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2009 Penguins Cup AA Championship
Latrobe 3 Montour 0
PITTSBURGH –
The prelude to this game was about Montour Goaltender Matt Skoff, who deserves a ton of accolades for getting the Spartans to their first ever Penguins Cup. With Skoff has been very good, Latrobe Goaltender Nick Loyacona was a big reason why the Wildcats won a State Championship a year ago and the Senior keeper made some very big stops with the game on the line against rivals Franklin Regional. Montour had an early shot advantage in the opening period 7-4, but Latrobe would get their first power play opportunity at 7:45 of the 1st. Matt Batis made a terrific play lugging the puck the length of the ice into the Montour zone and a very good drop pass to a streaking Jayson Angus down the right side, who found Ryan LaDuke on the bottom of the circle, who beat Skoff on the stick side to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Early in the second period, Latrobe found the net again as Tyler Berger walked out of the corner and beat Skoff low to the glove side with 14:44 remaining in the period to make it 2-0. Nick Loyacona took this game over stoning the Spartan attack stopping 30 of 30 shots through two periods including several strong scoring opportunities in the 2nd period. Latrobe continued to roll four lines and wear down Montour in the 3rd period, but could not beat Skoff, who made 20 saves after the game was 2-0 to keep his club in the game. Latrobe sealed the victory when Jayson Angus scored into an empty net from 120 feet with 16 seconds left to give the Wildcats their second straight Penguins Cup and a trip to IceLine to play 2009 Flyers Cup champions the Council Rock South Eagles.
2009 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals
PITTSBURGH -
Class A – Bishop McCort 9 Serra Catholic 3
In a see-saw affair over the opening two periods, Bishop McCort (17-4-2) broke open a 4-3 contest with five goals in the 3rd period to smash Serra Catholic (20-3-0). After Zack Bartos opened the scoring for McCort in the 1st, in a six goal second period the Crushers and Eagles were 4-3 in favor of McCort at the end of two periods. Nick Pappas, Kurtis Straw and Dane Domonkos scored for Bishop McCort and Jay Leppo, Erik Manetta and Corey Beam scored for the Eagles. Todd Thomas of Bishop McCort broke the game wide open with two goals 1:47 apart early in the third period and Domonkos added his second and Zack Bartos completed the hat trick with two goals late in the final stanza. The Crimson Crushers outshot Serra 29-20.
Class AA – Montour 2 Canevin 1
Goaltending is sometimes a great equalizer in the playoffs and Montour (17-7-1) has a great one in Matt Skoff, who turned aside 34 of 35 shots against Canevin (15-7-2). The Crusaders threw 15 shots at the Montour goaltender in the 3rd period and rung a couple off the post and crossbar to no avail. After a scoreless first period, freshman Domennic Martinelli scored on the backhand at 11:39 of the second period. Zach Milnarcik extended the lead to 2-1 on a nifty backhand through the 5 hole of Julian DeFilippo to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead at 9:46. Canevin finally scored with 7:11 to go in the second as Vince Nicolella found a loose puck and shoved it past Skoff to make it 2-1. The Crusaders pressed in the 3rd period and could not beat Skoff and Andy Beck scored into an empty net from 120 feet with 35 seconds to go giving the Montour Spartans their first ever trip to the Penguins Cup finals. Canevin outshot Montour 35-14.
Class AAA – Seneca Valley 4 Upper St Clair 3 (OT)
Upper St Clair (16-5-4) came out smoking in the opening minutes and seized the lead as Zach Feldman went five hole past Ryan Schutte at 13:22 of the opening period. Seneca rallied to take the lead as Sean Sokolowski scored at 6:22 and then Kaleb Schwab scored on the power play with 5:10 to go in the first period. The Panthers had a strong second period thanks to good pressure and several power play opportunities as Theo Schneiders scored on a backhand at 7:41 and then Justin Selep lifted a rebound over Schutte with 1:40 to play in the 2nd and the Panthers took a 3-2 lead to the third period. Seneca Valley outshot USC in the 3rd period 13-8 and 45-27 on the evening and finally solved Matt Wreggett as Erik Larson blocked a USC clearing attempt and slid the puck past the USC goalie to tie the score with 7:31 to go in regulation. This contest headed to overtime and would be decided on a broken 3 on 2 as Logan Pfeffer and Brandon Platt got the puck to the net where Mike Rohm found a loose puck and fired it past Wreggett with 2:41 to go in overtime to give the Raiders their first ever trip to the Penguins Cup final 4-3.
2009 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals
PITTSBURGH -
Class A – Bishop McCort 9 Serra Catholic 3
In a see-saw affair over the opening two periods, Bishop McCort (17-4-2) broke open a 4-3 contest with five goals in the 3rd period to smash Serra Catholic (20-3-0). After Zack Bartos opened the scoring for McCort in the 1st, in a six goal second period the Crushers and Eagles were 4-3 in favor of McCort at the end of two periods. Nick Pappas, Kurtis Straw and Dane Domonkos scored for Bishop McCort and Jay Leppo, Erik Manetta and Corey Beam scored for the Eagles. Todd Thomas of Bishop McCort broke the game wide open with two goals 1:47 apart early in the third period and Domonkos added his second and Zack Bartos completed the hat trick with two goals late in the final stanza. The Crimson Crushers outshot Serra 29-20.
Class AA – Montour 2 Canevin 1
Goaltending is sometimes a great equalizer in the playoffs and Montour (17-7-1) has a great one in Matt Skoff, who turned aside 34 of 35 shots against Canevin (15-7-2). The Crusaders threw 15 shots at the Montour goaltender in the 3rd period and rung a couple off the post and crossbar to no avail. After a scoreless first period, freshman Domennic Martinelli scored on the backhand at 11:39 of the second period. Zach Milnarcik extended the lead to 2-1 on a nifty backhand through the 5 hole of Julian DeFilippo to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead at 9:46. Canevin finally scored with 7:11 to go in the second as Vince Nicolella found a loose puck and shoved it past Skoff to make it 2-1. The Crusaders pressed in the 3rd period and could not beat Skoff and Andy Beck scored into an empty net from 120 feet with 35 seconds to go giving the Montour Spartans their first ever trip to the Penguins Cup finals. Canevin outshot Montour 35-14.
Class AAA – Seneca Valley 4 Upper St Clair 3 (OT)
Upper St Clair (16-5-4) came out smoking in the opening minutes and seized the lead as Zach Feldman went five hole past Ryan Schutte at 13:22 of the opening period. Seneca rallied to take the lead as Sean Sokolowski scored at 6:22 and then Kaleb Schwab scored on the power play with 5:10 to go in the first period. The Panthers had a strong second period thanks to good pressure and several power play opportunities as Theo Schneiders scored on a backhand at 7:41 and then Justin Selep lifted a rebound over Schutte with 1:40 to play in the 2nd and the Panthers took a 3-2 lead to the third period. Seneca Valley outshot USC in the 3rd period 13-8 and 45-27 on the evening and finally solved Matt Wreggett as Erik Larson blocked a USC clearing attempt and slid the puck past the USC goalie to tie the score with 7:31 to go in regulation. This contest headed to overtime and would be decided on a broken 3 on 2 as Logan Pfeffer and Brandon Platt got the puck to the net where Mike Rohm found a loose puck and fired it past Wreggett with 2:41 to go in overtime to give the Raiders their first ever trip to the Penguins Cup final 4-3.
2009 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals
PITTSBURGH -
Class A – Mars 4 Quaker Valley 0
Mars (23-1-0) completely dominated this contest from start to finish defeating Quaker Valley (15-7-1) 4-0. Jake Robasch opened the scoring at 10:06 of the 2nd period following his own rebound off the post and beating Zach Taylor to give the Planets a 1-0 lead. Tyler Whiteford scored from in close on the power play with 5:02 remaining in the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Derek Sitterly and Steven Tracy added goals in the final period as Mars outshot the Quakers 40-7 as Tyler Stepke earned a shutout.
Class AA – Latrobe 5 Franklin Regional 3
Latrobe (23-0-0) was ripe for the taking in this contest as Franklin scored first on a Pete Ellis goal at 8:43 of the opening period to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Latrobe got a huge goal late in the period as Tyler Berger got a rebound on the backhand to knot the score at one apiece. Latrobe took advantage of sloppy FR play in the 2nd and mounted a big attack outshooting the Panthers 17-5 and scoring three goals to take a 3-1 lead. Cody Ray tapped in a Chris Karnes pass at 12:44 after a bad clearing attempt, Tyler Baloh tapped in a Cody Ray rebound after James Orr juggled the puck and the backbreaker was JeffJoe Regula’s terrific effort to find a loose puck amongst two Panthers and slam in home with just ten seconds remaining in the period. Matt Batis converted a Regula pass to make it 5-1 early in the 3rd period. Franklin mounted a comeback that was too little too late as Eugene Mack scored a pair of goals in the second half of the third period to make the final 5-3 in favor of Latrobe.
Class AAA – Shaler 6 Mt Lebanon 1
Shaler (21-2-0) showed why it was the number one seed in the playoffs with a convincing 6-1 shredding of Mt Lebanon (12-8-5). Zac Lynch and Sean McCue scored in the opening period to give the Titans a 2-0 lead, but Brooks Behling scored on a long slapshot from just inside the blue line with 44 seconds to play. The turning point of the hockey game was when with 12:17 to go in the 2nd period, Billy Dobson intercepted a Travis Lisowski clearing attempt and had a gimme goal to make it 3-1 in favor of Shaler. Patrick Schaefer, Brian Stein and a 2nd goal by Zac Lynch sealed Shaler’s first ever trip to the Penguins Cup in 34 years with a 6-1 victory. Steven Weilersbacher was terrific in goal for the Titans stopping 24 of 25 shots as the Blue Devils outshot Shaler 25-22.
2009 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals
PITTSBURGH -
Class A – Mars 4 Quaker Valley 0
Mars (23-1-0) completely dominated this contest from start to finish defeating Quaker Valley (15-7-1) 4-0. Jake Robasch opened the scoring at 10:06 of the 2nd period following his own rebound off the post and beating Zach Taylor to give the Planets a 1-0 lead. Tyler Whiteford scored from in close on the power play with 5:02 remaining in the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Derek Sitterly and Steven Tracy added goals in the final period as Mars outshot the Quakers 40-7 as Tyler Stepke earned a shutout.
Class AA – Latrobe 5 Franklin Regional 3
Latrobe (23-0-0) was ripe for the taking in this contest as Franklin scored first on a Pete Ellis goal at 8:43 of the opening period to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Latrobe got a huge goal late in the period as Tyler Berger got a rebound on the backhand to knot the score at one apiece. Latrobe took advantage of sloppy FR play in the 2nd and mounted a big attack outshooting the Panthers 17-5 and scoring three goals to take a 3-1 lead. Cody Ray tapped in a Chris Karnes pass at 12:44 after a bad clearing attempt, Tyler Baloh tapped in a Cody Ray rebound after James Orr juggled the puck and the backbreaker was JeffJoe Regula’s terrific effort to find a loose puck amongst two Panthers and slam in home with just ten seconds remaining in the period. Matt Batis converted a Regula pass to make it 5-1 early in the 3rd period. Franklin mounted a comeback that was too little too late as Eugene Mack scored a pair of goals in the second half of the third period to make the final 5-3 in favor of Latrobe.
Class AAA – Shaler 6 Mt Lebanon 1
Shaler (21-2-0) showed why it was the number one seed in the playoffs with a convincing 6-1 shredding of Mt Lebanon (12-8-5). Zac Lynch and Sean McCue scored in the opening period to give the Titans a 2-0 lead, but Brooks Behling scored on a long slapshot from just inside the blue line with 44 seconds to play. The turning point of the hockey game was when with 12:17 to go in the 2nd period, Billy Dobson intercepted a Travis Lisowski clearing attempt and had a gimme goal to make it 3-1 in favor of Shaler. Patrick Schaefer, Brian Stein and a 2nd goal by Zac Lynch sealed Shaler’s first ever trip to the Penguins Cup in 34 years with a 6-1 victory. Steven Weilersbacher was terrific in goal for the Titans stopping 24 of 25 shots as the Blue Devils outshot Shaler 25-22.
