Pennsbury Falcons - 1985 - AA

NEW KENSINGTON – Plum has been through the ringer in the second half of the 2003-2004 season with losses to contenders Meadville, Mt Lebanon, Bethel Park and Monday night’s division clinching loss to Fox Chapel, where the Mustangs outshot the Foxes, but came up short on the scoreboard 5-3 with an empty net goal. What Head Coach Stu Relnick is more concerned right now is securing a playoff berth and a home ice berth in the playoffs and Plum is currently sitting in 9th place in the overall standings, which would send them on the road. Shaler coach Ron Steedle has a different theory and he only could dream of having Plum assistant coach Mike Sargo [who scored over 100 goals in leading Gateway to the WPIHL AAA crown and Penguins Cup Semi-Finals in 1996] suit up in Shaler Blue and White or maybe borrow Travis Senchur for a half of season, the Titans could have capitalized during the unreal ten one-goal games in which Shaler and they would be talking about home ice advantage in the playoffs and not just trying to survive and avoid a first round trip to Meadville or Mt Lebanon, which equates to Siberia for Titans. Shaler has lost twice to Plum, 5-1 in St Margaret’s and a 5-0 whitewash in November and was looking to measure its progress over the season’s 2nd half. Shaler came out and took the play to Plum in the first period pressuring the Mustangs which would result in the opening goal as Graham Papciak on his off wing beat J.P. Balson low on the ice at 5:26 for a 1-0 Shaler lead. Then the Titans were whistled for hauling down a Plum player in the slot and the Mustangs capitalized on Shaler’s inability to clear the puck. Travis Senchur blasted a slapshot high over the shoulder of Ben Burns with 2:48 remaining in the first. Plum took the lead at 11:14 of the second period as Senchur took a Jonathon Smith feed and beat Burns between the legs for a 2-1 Mustang advantage. The Titans came back and tied the scored as John Shannon’s shot was like a pinball off defenseman and legs and sticks and ultimately J.P. Balson to knot the score at two apiece with 6:09 remaining in the middle period. The Mustangs would answer as Mike Dunlap would take advantage of a Shaler defensive meltdown in its own zone and beat Burns with exactly five minutes remaining in the middle frame. On to the third period and both teams had several chances to score but it was Shaler once again who had the better chances late in the game, but could not beat J.P. Balson who stopped 27 of 29 shots on the evening. Jim Rouda had a wide open net and the puck just would not go in for Shaler, who pulled the goalie and watched Josh Huber’s shot in the final seconds ring off the post and Plum held on for a 3-2 victory at the Palladium at Parnassus.

NEW KENSINGTON – Baldwin coach Mike Cox didn’t watch the Plum-Shaler game before their matvhup with Fox Chapel, but if he did he would see a lot of characteristics of his team with Shaler in the Highlanders inability to come up with the big goal when they need it. The Highlanders have been struggling to put pucks in the net but lets keep in mind who their opponents where ….Mt Lebanon, a 2-0 loss, Central Catholic, a 6-1 loss after being a one goal game in the middle of the second and Upper St Clair, a 5-2 loss. So the degree of who Baldwin was playing had a little something to do with it even though the theory is consistant. The equalizer to all of this is Matt King, who is arguably the best goaltender in Class AAA and a Pa Hockey Top 25 selection, who has carried the Highlanders and has them on the doorstep of the playoffs again after a long drought for the storied Baldwin program. Fox Chapel coach Keith Kearney on the other hand has the scoring and has the defense and his team is just looking for a little respect for their 17-2-1 record and clinching of the East Division title. The Foxes consider themselves a contender for the Penguins Cup and this writer agrees that if EVERY player suits up for them they are. The player who will swing the pendulum is sophomore Matt Quigley, who is in my opinion one of the top 5 players in Class AAA. The two games in which Quigley was not a factor were the two losses to top dogs Meadville [he didn’t play] and Mt Lebanon [he left in a 0-0 game in the 2nd period]. Thursday night is here and Quigley was in the lineup against Baldwin. The Foxes came out flying in the first period and took a 2-0 lead as Joe Bduz scored at 5:32 and Quigley scored his 1st goal on the evening at 4:33. The Foxes pounded Matt King with 13 shot to Baldwin’s 6. Fox Chapel looked like a machine in the second period as Quigley scored at 14:06 and then overpowered King with a blistering snapshot upstairs at 9:35 to give the Foxes a commanding 4-0 lead. Baldwin did not quit and picked their game up at this point and began to chip away at Fox Chapel with nine shots on Todd Hendry. Lou Del Greco finally broke the ice at 3:31 of the 2nd to get the Highlanders on the board 4-1. Things started to get interesting as Michael Joyce found the net just over a minute later and the FC lead was now only 4-2 at 2:24. The next goal would be huge and Baldwin would get it as Garrett Beisinger caught Hendry in no mans land as he intercepted a bad clearing attempt and slid the puck past the diving Foxes goaltender to pull Baldwin within one at 4-3 with 14:07 remaining in regulation. FC would go on the power play, but the Highlanders would capitalize as Dave Stock found his way around the FC defense and scored on the breakaway beating Hendry just inside the far post to tie the game at four apiece with 10:59 left in the 3rd period. Fox Chapel would pound away with 15 more shots on King and a 38-23 shot advantage for the game. With 6:49 remaining Jason Kreps fire a bullet to the glove side of King, who juggled the puck but could not control and fell on the door step. Matt Quigley found it and tapped it in with a great display of speed to beat the Baldwin defense to the puck and give Fox Chapel a 5-4 lead which they would not relinquish.

Thanks to # 6 for providing a special report provided by the Indiana Hockey Club VALENCIA ~ The IHS Ice Hockey team showed what "Miracles" were made of by defeating #2 ranked Pine-Richland 5-3 Thursday night at the Ice Connection in Butler. Indiana scored first at 11:01 in the second period by Cory Mills, assisted by Alan Halapin. Mike Nesper had a short-handed goal and an empty-netter, while Zach Diamond added two goals for the night also. Assists were provided by Diamond and Boske with two apiece, and Joey Appolonia, and Mills kicking in one each. Mike Mentch provided an outstanding job in goaltending stopping 25 of 28 shots. Josh Fodor, Patrick Nicholas and Thomas DiDinato scored for Pinr Richland. Indiana outshot their opponent 35-28. Indiana now 12-4 drops Pine-Richland to 12-5, as they look forward to two home games next week.

NEW KENSINGTON – Plum has been through the ringer in the second half of the 2003-2004 season with losses to contenders Meadville, Mt Lebanon, Bethel Park and Monday night’s division clinching loss to Fox Chapel, where the Mustangs outshot the Foxes, but came up short on the scoreboard 5-3 with an empty net goal. What Head Coach Stu Relnick is more concerned right now is securing a playoff berth and a home ice berth in the playoffs and Plum is currently sitting in 9th place in the overall standings, which would send them on the road. Shaler coach Ron Steedle has a different theory and he only could dream of having Plum assistant coach Mike Sargo [who scored over 100 goals in leading Gateway to the WPIHL AAA crown and Penguins Cup Semi-Finals in 1996] suit up in Shaler Blue and White or maybe borrow Travis Senchur for a half of season, the Titans could have capitalized during the unreal ten one-goal games in which Shaler and they would be talking about home ice advantage in the playoffs and not just trying to survive and avoid a first round trip to Meadville or Mt Lebanon, which equates to Siberia for Titans. Shaler has lost twice to Plum, 5-1 in St Margaret’s and a 5-0 whitewash in November and was looking to measure its progress over the season’s 2nd half. Shaler came out and took the play to Plum in the first period pressuring the Mustangs which would result in the opening goal as Graham Papciak on his off wing beat J.P. Balson low on the ice at 5:26 for a 1-0 Shaler lead. Then the Titans were whistled for hauling down a Plum player in the slot and the Mustangs capitalized on Shaler’s inability to clear the puck. Travis Senchur blasted a slapshot high over the shoulder of Ben Burns with 2:48 remaining in the first. Plum took the lead at 11:14 of the second period as Senchur took a Jonathon Smith feed and beat Burns between the legs for a 2-1 Mustang advantage. The Titans came back and tied the scored as John Shannon’s shot was like a pinball off defenseman and legs and sticks and ultimately J.P. Balson to knot the score at two apiece with 6:09 remaining in the middle period. The Mustangs would answer as Mike Dunlap would take advantage of a Shaler defensive meltdown in its own zone and beat Burns with exactly five minutes remaining in the middle frame. On to the third period and both teams had several chances to score but it was Shaler once again who had the better chances late in the game, but could not beat J.P. Balson who stopped 27 of 29 shots on the evening. Jim Rouda had a wide open net and the puck just would not go in for Shaler, who pulled the goalie and watched Josh Huber’s shot in the final seconds ring off the post and Plum held on for a 3-2 victory at the Palladium at Parnassus.

NEW KENSINGTON – Baldwin coach Mike Cox didn’t watch the Plum-Shaler game before their matvhup with Fox Chapel, but if he did he would see a lot of characteristics of his team with Shaler in the Highlanders inability to come up with the big goal when they need it. The Highlanders have been struggling to put pucks in the net but lets keep in mind who their opponents where ….Mt Lebanon, a 2-0 loss, Central Catholic, a 6-1 loss after being a one goal game in the middle of the second and Upper St Clair, a 5-2 loss. So the degree of who Baldwin was playing had a little something to do with it even though the theory is consistant. The equalizer to all of this is Matt King, who is arguably the best goaltender in Class AAA and a Pa Hockey Top 25 selection, who has carried the Highlanders and has them on the doorstep of the playoffs again after a long drought for the storied Baldwin program. Fox Chapel coach Keith Kearney on the other hand has the scoring and has the defense and his team is just looking for a little respect for their 17-2-1 record and clinching of the East Division title. The Foxes consider themselves a contender for the Penguins Cup and this writer agrees that if EVERY player suits up for them they are. The player who will swing the pendulum is sophomore Matt Quigley, who is in my opinion one of the top 5 players in Class AAA. The two games in which Quigley was not a factor were the two losses to top dogs Meadville [he didn’t play] and Mt Lebanon [he left in a 0-0 game in the 2nd period]. Thursday night is here and Quigley was in the lineup against Baldwin. The Foxes came out flying in the first period and took a 2-0 lead as Joe Bduz scored at 5:32 and Quigley scored his 1st goal on the evening at 4:33. The Foxes pounded Matt King with 13 shot to Baldwin’s 6. Fox Chapel looked like a machine in the second period as Quigley scored at 14:06 and then overpowered King with a blistering snapshot upstairs at 9:35 to give the Foxes a commanding 4-0 lead. Baldwin did not quit and picked their game up at this point and began to chip away at Fox Chapel with nine shots on Todd Hendry. Lou Del Greco finally broke the ice at 3:31 of the 2nd to get the Highlanders on the board 4-1. Things started to get interesting as Michael Joyce found the net just over a minute later and the FC lead was now only 4-2 at 2:24. The next goal would be huge and Baldwin would get it as Garrett Beisinger caught Hendry in no mans land as he intercepted a bad clearing attempt and slid the puck past the diving Foxes goaltender to pull Baldwin within one at 4-3 with 14:07 remaining in regulation. FC would go on the power play, but the Highlanders would capitalize as Dave Stock found his way around the FC defense and scored on the breakaway beating Hendry just inside the far post to tie the game at four apiece with 10:59 left in the 3rd period. Fox Chapel would pound away with 15 more shots on King and a 38-23 shot advantage for the game. With 6:49 remaining Jason Kreps fire a bullet to the glove side of King, who juggled the puck but could not control and fell on the door step. Matt Quigley found it and tapped it in with a great display of speed to beat the Baldwin defense to the puck and give Fox Chapel a 5-4 lead which they would not relinquish.