodor from point blank range at 2:32. Peters got the next power play at 2:17, but could not crack the scoreboard in a scoreless opening 15 minutes.
At 9:45 of the second period, Peters was whistled for a delay of game penalty as Mastracci’s clearing attempt went over the glass. At 5:32, Mike Mastracci made a great stop on Brian Miller from on the doorstep. The game went to the ice cut at 0-0.
Richland’s Josh Fodor great chance at 14:42, but Mastracci made a diving stop to keep the Rams off the board. Stoney Hildreth got into the act at 12:59 stopping Chris Papciak. The Rams continue to pick their play up and pressure and Mastracci made another skate save on Phil Trombetta. Then with 11:34 remaining in regulation, Pine Richland was whistled putting the Indians on the power play. Brendan Conlon and Josh Fodor would take advantage of lack of backchecking by the Peters power play unit as Conlon found a loose puck in the corner and hit a streaking Fodor, who buried a wrist shot low to the stick side to give the Rams a 1-0 lead at 10:24. With 7:30 remaining, PR got a big insurance goal as Kyle Adams crashed the net and gave the Rams a 2-0 lead. The flood gates opened at 6:17 as Steven Adams buried a snap shot on the stick side to make it 3-0. PR continued the pressure and picked up an impressive 3-0 win at Southpointe.
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Championship Game
Mt Lebanon 4 Orchard Park 1
***GAME SUMMARIES***
Consolation Game
Gilmour Academy 3 St Ignatius 2 (SO)
Highlights: Gilmour Academy wins sudden death shootout on 8th shooter
Preliminary Round
Gilmour Academy 2 Malvern Prep 1
Mt. Lebanon 4 Gilmour Academy 0
St. Ignatius 2 Orchard Park 1
Malvern Prep 2 Orchard Park 1
Mt. Lebanon 2 St. Ignatius 1
Orchard Park 1 Gilmour Academy 0
Malvern Prep 6 St. Ignatius 1
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Quaker Valley zings Sewickley Academy and stays undefeated !
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Nov 29, 2005 4:00PM PST
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CORAOPOLIS –
The state of Class A hockey is this…..gone is Deer Lakes, Johnstown, Steel Valley, South Fayette, Somerset, Blackhawk, just to name a few over the past two seasons. Waiting in the wings is Quigley and possibly Conemaugh Valley or Ferndale, which seem to hang on every year. What was once a pride of High School Hockey in Western Pennsylvania is now a mix of have and have-nots and may explain why the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship trophy reads …..2005 – Penncrest – 2004 Radnor – 2003 – Radnor. Yes indeed Serra Catholic [in 2002, 2001, and 2000] was the last Penguins Cup champions to win it all.
So out of the twelve teams in Class A, Quaker Valley and Sewickley Academy were the canon fodder for the annual Bishop McCort – Serra Catholic Class A Penguins Cup, which has been the case 4 out of the past 6 years, with the Westmont Hilltop visit in 2003 and Somerset short stay in 2004 being the only exception. Quakers coach Kevin Quinn in many people’s opinion has the best team on paper in Class A entering the season and is off to an impressive 4-0 start including a 4-1 victory at the Cambria County War Memorial over 2005 Penguins Cup champions Bishop McCort.
Sewickley Academy is coming off its best ever season a year ago and looking to better itself from a Penguins Cup semi-final appearance and loss to Serra Catholic. Coach Eric Hoolihan had the whole summer to ponder his goaltending woes in the playoffs, which ultimately lead to his teams demise and exodus out of the playoffs. Steve Tehovnik is now the SA man between the pipes and will have to be the answer if this team hopes to contend this year and take it one step further. A 3-0-0 start for Sewickley is expected given the opponents faced. The first big test would come tonight before a jammed packed Airport Ice Arena of ‘Concerned Citizens of both Quaker Valley and Sewickley’, which both happen to reside in the same place as the high school building are less than a mile apart, so we’ll classify this one as a rivalry.
At 13:04 of the first period, the Quaker Valley faithful were treated to a customary Furman South goal on a rebound to give QV a 1-0 lead. The Panthers were given an opportunity at 11:41 of the opening period on the power play and after a scramble for the puck, Benji Brozanski kept the puck alive in the zone and Chris Behrer found the rebound and deposited a backhand past Zac Zinger at 9:47 to tie the score at one apiece. Zinger made two nice saves on a delayed penalty called at 6:59 and the Panthers went back on the power play and could not score as the QV goaltender stopped Brad Watts twice prior and after the penalty expired. The Quakers lack of discipline resulted in a SA power play at 2:02, which resulted in another kill by QV.
At 14:26, an innocent looking play behind the Sewickley net ended on the stick of Cody Scott, who jammed home a shot past Tehovnik to give the Quakers a 2-1 lead. End to end action took this game by storm in the middle of the second period. Zinger made a great save on Alex Echavarria at 7:19 and another on Brad Watts at 6:39. The Panthers kept on working and earned another power play at 4:08, but it was the Quakers who capitalized as Mikail Lemieux stole the puck at the blue line and buried a wrist shot high over the glove side of the SA goaltender at 3:15 for a shorthanded goal. With 44 seconds remaining in the period Zac Zinger robbed Brad Watts again to keep his team in front by two.
On to the third period and if there was a big play for the Panthers in this game it came at11:48 as Richard Thornburgh lugged the puck out of his own zone and carried it into the QV zone and hit a streaking Conner Blood in the slot , who was stopped by Zinger, but scored on the rebound low to the stick side to cut the lead to 3-2. The Quakers came right back at 10:55 as Colin South banged home a rebound to give QV a 4-2 lead.SA maintained the pressure in the QV end, but could not beat Zac Zinger. Mikail Lemieux scored an empty netter with 2.9 left for a final count of 5-2, in a game, which was a lot closer than the score as the Panthers outshot QV 30-19, but the Quakers came out the victors on the scoreboard.
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Upper St Clair wins the rematch over Bethel Park
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Nov 28, 2005 4:00PM PST
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CASTLE SHANNON –
Bethel Park won the 2005 Pennsylvania Class AAA title by excellent goaltending, hard work and timely goal scoring. Head Coach Jim McVay’s team opened the season with a loss to North Allegheny and has reeled off four consecutive victories over some good competition including USC 4-2 within the past few weeks. The Hawks are trying to keep pace with Mt Lebanon, who has established themselves as the top team early on in Class AAA.
The Panthers have opened the season with a 4-1-0 record and have done so on the strength of their top offensive line of Mike Penkrot, David Crockett and Jono Lohman, who have provided the majority of the offense. Coach John Harford knows USC will need defense and goaltending to spar with the likes of Bethel Park, North Allegheny, Meadville and ultimately Mt Lebanon.
This early season has established that the Penguins Cup chase may be a five team race, with the Blue Devils being the early season team of choice. As we learned a year ago, the race could have a clear frontrunner, which ultimately may not win it all, hence North Allegheny, who did everything to win it and fell short giving up just one goal in the entire playoffs, but even that superb performance only yielded a Penguins Cup finalist tag.
Upper St Clair started the scoring midway through the first period as David Crockett gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Bethel Park outshot USC 6-4 and their best chance to score came as Kye Budziszewski’s shot from the right point hit the post with 26 seconds left. The Panthers and Hawks traded power play chances late in the opening period and into the second and the score remained 1-0.
Bethel Park had a great opportunity to tie the game as Tim O’Brien walked down the slot only to be stopped by Kevin Gorder. Paul Crockett’s clearing out of the zone wandered into the neutral zone and Mike Penkrot beat the BP defense to the puck and then beat Pete Cosentino on the backhand with 8:30 left to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
Bethel Park went back on the power play at 4:54 but St Clair would capitalize as Mike Penkrot got behind the Hawk defense again and snapped a shot up under the crossbar, which appeared to go in, but Dave Crockett made sure slamming home the loose puck on the doorstep for a shorthanded goal and a 3-0 lead with 4:20 remaining in period # 2. BP went on a 5 on 3 with 3:44 remaining and Kenny Lehmann made it count as he scored on the 2nd rebound to make it 3-1.
Bethel Park dominated the 3rd period and had 3 more power plays, but could not beat Kevin Gorder, who stopped 24 of 25 shots on the evening. While the Hawks pressured and created opportunity, Gorder stopped Tim O’Brien at 12:43, Kenny Lehmann at 10:27 and several other key stops to preserve an impressive 3-1 win at the Ice Castle.
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CRANBERRY -
This is a special report provided by the Tiger Sports Network
Junior forward Wes Waldschmidt had a hat trick while senior forward Chris Simanic recorded a goal and three assists to lead the Tigers to a 5-0 victory over Franklin Regional at Bladerunners in Warrendale on Tuesday night. Sophomore goalie Max Richards and junior Adam Lutty stopped 17 Panther shots to share the shutout.
The Tigers got off to a quick start with Waldschmidt's first goal at the 11:49 mark of the first period. With NA on a power play, senior Chris Gilson skated behind the Panther net and passed to Simanic who fed a perfect pass to Waldschmidt in front of the goal. Neither team scoring for the remainder of the period although the Tigers had two more good scoring opportunities. Simanic was stopped by Panther goalie Adam Treml who made a good save at the 9:45 mark. Senior defenseman Paul Dittrich sent a blistering slap shot from the point at the 4:44 mark but Treml made a tough glove hand save. The period ended with the Tigers holding a 1-0 advantage.
In the second period, the Tigers took advantage of four Franklin Regional penalties to score three power play goals. With Ryan Gallagher just out of the box on an interference call, Waldschmidt scored his second goal on a hard shot from the right circle to give NA a 2-0 lead at the 10:54 mark. Simanic made it 3-0 just 34 seconds later when he scored from right in front of the Panther goal. Senior Joe Camut came close when he skated in alone on the left side but Treml was able to make the save with 9:41 remaining in the period. The Panthers kept picking up penalties. With Tim McDonough serving a double minor, another delayed penalty allowed the Tigers to bring an additional attacker on the ice and senior Alan Halapin made it pay off with a goal from the right side at the 7:16 mark. Waldschmidt finished the scoring when he deflected a shot by senior defenseman Chris Korenoski from the right point to give NA a 5-0 lead with 1:24 left. The Tigers' Nick Vaglia picked up an interference penalty with 1:01 left, but the Panthers could not score. The period ended with the Tigers holding a commanding 5-0 advantage.
The physical play picked up in the third period with seven penalties being called, including a game misconduct against Tim McDonough at 8:57 of the period. The Panthers came out strong but could not score against backup goalie Adam Lutty who started the period in goal. The Tigers had a chance early in the period on a two-on-one. Junior forward Matt Lancaster came in on the left side and passed to sophomore forward Josh Herbert in front of the goal, but his back hand shot was stopped by goalie Anthony Livecchi was entered the game at the beginning of the period. Simanic had a chance later in the period but was stopped by Livecchi. The Tigers had a 5 of 3 advantage for almost two minutes but failed to add to the lead. The Panthers outshot NA, 9-6, in the period, but the Tiger defense and good play in the net by Lutty kept the Panthers off the board as NA came away with the 5-0 victory.
It was a good win for the Tigers in a physical contest that saw sixteen penalties called, nine against Franklin Regional. In the game, NA outshot the Panthers, 25-17. For his efforts, the North Allegheny Sports Network selected Wes Waldschmidt as the Player of the Game.
With the win, the Tigers regained first place in the North Division of the PIHL. The NA record improved to 4-1 on the season. The Tigers will not be back in action again until Tuesday, December 6, when they meet division rival Seneca Valley at Bladerunners in Warrendale. Game time is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
GAME SUMMARY
NORTH ALLEGHENY - 5 FRANKLIN REGIONAL - 0
SCORE BY PERIODS 1 2 3 FINAL
Franklin Regional 0 0 0 0
NORTH ALLEGHENY 1 4 0 5
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
FIRST PERIOD
NORTH ALLEGHENY Wes Waldschmidt (Chris Gilson, Chris Simanic) PP 11:49
SECOND PERIOD
NORTH ALLEGHENY Waldschmidt 2 (Paul Dittrich, Simanic) 10:54
NORTH ALLEGHENY Simanic (Waldschmidt, Gilson) PP 10:20
NORTH ALLEGHENY Alan Halapin (Simanic, Dittrich) PP 7:16
NORTH ALLEGHENY Waldschmidt 3 (Gilson, Chris Korenoski) 1:24
THIRD PERIOD
No Scoring
SHOTS ON GOAL
TEAM 1 2 3 TOTAL
Franklin Regional 3 5 9 17
NORTH ALLEGHENY 6 13 6 25
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