Archbishop Ryan Raiders

HARMARVILLE – 2005 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals – Class A Serra Catholic dominated the 2004-2005 season from the outset running off a 19 game winning streak until falling to Bishop McCort and Quaker Valley in the seasons final month. Coach Tom Mooney’s Eagles captured the # 1 seed in the Class A playoffs, which is very important mainly to avoid Quaker Valley and Bishop McCort until the finals resulting in a pretty easy path to the finals including facing an under .500 opponent in the 2nd round and getting the # 4 or 5 seed in the Semi-finals. Serra is no stranger to the Penguins Cup as the Eagles have competed for the Class A crown for the past five years, winning it on 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, with three Pennsylvania State Championships in the first three years. Last years loss to Radnor, may still sting for the veterans like Justin Lubash, Joey Manning, Ray Gillis and Josh Jones among others and this gives the Eagles an added incentive to get back to the finals in Hershey. The experience of being part of the process over the past five plus years has helped them be able to handle just about any situation, but motivation by the loss to Radnor and the 2003 Penguins Cup final fall to Westmont may be just enough to spur this group of the ‘Eagles’ back to the title game in Hershey. Conversely, Sewickley Academy is just happy to be here, I mean happy their program has been through the ringer just to field a team. In 1999, 2001 and 2002, the Panthers played Junior Varsity and finally hit the Varsity level in 2003 with a 6-15-1 mark. The 2004 season was a turnaround for SA as they compiled a 15-7-0 record and recorded their first ever playoff victory. In 2005, further improvement as the Panthers reached new heights with a 16-6-0 record and an unreal 9-0 pasting of Westmont Hilltop in their playoff opener last week. Facing Serra is a different animal for SA as they dropped both decisions this season to the Eagles 9-3 early in the season opener and 10-6 in the last game of the season. So it would be a David and Goliath if you will and part of coach Hoolihan’s pre-game probably speech revolved around the Panthers 4-3 win over Serra at the end of the 2003-2004 season. Needless to say the Sewickley fits the role of a Cinderella team if there ever was one, especially if they pull off which would be one of the great upsets in State Playoff history by beating Serra. It didn’t take long for Serra to strike at 14:38, Steven Gruhalla scored on the wraparound for a 1-0 lead. The Panthers went on the power play at 13:42 with a chance to get back in the game and they did as Conner Blood scored on a long shot through traffic past Nick Koroly 13:14 for a power play goal bringing the intimate gathering of Sewickley fans to their feet with a 1-1 score. At 10:37 Koroly came up big stopping Conner Blood from point blank range. Nick Koroly came up big again at 5:51 on Blood and Brad Watts. At 4:45, the Panther goalkeeper Matt Solter robbed Ray Gillis from right on the doorstep. At 3:21, Josh Jones showed why he is a strong defenseman breaking up a Panther 2 on 1 and Serra went on the power play at 2:58. The Eagles struck right away as Steven Gruhalla scored on the rebound at 2:49. Alec Shannon came right back after Trevor Heck won the faceoff beating Koroly on a wrist shot at 2:38, just 9 seconds after Serra scored. Back came the Eagles at 1:36 as Ray Gillis beat Solter on a slick move to give Serra the lead again 3-2. The big goal came with just 8 ticks left in the period as Josh Jones took a Phil Ivkovich pass and buried low to the stick side for a 4-2 Serra lead after one. At 12:37 of the 2nd, the Panthers came back and pulled within one as Brad Watts scored a knuckleball, which fooled Nick Koroly and tightened the score to 4-3. At 7:39, Serra got too fancy in the offensive zone and turned it over and Alec Shannon raced the loose puck and reeled a shot wide which caromed off the boards and Trevor Heck backhanded past Koroly at 7:39 to tie the game at four apiece. Trevor Heck lit it up at 6:29 as he undressed the Serra defense and beat new goaltender Jeffrey Smaracheck on the backhand to give the Panthers the lead 5-4. At 5:52, Steven Gruhalla picked up the hat trick with a shot just inside the post to tie it at 5-5. With 3:11 left in the 2nd, Serra went on the power play and a chance to get the lead again and they did as Ray Gillis scored on a tip of a Joey Manning shot with 2:51 left to give the Eagles a 6-5 lead on a power play goal. With 1:06 left, Serra Catholic had a prayer answered as Josh Jones scored a 120 icing which bounded past Matt Solter in an unreal change of events as Serra scored three unanswered goals in the final six minutes of the second to take a 7-5 lead into the third. So as Clark Kent, the Serra beat writer for the McKeesport Daily [News] Planet handed coach Tom Mooney some more Kryptonite for the Sewickley goaltending tandem to handle for the third we started it. At 13:45, Phillip Ivkovich got his stick on a puck passed by Aaron Nolte and directed it toward the net and it went in again to make it 8-5. At 13:19, Justin Lubash started the train toward Hershey rolling burying a wrist shot past Jimmy Barbuto to make it 9-5, making the Eagles shooting percentage better than the basketball Pitt Panthers. Our first save of the 3rd came as sopped a record two in a row. Serra was at it again as Ray Gillis completed the hat trick on a nice pass from Gruhalla the hat trick with 8:29 left in regulation to make it 10-5 and six unanswered goals since the Serra goaltending change at :29 of the 2nd. At 6:12, Joey Manning turned it into an 11-5 rout in a game, which was 5-4 in the middle of the second in favor of the Panthers. As I mentioned in the playoff previews, Sewickley would need goaltending and unfortunately for the Panthers, it would be their downfall on their inaugural trip to the Penguins Cup Semis setting up a Bishop McCort – Serra Catholic final and rematch for the 5th year in a row, in which the Eagles have eliminated the Crimson Crushers, three times for the Penguins Cup in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and twice in the semi-final in 2003 and 2004. Sewickley got a little consolation with 3 seconds left to make the final 11-6 as Art Woods scored on a rebound.

HARMARVILLE – 2005 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals – Class A The Bishop McCort Hockey program started in 1985 and is the most successful Class A program in State History with five State Championships in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999. The Crimson Crushers have been in the Penguins Cup twelve times in 16 years and the program can attribute the family atmosphere of the Blue Line club and the school support as part of the recipe, but the real key has been the continuity at the coaching level with Galen Head and John Bradley, who have been the only head coaches in the organization’s history. McCort has run into a roadblock the past few years in the form of the Serra Catholic Eagles, who have derailed the Crusher train’s plan of State Championships. The Quaker Valley program under their only head coach Kevin Quinn since 1998 at the Varsity level and has built their hockey the right way, which was the vision of Quinn, Cliff Benson, the late Jeff Rader and a handful of Quaker Valley hockey enthusiasts, who formed the program back in 1996 and vowed to do it right and get the Quakers to the Penguins Cup. QV made it to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals a year ago only to fall to Somerset 5-2. The McCort –Quaker Valley matchup was even more interesting with the teams exchanging 2-1 wins on their home ice. What had to be even more appetizing for Quinn was that he would have his full squad for this game, which didn’t happen in the Quakers loss at the War Memorial and give the Quakers an advantage or so it seemed advantage of playing the Crimson Crushers with the full compliment. After McCort controlled the opening minutes, it was Quaker Valley who had the games first legitimate scoring opportunity as freshman Tim Hall undressed the McCort defenseman and tried to slip a backhand past Stenger at 12:50 to no avail. McCort kept up the pressure, but Zac Zinger made several nice stops as the goaltending at both ends was sharp in the opening period. At 2:28 of the first Chad James had a wide open net, but it appeared a QV player may have gotten a stick on it to keep the game scoreless. Then at 1:14 remaining in the first period, the Quakers difference maker Furman South was stationed at the side of the net and found a loose puck and buried it upstairs in the right corner to give QV a 1-0 lead. McCort had an opportunity on a 2 on 1 but Zac Zinger made the save with 10 ticks remaining. Quaker held a 12-11 shot advantage after the opening period. QV went on the power play at 14:02 remaining to open the 2nd with a great opportunity to go up by two. The Quakers seem to have an advantage of controlling the play with the lead in hand and by outskating and outworking Bishop McCort. Furman South had a chance at 9:39 and Ron Stenger made a stick save to keep his team’s deficit at one. At 7:53 of the 2nd, the Quakers committed a sin by taking a penalty in the offensive zone putting the Crushers on the power play. At 6:35 after Zac Seidel missed a golden opportunity, the Crimson Crusher capitalized as Mike Kiely found a rebound and deposited upstairs past Zac Zinger to tie the score at 1-1 for a power play goal. At 3:55 of the 2nd. Ron Stenger made two terrific saves on Furman South and Mikael Lemieux on the rebound. In between periods, we visited with Homer Bedloe [a/k/a Pa Hockey top 5 fan Bob Sebastian], who is still threatening to shut down the Canonball, as for one of these two teams the playoff train to Hershey would come to an end tonight. An inadvertent whistle at 14:40 when Ron Stenger had the puck, but he didn’t fell right on the stick of Furman South for an open pantry and a possible QV lead, but the play was dead, a huge break for McCort. Furman South made great back door pass at 12:23 to a streaking Grant Scott, who labeled a shot for the upper corner and Ron Stenger robbed him with unreal glove save. At 12:04, McCort went on the power play to build off the momentum of the Stenger’s goaltending. Matt Cooper fanned on an open net opportunity at 10:23 and David Champe just missed on a backhand over the crossbar at 9:54. At 9:22, Tim Hall was stoned by Stenger with a skate save. At 8:03, Cory Mock’s shot tumbled wide as Zinger may have had a piece of the rebound as the teams traded chances. Quaker Valley almost took the lead as Wil Forser’s shot with 4:59 left was tipped out of the air by Furman South, but Stenger stopped it. At 4:09, Zac Seidel was the opportunist getting his own rebound and backhanding past a fallen Zac Zinger to give the Crimson Crushers a 2-1 lead. McCort clamped down defensively, but got a little too aggressive resulting in the a power play for the Quakers with 2:42 remaining in regulation and could not score. And with 26 seconds left Marc Domonkos stripped the QV defense of the puck and scored on his own rebound to put the game on ice 3-1 and send the Crimson Crushers to the Penguins Cup again for the first time since 2002. The final shots were 33-27 in favor of Bishop McCort.

DELMONT - Plum Hockey won the Class A State Championship in 1989 and the program has flourished over the past 26 years with many special moments. The Mustangs have an alumnist R.J.Umberger, who is starring for the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL and soon to be headed to the big club the Flyers, if the NHL ever plays again. Plum has had many special moments, but this season has been special because coach Rulnick has used 13 players to capture the # 4 seed. In one breath, the Mustangs have gotten more out of this season than they ever expected, but would love to knock off Upper St Clair and move on to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals for the first time since 1997, an undefeated team which lost to Fox Chapel at Rostraver. Upper St Clair is the team who everyone identified at the beginning of the season as the most dangerous team to run the table and win the Penguins Cup. The problem occurs when the national anthem is played and the roster is different every game and the players are running back and forth fulfilling commitments for everyone else than St Clair. Coach John Harford is the right guy to handle this situation, but at some point the Panthers will have to have ALL of the 18 kids concentrate solely on the task at hand, which should be a State Championship. The mentality needs to be that way or the Panthers will be the best team on paper and be out of the playoffs. And if they can do it and players 13-18 can focus, the Panthers can find themselves auditioning for the next ‘Reeses Cup’ commercial for some of us who remember ‘your peanut butter is in my chocolate and your chocolate is in my peanut butter’….folks what USC needs is the chemistry so that the Blazeks, Klanchers, Joyces of the world will excel and join the others mentally and pave the road for the bus to Hershey. Before a packed house at Center Ice Arena, Plum and Upper St Clair would square off in a rematch of a thrilling first round game in the 2004 Penguins Cup playoffs which the Panthers won 6-5 in overtime at Ralph’s Castle. After David Dincau missed Plum’s first good scoring opportunity, USC caught Plum on an odd man break as Davey Crockett made the right choice feeding Mike Penkrot, who beat Brandon King through the 5-hole for a 1-0 Panther lead with 3:49 left in the 1st. With 51 seconds left in the opening period, Plum’s Matt Giunta unleashed a long slapshot, which fooled Kevin Gorder to tie the game at one. After a St Clair defenseman fell down, Jonathon Smith used great speed went straight to the net and buried an overpowering backhand at 14:43 to give the Mustangs the lead 2-1. The Stangs dominated play and almost went up by two as Ben Colosmo just missed moments later. The Panthers would answer at 12:08 as Ian Joyce walked down the middle of the ice to tie the game at 2-2. USC poured the shots on Brandon King in the middle of the period, but Brandon King made several nice saves to keep the game tied as the shots were 16-8. Joyce got loose again and forced Plum to take a penalty and put the Panthers on the power play with 5:55 left in the 2nd. King made a nice glove save on Penkrot at the 5 minute mark and the Mustangs gain some momentum by killing off the penalty. With cell phones ringing at an amazing clip and the Mt Lebanon and Bethel Park wins in the books at 8:45, these two teams would go to the final period of regulation tied with the winner getting a date with # 1 North Allegheny next Wednesday at Harmarville in the Penguins Cup semi-finals. On to the third we go and the anticipation of a great period or more and who would march on to meet North Allegheny. At 14:28 Plum was whistled and the Panthers went on the power play, but the Mustangs did a great job killing off the disadvantage. You could sense a bit of tension and nervousness on both sides after a series of icings. The Panthers lost their composure a little resulting in a Plum power play with 9:54 remaining in regulation and while the Mustangs moved the puck well, they could not generate a real great scoring chance and the game remained tied with the Panthers holding a 26-13 shot advantage. With 4:28 remaining Jonathon Smith was cross checked from behind and David Humphrey’s retaliated evening the penalties in a bad display of discipline and cost the Mustangs a power play which could be a costly penalty for Plum. And the regulation periods ended 2-2 and we moved on to overtime. Mike Renna just missed in the opening minute as USC repeatedly iced the puck. St Clair’s Jake Klancher shot high and the 2nd minute of OT. With 7:18 left Crockett had a bankhander ticketed and Brandon King gloved it. Then came sophomore Andrew Blazek took a long lead pass from Anthony ‘the Senator’ Sirabella and just inside the zone from the top of the circle ripped a slapshot into the upper right hand corner to win it at 5:18 sending the Panthers back to the Semis to face a North Allegheny team that USC handed its only loss of this season in the first game on November 1st to start the season. And for the Mustangs a disappointing end to a great season, which they left everything the had on the ice and a promise of one more trip to the Pizza Pub for the post game with coach Rulnick and coach Harford, to reminisce about their days as teammates at Carrick with Mike Sargo, Jerry ‘Dr Evil’ Bass, Mark Madden, Phil Shaffalo, stripes Chet Steen and coach Pandolfo of NA and the stories continue next week in Harmarville. And the last one's to leave were the two old teammates !

INDIANA – Indiana entered tonight’s opening playoff game as the # 2 Seed in the Penguins Cup Class with a bye in round one. Coach Dom Glavech had a couple of players from last year’s Penguins Cup finalist as Zack Diamond and Michael Hart skated with the team as a reminder of last season and what is at stake and that this Indiana team much play a full 45 minutes. The Indians pounded EF 10-0 at Rostraver on December 20th but EF had no Repass or Delmaster, who were at Mr. Haney’s Flea Market, which is a big difference. A switch of rinks at the House of King Samuel, as the teams took the ice where neither Indiana or EF skated this season in the rink, which hasn’t been used in a couple of years . The Hockey Holligans were out in full force Indiana Student section and jammed packed Indiana section of Indian Faithful and a sprinkling of Warrior fans, who made the 1 ½ trip from Elizabeth Forward. With a 2002 dream trip for the Warriors to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals in Class A before losing to Bishop McCort at Rostraver and the brilliant goaltending of Adam Reichl, who resurrected the Varsity program of Elizabeth Forward after three years of no varsity. A move up to Class AA in 2004-2005 and a brand new coaching staff featuring Former Serra coach and winner of three State Championships John Mooney and his new sidekicks Larry ‘Briggs & Stratton’ Briggs and Pat ‘No Shame’ McShane, fresh off a 4-3 upset of West Allegheny, in which featured play of Michael Cole in the nets and a huge win after the Warriors had a respectable 10-12-1 record in AA including a 2-2 season ending tie with # 1 seed Canon McMillan. And the connection with Indiana is that John Mooney coached Great Lakes/Nittany right here in Indiana, so maybe King Samuel pulled the switcharoo on the pads thinking John would be familiar with the rink Indiana normally skates in. A dream matchup for Arnold ‘Slick’ Ziffel as the Indians of Indiana faced off against the Warriors of Elizabeth Forward and since there was no Cowboys versus Indians, ole Arnold would have to settle for this and Fred and Doris were real happy too to get out of Hooterville for a night in Indiana. Goaltending was on display in the opening period at 12:34 as Mike Kennedy stopped Billy Repass on a clear break and at 11:32 Kennedy made a leg save on Jeremy Delmaster. The opening period was mucked up with a series of penalties at 11:14 Indiana power play, at 9:27 with an EF power play forced by speed of Jeremy Delmaster, at 6:46 with another chance for EF on the power play and finally at 2:53, yet another Indiana power play as the Indians did not have a lot of chances in the games opening period. Indiana didn’t score but started to establish play in the Warrior zone. On to the 2nd and at 13:17 another chance for EF on the power play and the game’s first great save as a sprawling Mike Kennedy just got his toe on a Jeremy Delmaster shot at 12:18 to keep the game scoreless. And again at 11:52 he stopped Delmaster again from point blank. At 11:35 Billy Repass had a wide open chance on the back door and hit the crossbar. Indiana got another penalty and the Warriors would get two more minutes to work with at 11:08 and Indiana would get their chance as freshman Lance Lewandowski had a clear shot and Michael Cole stopped him shorthanded at the eleven minute mark. Then the replacement referees showed up thinking the game was at 9:00 PM which was not on the Pa Hockey site, which had it correct at 8:00 PM [Where’s Hank Kimball, our faithful scheduler when you need him ?] and immediately blew an icing call on a power play and maybe they should have all six of the guys who showed up on the ice at $ 60 a pop. Then at 6:09, Michael Jack cut one loose from the right point that trickled past Cole for a 1-0 Indiana lead. At 4:18, Cole made a big save on Joe Appolonia from the right circle. Elizabeth Forward continued to get chances and kept missing or was stopped by Kennedy. 44 seconds left saw a mental mistake putting EF on the power play with a too many men on the ice call and another penalty with just 6 ticks left in the middle period would give the Warriors 1:16 to work with on a 5 on 3 to start the final period of regulation. At 14:33, the lift that Elizabeth Forward was looking forward to as Jeremy Delmaster whistled a wrist shot past Kennedy to tie the game at one apiece, to make Indiana pay for their undiscipline play late in the 2nd period. Indiana went back on the power play at 12:51 and Cole stopped Appolonia and Mills on the rebound and the Warriors killed it. Then with 10:27 left Kennedy misplayed the puck and EF made him pay as Billy Repass stripped the puck and found a wide open Jeremy Delmaster in front with an open net and a 2-1 Warrior lead. With 6:31 left Brian Doak had a great chance to give EF insurance, but Kennedy stopped him. With 5:30 left and EF with a potential 3 on 1, Indiana received a gift of the year with a slashing call and a power play. In a game reminiscent of a Chartiers Valley upset of Indiana in the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase, coach Mooney called a timeout with 2:53 remaining to give his guys a rest and also gave Mills and company a rest as well. Then like a miracle with 2:11 left the magic man for Indiana Cory Mills as he has done all season took a shot which Michael Cole had the angle on and trickled past Cole and in the far corner to tie the game. New life as the Indiana faithful rose to their feet and cheered for what seemed like the first time of the evening. With 1:47 left. Mike Kennedy stopped Delmaster’s bid to give EF the lead back with a great save and another brilliant stop moments later on Delmaster again. And we went to overtime ! Overtime and a relentless Michael Jack would not be denied as he fought off Warrior defenders to get his own rebound and backhand it by Cole [Apparantly Nick Onuschek got the final stick on it] to send Indiana on to the Penguins Cup semi-finals and for Elizabeth Forward a valiant effort and a very near upset for coach John Mooney, whose team executed the upset plan which fell 2:11 short, which Indiana knows all too well from 04 – 05.

CRANBERRY – The North Allegheny hockey program started in the Ohio Valley High School Hockey League in 1973 at the old Sewickley Rink underneath the Sewickley Bridge and from the beginnings, the program had success winning the OVHSHL title and competed in the qualifiers for the Inaugural Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships in 1975. The loss that year was to Baldwin, the eventual State Champions. And the program moved forward and was always afforded a sniff of the States, but has never danced past the 2nd round except 1977. The 1977 Tigers competed in the round robin State Championships after capturing the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League crown over Richland and seemed head for destiny, but fell short to Erie McDowell, who edged NA out in the tiebreaker and then went on to lose to Churchill in the finals. A series of what ifs and why nots have culminated in the emergence in the 2004-2005 season in which the Tigers have dominated Western Pennsylvania AAA hockey destroying everything in site ….the # 1 seed, the Central Catholic Invitational, the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase are all nice and all have been celebrated, but the Tom Pandolfo mentality seeks more. A great season and a good season are currently not in the vocabulary because the vision is chocolate in the form of Hershey, Pa on March 26th for the State Finals, which is a long way away from today. Gene Hackman in ‘Hoosiers’ said ‘you never think about the next step until you’ve taken the one in front of you’. And the step tonight is the 8-time Pennsylvania Cup State Champion Meadville Bulldogs, who have broken down the ‘one step at a time’ theory of Norman Vale into ‘one shift at a time’ or ‘play every shift as if its your last’ as they say in Meadville. That mentality has permeated into every Jamie Plunkett coached hockey club since he arrived on the scene in 1987 and as this young edition of the Bulldogs has seemed to have the light bulb going on in their heads lately including a 3-1 near miss loss just two weeks ago in Meadville. So the venue may have changed to BladeRunners CRANBERRY, but the fear of the Dawgs is present as a very dangerous team in the Penguins Cup AAA playoffs as Meadville has rounded into playoff form over the past month as usual. If we think about upsets, 1988 comes to mind when Shadyside Academy upset Meadville or maybe the 1999 game when then # 1 seed NA lost to # 8 seed McDowell. This is what happens in the playoffs and this is what Meadville, the underdog is gunning for and # 1 seed North Allegheny is trying to avoid and everyone in Western Pa will be holding their collective breaths and some ventured out to witness it on a cold March night as the playoffs have now begun and are underway. So the usual suspects were in the house as the Meadville Nation made the trip down I-79 and the North Allegheny faithful filed including Phil May, original coach of the NA Tigers. After a quick moving 3 ½ minutes of up and down hockey, NA showed great composure as Wes Waldschmidt kept the puck alive at Chris Simanic finished it off over a fallen Brian Danczak at 11:39 for a 1-0 lead. The Tigers kept up the pressure and Meadville was forced to take a penalty at 6:05 putting NA on the power play but Meadville survived and killed it in the games first big turning point. NA kept coming and continued to pressure and Danczak made a big save on Brandon Lied at 2:56 from just in front. But that wasn’t his best as when Matt Pekins found Wes Waldschmidt between the circles an almost sure goal was turned aside by the quick Meadville goaltender, who stopped 19 of 20 in the opening period, while Jeff Kristan faced only 2. The second period was much like the first period as NA continued to pressure and Brian Danczak continued to sparkle stopping nine more shots, while Jeff Kristen faced a pair of icings. The fact remained that the score is just 1-0 in favor of the Tigers. A far cry from the 8-3 pasting at the beginning of February and a little closer to the 3-1 game late in the season. For North Allegheny, the next goal will be huge and for Meadville, the next goal would be huge as well, which is what playoff hockey is all about. So while the ice was cut the teams headed to the locker to make adjustments, but the fact remains that in the playoffs one team moves on and one goes home as we readied ourselves for the 3rd period. The history is now what comes into play, will it be made or will it continue? The NA JV Championship banner came down and would it be enough ? At 14:36, Wes Waldschmidt with 6 x 4 in front of him but Brian Danczak’s glove said no ! Then Chris Leone with a partial break and a penalty on NA at 14:13 put the Dawgs on the power play. A shorthanded 2 on 0 with Paul Dittrich and Garrett Waldschmidt and Danczak guessed right again at 13:26 getting his leg down to make another brilliant save…still 1-0. Then at 9:54 it was Paul Dittrich, who would lug the puck out of his own end and cut down the right side and blister a slapshot over the stick side of Danczak and the Tigers could breath a little easier 2-0. But still a lot of time left and Meadville came to life a little and finally got in to the NA zone with a little over 8 to go. Meadville never quit and kept comin and went on the power play with 2:46 left. But North Allegheny would only surrender one shot and five on the night to 11 on Danczak, who was absolutely spectacular stopping 40 of 42 that the Tigers would have, but it wasn’t enough and the Tigers will move on to Harmarville in a propeller game of sorts and we’ll see if that’s true next Wednesday as the history continues to be written for the Tigers