Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Central Catholic 7 North Hills 4

NEVILLE ISLAND –

           North Hills hockey club started in 1972-73 and has had a less than stellar history over it’s 35 years and 2007 – 2008 has been another year of promise gone bad for the program. The Indians started off the pre-season knocking off defending State Class AAA champions North Allegheny in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off in their very first game and has petered to a 2-12-2 record during the regular season and may make the Penguins Cup playoffs in a battle with bottom feeders Baldwin and Hempfield, but really it will just be another playoff bill no one wants to pay. What it equates to is a first round matchup with undefeated Pine Richland, which is like being fed to the lions in the 14^th century roman empire and expecting to survive. 

           Central Catholic (12-3-1) is back to respectability in Class AAA and has ramped it’s seeding prowess up a few notches with a very good late first half and excellent 2^nd half of the season at the expense of some really mediocre competition of sub .500 teams. Head Coach Tom Pandolfo will tell you that his team’s true valor will be tested in the form of Bethel Park, Pine Richland and a very solid State College team, who lie ahead for the Vikings in their remaining games prior to the Penguins Cup playoffs. A couple of wins would put CC in a 4^th or 5^th seed and a couple of losses would mean a 6^th or 7^th seed, which is not how this team would like to end the regular season.

           Central Catholic’s program, which also began in 1972-73 has a pretty nice tradition of winning seasons with 27 out of 34 years and a who’s who list of coaching in Western Pennsylvania including Tom Zunic, Lenny Semplice, Pat McQuillan, Joe Gaul, Kevin Zielmanski and now Tom Pandolfo among a couple of others not on the top of my head, who have over the years instilled pride and tradition with Viking Hockey and led to this date a 499-282-51 record, which is way above average and with a couple of Penguins Cup in 1982 [Class AA] and another in 1998 along with a couple of Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Championships in 1982 [AA], 1987 and 1997. Add along with that a number of division titles, it is not a bad history by any means, but the void of expectations of this hockey program yearns for a Class AAA Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship, which has eluded the program for 35 years.

          On this night, an opportunity for the Central Catholic Hockey program to join an elite group of schools who have earned 500 wins becoming the 5^th program in Western Pennsylvania [including League Record, League Playoff and State Playoff Records] to accomplish this magical number. Upper St Clair was the first and Kittanning/Armstrong was the second and pending some records finalization [missing records for both clubs], both Mt Lebanon and Bethel Park accomplished this feat earlier this season, Central Catholic will join some pretty good company as members of the 500 win club. Ironically, the setting of this accomplishment lead me to one of the original members of the Vikings 1972-73 squad Bobby Arturo, who now managers the RMU Neville Island Sports Center as he was naming members of the inaugural Vikings and referring me to the picture in his office of that team he played on 35 years ago that started the process and tradition of Central Catholic Viking Hockey.   

              Central Catholic started this game off with a vengence as C.J. Burke swooped in and beat North Hills keeper Zaid Alzaid at 14:14 to give CC a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, John Wroblewski scored with some help from Jon Coulter to make it 2-0 and then with :55 remaining in the opening period, Alex Galbraith fired home a rebound of Renars Rukmanis and Central Catholic was well on its way to # 500 with a three nill lead after one period.

              North Hills played pretty disinterested hockey in the opening period, but got interested when Dan Stein buried a wrist shot low to the stick side on the ice past John Scalo to make it 3-1 at 11:29. Just 37 seconds later, Chris Karas scored on a rebound through the 5-hole past Scalo and all the sudden it was only 3-2 Central. A series of power plays chances almost went array for North Hills to tie the game as C.J. Burke’s   shorthanded breakaway attempt was saved by Alzaid. With 1:01 remaining in the period on a 4 on 4, Alex Galbraith buried the next chance on a terrific forehand move and the Vikings now had a 4-2 cushion. 

Central Catholic 7 North Hills 4

NEVILLE ISLAND –

           North Hills hockey club started in 1972-73 and has had a less than stellar history over it’s 35 years and 2007 – 2008 has been another year of promise gone bad for the program. The Indians started off the pre-season knocking off defending State Class AAA champions North Allegheny in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off in their very first game and has petered to a 2-12-2 record during the regular season and may make the Penguins Cup playoffs in a battle with bottom feeders Baldwin and Hempfield, but really it will just be another playoff bill no one wants to pay. What it equates to is a first round matchup with undefeated Pine Richland, which is like being fed to the lions in the 14^th century roman empire and expecting to survive. 

           Central Catholic (12-3-1) is back to respectability in Class AAA and has ramped it’s seeding prowess up a few notches with a very good late first half and excellent 2^nd half of the season at the expense of some really mediocre competition of sub .500 teams. Head Coach Tom Pandolfo will tell you that his team’s true valor will be tested in the form of Bethel Park, Pine Richland and a very solid State College team, who lie ahead for the Vikings in their remaining games prior to the Penguins Cup playoffs. A couple of wins would put CC in a 4^th or 5^th seed and a couple of losses would mean a 6^th or 7^th seed, which is not how this team would like to end the regular season.

           Central Catholic’s program, which also began in 1972-73 has a pretty nice tradition of winning seasons with 27 out of 34 years and a who’s who list of coaching in Western Pennsylvania including Tom Zunic, Lenny Semplice, Pat McQuillan, Joe Gaul, Kevin Zielmanski and now Tom Pandolfo among a couple of others not on the top of my head, who have over the years instilled pride and tradition with Viking Hockey and led to this date a 499-282-51 record, which is way above average and with a couple of Penguins Cup in 1982 [Class AA] and another in 1998 along with a couple of Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Championships in 1982 [AA], 1987 and 1997. Add along with that a number of division titles, it is not a bad history by any means, but the void of expectations of this hockey program yearns for a Class AAA Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship, which has eluded the program for 35 years.

          On this night, an opportunity for the Central Catholic Hockey program to join an elite group of schools who have earned 500 wins becoming the 5^th program in Western Pennsylvania [including League Record, League Playoff and State Playoff Records] to accomplish this magical number. Upper St Clair was the first and Kittanning/Armstrong was the second and pending some records finalization [missing records for both clubs], both Mt Lebanon and Bethel Park accomplished this feat earlier this season, Central Catholic will join some pretty good company as members of the 500 win club. Ironically, the setting of this accomplishment lead me to one of the original members of the Vikings 1972-73 squad Bobby Arturo, who now managers the RMU Neville Island Sports Center as he was naming members of the inaugural Vikings and referring me to the picture in his office of that team he played on 35 years ago that started the process and tradition of Central Catholic Viking Hockey.   

              Central Catholic started this game off with a vengence as C.J. Burke swooped in and beat North Hills keeper Zaid Alzaid at 14:14 to give CC a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later, John Wroblewski scored with some help from Jon Coulter to make it 2-0 and then with :55 remaining in the opening period, Alex Galbraith fired home a rebound of Renars Rukmanis and Central Catholic was well on its way to # 500 with a three nill lead after one period.

              North Hills played pretty disinterested hockey in the opening period, but got interested when Dan Stein buried a wrist shot low to the stick side on the ice past John Scalo to make it 3-1 at 11:29. Just 37 seconds later, Chris Karas scored on a rebound through the 5-hole past Scalo and all the sudden it was only 3-2 Central. A series of power plays chances almost went array for North Hills to tie the game as C.J. Burke’s   shorthanded breakaway attempt was saved by Alzaid. With 1:01 remaining in the period on a 4 on 4, Alex Galbraith buried the next chance on a terrific forehand move and the Vikings now had a 4-2 cushion. 

    The 2008 Keystone State Games are July 25-27 to be played at the York City Ice Center in York, Pa. All Regions will have teams at the Junior Level, Junior Female level, Midget Level and Bantam level. The Keystone Games are a great competition during the Summer to compete for a Gold Medal between the Central Region [Erie/Johnstown/Butler/Indiana/Armstrong/Altoona/Beaver/Somerset/State College]  West [Pittsburgh Area], South [Philadelphia Area] and East [Hershey/Harrisburg/Poconos Area].

2008 Tournament Results

Junior Male  

East 5 Central 0

West 11 South 0

South 2 Central 0

East 7 West 4

East 8 South 1

West 9 Central 3

GOLD - East

SILVER - West

BROZE - South  

Midget

West 3 South 1

South 3 Central 2

South 5 Central 1

East 5 West 1  

West 5 Central 2

South 5 East 1

GOLD - South

SILVER - West

BRONZE - East 

Bantam

Central 7 East 2

West 5 South 3

Central 5 South 4

East 5 West 1 

Central 4 West 2

East 2 South 0

GOLD - Central

SILVER - West

BRONZE - East

Junior Female

East 9 Central 1

South 4 West 2

East 6 West 2

South 4 Central 3 [3 OT]

   Highlights: Somerset's Caroline Barth stops 84 of 88 shots in a marathon game. 

West 3 Central 2

East 5 South 1

GOLD - East

SILVER - South

BRONZE - West

    The 2008 Keystone State Games are July 25-27 to be played at the York City Ice Center in York, Pa. All Regions will have teams at the Junior Level, Junior Female level, Midget Level and Bantam level. The Keystone Games are a great competition during the Summer to compete for a Gold Medal between the Central Region [Erie/Johnstown/Butler/Indiana/Armstrong/Altoona/Beaver/Somerset/State College]  West [Pittsburgh Area], South [Philadelphia Area] and East [Hershey/Harrisburg/Poconos Area].

2008 Tournament Results

Junior Male  

East 5 Central 0

West 11 South 0

South 2 Central 0

East 7 West 4

East 8 South 1

West 9 Central 3

GOLD - East

SILVER - West

BROZE - South  

Midget

West 3 South 1

South 3 Central 2

South 5 Central 1

East 5 West 1  

West 5 Central 2

South 5 East 1

GOLD - South

SILVER - West

BRONZE - East 

Bantam

Central 7 East 2

West 5 South 3

Central 5 South 4

East 5 West 1 

Central 4 West 2

East 2 South 0

GOLD - Central

SILVER - West

BRONZE - East

Junior Female

East 9 Central 1

South 4 West 2

East 6 West 2

South 4 Central 3 [3 OT]

   Highlights: Somerset's Caroline Barth stops 84 of 88 shots in a marathon game. 

West 3 Central 2

East 5 South 1

GOLD - East

SILVER - South

BRONZE - West

Canevin 2 Montour 1 (OT) 

NEVILLE ISLAND –

            Canevin (13-2-1) has had a terrific season under Kevin Zielmanski in his first year with the Crusaders. With wins over West Allegheny twice, the Crusaders appear ready to challenge for the Penguins Cup in 2008. A pretty young team with some crafty veterans and adequate goaltending is a good reason why the Crusaders are a close # 2 ranking behind Latrobe. Canevin is looking to finish strong in the regular season and wrap up a top 4 seed for the playoffs and could nail down a 2^nd seed with a win over Franklin Regional, should the Crusaders run the table.

           Montour (8-6-1) is part of the pack of teams that fall behind West A, Latrobe, Franklin and tonight’s opponent Canevin. The Spartans are working toward a possible # 5 or # 6 seed in the Penguins Cup playoffs, which could land them in a second round playoff game against one of the top 4. Montour has rebounded from a disinterested first half of the season with big wins over Canevin, Kittanning and Peter Twp in a modest streak for Head Coach Dan Siegel. The Spartans would love to put another notch on their belt by defeating the Crusaders for a 2^nd time this season.

    So before and intimate gathering of the ‘Concerned Citizens of Montour’ and always ‘Concerned Citizens of Canevin’ the two rivals squared off. At 12:42 of the 1^st period Montour went on the Power play that was killed by the Crusaders. Montour earned a a 1-0 lead at 3:19 of the opening period as Steve Schott took a pass from behind net from Michael Harrington and buried it past Zack Bogden. A Canevin Power play at 2:31 was killed by Montour.

     In the 2^nd period Canevin went on the ccipower play at 7:05 and again at 5:06 but could not score. At 3:32 of the 2^nd a Montour Power play and the game remained 1-0. At 1:38 Vince Nicolella just missed after set up by Cam Zappi and Canevin went back on the power play to no avail, but Canevin had significant pressure in the closing seconds but was unable to score.  

      Early in the Third Period at 13:16 to go Canevin Power play and this time at 11:30 of the period Vince Nicolella scored on a 2^nd rebound burying a shot low to the glove side of Scott Tapler to tie the score at 1-1. At 9:41 of the period, Canevin had another power play, but could not capitalize. Another man advantage at 7:21 for Canevin and Montour was able to kill it off and the score remained 1-1. With 4:51 to go, Canevin got a little over zealous clearing the front of the net and put the Spartans on the power play, but they couldn’t score. With 3:12 to go and a delayed penalty, Vince Nicolella had a wide open net and missed a great chance to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead. Josh Daley hit the post at 1:51 after a rebound. Bogden made a real nice glove save n Michael Harrington with 35 seconds to go in regulation.