Pennsbury Falcons - 1985 - AA

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.

JOHNSTOWN – Forest Hills coach Bobby Salata has to be happy with his team’s performance this season as the Rangers have posted a 9-5-1 record and clinched a playoff spot. The next step for his team is to defeat a team above them in the standings, something the Rangers have failed to do this season in falling to Bishop McCort [twice] and Serra in games that were not even close. A bright spot may have occurred last week as FH took Somerset into the games final minute down one goal only to fall 5-3 with an empty netter. Oh the rigors of coaching can be so rewarding and Westmont Hilltop’s Art ‘King Arthur’ McMillan can attest to over the past 15 + seasons. You see the Mighty Hilltopper has a streak at stake this season with 13 straight winning seasons and a 193-54-15 record over that time, the longest in Western Pennsylvania and ten straight playoff appearances, second only to Thomas Jefferson, who has secured their 14th straight playoff berth. After their first ever Penguins Cup championship last season, only to fall in a heart-wrenching 2-1 loss to Radnor in the State Finals, it has been a different story for Westmont-Hilltop with a 7-8-1 record this season. This may be one of McQuillan’s finest coaching performances as the Hilltopper lineup has just 4 returning starters from last years team and is dominated by freshman and sophomores, which will be a great accomplishment if the make the playoffs and even bigger if the finish at .500 or above. That accomplishment got tougher Wednesday as Forest Hills came out smoking in the first period and scorched Westmont’s Patrick Krumenacher for five goals en route to an 8-0 pasting of Westmont. Leo Lunetto, Dave Duncan and Bryan Parkinson each scored two goals and Kyle Single had a pretty non eventful night at the office with the shutout.

JOHNSTOWN ~ Many of teams have come to the Cambria County War Memorial over the years and many have been sent home by 5-time State Champion Bishop McCort over the past 15 years. Somerset coach Cliff Zeigler has witnessed it first hand and brought his Pa Hockey Elite 8 # 1 ranked and undefeated 16-0-0 Somerset team probably thinking this could be the year that the Eagles may be able to handle the ghosts of War Memorials past. Somerset has pounded Class A competition this season and has defeated Elite 8 ranked teams # 7 Sewickley Academy [5-0] # 6 Richland Cambria [4-2] and # 5 Quaker Valley [4-3] while outscoring their opponents 151-24. The big line of Bret Zeigler, Matt Rouch and freshman sensation Cullen Eddy leads all Western Pennsylvania in scoring and has posted ridiculous numbers. So a game that has been rescheduled a few times would finally take place as the War Memorial re-opened to a throng of what seemed like half of Somerset and the usual suspects of Bishop McCort with a crowd of somewhere around 1500 at the historic building. Bishop McCort knew one maybe two important factors about this much anticipated game. Head Coach John Bradley knew that this was a big game and also knew that his club has played in big games before this stage before and maybe this was Somerset’s first opportunity. Secondly, Bradley knows that hockey is a team game which requires defense, backchecking and a 20 man effort, which can play a major factor. The Crimson Crushers have put up some real impressive numbers with a 15-1-0 record and their lone blemish is to their nemesis of the past five years Serra Catholic, a 4-1 defeat earlier in the season. Maybe the most impressive factor in this Crimson Crusher team is that no one in Class [except Serra] has come close to beating them as they have won every game by at least four goals. Bishop McCort features the usual array of balanced scoring across their lineup which has been a trademark of the Crimson Crushers and their successes over the past 15 years in winning 5 Pennsylvania State Championships and 5 recent trips to the Penguins Cup final 4 only to be sent home by Serra Catholic the past four years. The first period was a close checking affair with a limited number of shots being yielded by both teams. Bishop McCort struck first as Corey Mock scored at 11:46 of the opening period. The Crimson Crushers extended their lead to 2-0 as David Champe found the net at 8:26. If there was a turning point of the first period and possibly the game it was in the middle of the first period as Cullen Eddy went down with an injury and left the game. Somerset cut the lead to 2-1 with just :40 left in the 1st period on a goal by Matt Rouch. On to the second period and the Crimson Crushers took control of this hockey game by putting Somerset goaltender Wesley Cramer under siege with 15 shots. The result was four goals for Bishop McCort as Chris Grady scored two goals, one just 8 seconds in to the period and his 2nd with 4:07 left, as the Crimson Crushers added tallies from Joe Delic [11:49] and Marc Domonkos [9:55] to open up a commanding 6-2 lead in the middle period. Bret Zeigler score for Somerset at the ten minute mark for the Eagles lone score. The third period was vintage Bishop McCort as they just worked the puck deep into the Somerset zone and killed the clock with excellent defense and disciplined play. Chris Mendillo added a goal for McCort at 11:06 to extend the lead to a 7-2 game and Zeigler closed out the scoring with just 2:46 left as the Crimson Crushers coasted to an impressive 7-3 victory over Somerset.

JOHNSTOWN – Forest Hills coach Bobby Salata has to be happy with his team’s performance this season as the Rangers have posted a 9-5-1 record and clinched a playoff spot. The next step for his team is to defeat a team above them in the standings, something the Rangers have failed to do this season in falling to Bishop McCort [twice] and Serra in games that were not even close. A bright spot may have occurred last week as FH took Somerset into the games final minute down one goal only to fall 5-3 with an empty netter. Oh the rigors of coaching can be so rewarding and Westmont Hilltop’s Art ‘King Arthur’ McMillan can attest to over the past 15 + seasons. You see the Mighty Hilltopper has a streak at stake this season with 13 straight winning seasons and a 193-54-15 record over that time, the longest in Western Pennsylvania and ten straight playoff appearances, second only to Thomas Jefferson, who has secured their 14th straight playoff berth. After their first ever Penguins Cup championship last season, only to fall in a heart-wrenching 2-1 loss to Radnor in the State Finals, it has been a different story for Westmont-Hilltop with a 7-8-1 record this season. This may be one of McQuillan’s finest coaching performances as the Hilltopper lineup has just 4 returning starters from last years team and is dominated by freshman and sophomores, which will be a great accomplishment if the make the playoffs and even bigger if the finish at .500 or above. That accomplishment got tougher Wednesday as Forest Hills came out smoking in the first period and scorched Westmont’s Patrick Krumenacher for five goals en route to an 8-0 pasting of Westmont. Leo Lunetto, Dave Duncan and Bryan Parkinson each scored two goals and Kyle Single had a pretty non eventful night at the office with the shutout.

JOHNSTOWN ~ Many of teams have come to the Cambria County War Memorial over the years and many have been sent home by 5-time State Champion Bishop McCort over the past 15 years. Somerset coach Cliff Zeigler has witnessed it first hand and brought his Pa Hockey Elite 8 # 1 ranked and undefeated 16-0-0 Somerset team probably thinking this could be the year that the Eagles may be able to handle the ghosts of War Memorials past. Somerset has pounded Class A competition this season and has defeated Elite 8 ranked teams # 7 Sewickley Academy [5-0] # 6 Richland Cambria [4-2] and # 5 Quaker Valley [4-3] while outscoring their opponents 151-24. The big line of Bret Zeigler, Matt Rouch and freshman sensation Cullen Eddy leads all Western Pennsylvania in scoring and has posted ridiculous numbers. So a game that has been rescheduled a few times would finally take place as the War Memorial re-opened to a throng of what seemed like half of Somerset and the usual suspects of Bishop McCort with a crowd of somewhere around 1500 at the historic building. Bishop McCort knew one maybe two important factors about this much anticipated game. Head Coach John Bradley knew that this was a big game and also knew that his club has played in big games before this stage before and maybe this was Somerset’s first opportunity. Secondly, Bradley knows that hockey is a team game which requires defense, backchecking and a 20 man effort, which can play a major factor. The Crimson Crushers have put up some real impressive numbers with a 15-1-0 record and their lone blemish is to their nemesis of the past five years Serra Catholic, a 4-1 defeat earlier in the season. Maybe the most impressive factor in this Crimson Crusher team is that no one in Class [except Serra] has come close to beating them as they have won every game by at least four goals. Bishop McCort features the usual array of balanced scoring across their lineup which has been a trademark of the Crimson Crushers and their successes over the past 15 years in winning 5 Pennsylvania State Championships and 5 recent trips to the Penguins Cup final 4 only to be sent home by Serra Catholic the past four years. The first period was a close checking affair with a limited number of shots being yielded by both teams. Bishop McCort struck first as Corey Mock scored at 11:46 of the opening period. The Crimson Crushers extended their lead to 2-0 as David Champe found the net at 8:26. If there was a turning point of the first period and possibly the game it was in the middle of the first period as Cullen Eddy went down with an injury and left the game. Somerset cut the lead to 2-1 with just :40 left in the 1st period on a goal by Matt Rouch. On to the second period and the Crimson Crushers took control of this hockey game by putting Somerset goaltender Wesley Cramer under siege with 15 shots. The result was four goals for Bishop McCort as Chris Grady scored two goals, one just 8 seconds in to the period and his 2nd with 4:07 left, as the Crimson Crushers added tallies from Joe Delic [11:49] and Marc Domonkos [9:55] to open up a commanding 6-2 lead in the middle period. Bret Zeigler score for Somerset at the ten minute mark for the Eagles lone score. The third period was vintage Bishop McCort as they just worked the puck deep into the Somerset zone and killed the clock with excellent defense and disciplined play. Chris Mendillo added a goal for McCort at 11:06 to extend the lead to a 7-2 game and Zeigler closed out the scoring with just 2:46 left as the Crimson Crushers coasted to an impressive 7-3 victory over Somerset.