Archbishop Ryan Raiders

3/23/04~Indiana shocks TJ with little O & Heavy D 3-2 in OT PITTSBURGH ~ Indiana coach Dom Glavech is the guy who shows up at a game on a cold Jaunary night at the Ice Connection or at Bethel Park or at Rostraver, when I am there for a 9:30 game to watch Class AA action to get a feel for what is going to take place in the playoffs. I think coach Glavech likes the company, but what he is really doing is his homework and scouting the competition. Indiana has a veteran club in 2004 and reached the Penguins Cup in 2002 only to be edged by Peters Twp 3-2 in a game where the Little Indians could have pulled off the upset and moved on to the State Finals but didn’t seize the opportunity. A lot of the players on that team are now seniors including Zach Diamond, Mike Nesper, Michael Hart making up the core of the 2004 squad. Thomas Jefferson has had an outstanding season going 19-0-1 and ripping Greensburg CC in the opening game of the 2004 playoffs. Head coach Don Powell is hoping to get the Jaguars back into the Penguins Cup for the first time since 2000, which was the third of three straight Pennsylvania Cup State Championships for TJ. The Jaguars has a strong well balanced attack and great goaltending of Danny Hartman, who is one of the top netminders in State of Pennsylvania in my opinion. TJ welcomed the return of top defenseman Grant Heinauer, who has been out for most of the season with a injury and would be a key of any championship runs for the Jags. Indiana was the aggressor in the 1st period outshooting TJ 13-9, but the Jaguars opened the scoring on the power play as Brandon School slapped a Luke Wawrzeniak rebound out of the air at 10:24 for a 1-0 lead. Indiana would answer as Zach Diamond belted home a Michael Nesper rebound at 7:44 and the game was tied at one apiece. Great players make things happen when they are called upon and at 2:34 of the first period Michael Nesper showed why he is one of those players as he used his speed to the outside after taking an excellent Joe Lenz outlet pass and beat Danny Hartman with an overpowering backhand in full stride high over the glove side to give the Little Indians a 2-1 lead. On to the second period and Thomas Jefferson showed why they went undefeated this season by pouring the pressure on Indiana. Indians goalie Mike Mentch, who has been up and down all season, was just spectacular stopping several Jaguar opportunities and keeping Indiana in the lead. Brandon School would not be denied as the speedy TJ forward walked to the middle of the ice and buried an over powering wrist shot over the glove side of Mentch to tie the game 2-2 at 6:25. The teams battled into the third period as Danny Hartman and Mike Mentch turned this playoff game into a playoff dual. Both teams had several opportunities but the best came with 1:55, when Brandon School looked to complete the hat trick but Mentch stoned him and the game went to overtime. End to end they went in the overtime and this one was looking more like TJ’s game with Kittanning in the 2003 semi-finals with near misses and great goaltending. Luke Wawrzeniak and Brandon School had a golden opportunity with a little over six minutes left in the opening overtime period as Wawrzeniak threaded a perfect feed to School, who shot it just outside the post. Michael Hart would make the key play in this hockey game as the big Indiana defenseman lugged the puck through center ice and into the Jaguar zone. The puck was poked into the corner and Danny Hartman tried to get there first, but Hart used his long reach to center the puck to a wide open Zach Damico, who put a little ‘Heavy D’ behind a wrist shot an buried it into the empty net and sending the Indiana faithful into a frenzy giving Indiana a heartstopping 3-2 victory over # 1 seed Thomas Jefferson and a date with Peters Twp in the 2004 Penguins Cup.