Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Pine Richland 7 Latrobe 3 VALENCIA – Pine Richland is off to a pretty strong start at 6-0 and ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 statewide poll. Head coach Bob Kennedy’s club has been virtually unchallenged through the early part of the season with the veteran leadership of top line Senior Phil Trombetta and sophomores George Saad and Dylan Trombetta, who have combined with a nucleus of up and coming younger players to lead the Rams to a perfect start. The question is when talking Class AA hockey, who will challenge Pine Richland and furthermore is there anyone who can knock them off. A decent victims list of perennial AA powers Peters Twp, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny and Canevin have been the whipping boys for the Rams as no one has come within three goals of them during the regular season. The rebirth of Latrobe hockey is still a work in progress under Ron Makoski as this team has started off 7-1 with strong performances over West Allegheny, Greensburg Salem, two narrow wins over Franklin Regional and a road victory at the Belmont over Kittanning, with the only blemish coming in a rematch with Salem. The Wildcats have speed, discipline and goaltending, which is a pre-requisite of competing with the Rams that would be put to the test as the current # 2 team in Class AA traveled to the Infection Ice Connection. The key to Wildcat success would be their ability to expose the Ram defense and goaltending, which is easier said than done and contain Saad, Trombetta and Trombetta, which has not been done by anyone. The Rams dominated the territorial play in the early going as the top line of Phil and Dylan Trombetta and George Saad led the assault. PR opened the scoring with 8:00 left in the opening period. Latrobe came on in the middle of the period but was forced to kill off a penalty and capitalized as Isaac Pritchard got behind the Ram defense and beat Stoney Hildreth low to the glove side to tie the score at one apiece with 5:01 remaining. The Wildcats seized the lead in the hockey game as Ryan LaDuke found Michael McCrady on a cross ice pass, who beat Hildreth cleanly on the ice to give Latrobe a 2-1 lead with 2:20 left. On to the second, which has been Richland’s best period all season and this game would be no different as Phil Trombetta got things started just 30 seconds in beating Nick Loyacona with a wicked snapshot high under the crossbar to tie the score at two apiece. The game went back and forth with both teams skating hard and having chances at both ends, but Pine Richland show their lethal hand in the middle period in the final three minutes as Phil Trombetta found George Saad on a noe-timer with 3:01 to go to give the Rams the lead 3-2. The real backbreaker came with just :13 left as Dylan Trombetta skated over the blue line and used the defenseman as a screen and buried a wrist whot over the glove hand of Loyacona to give PR a 4-2 lead. Shots were 26 – 15 thru two periods in favor of Richland. The Wildcats started the third with the power play and then had a 5 on 3 just ten seconds into the period and Latrobe failed to mount an attack not to mention a quality scoring chance and the Rams killed it. Juat as the penalties ended the Wildcats had a costly turnover as freshman Brian Watt raced 120 feet and beat Loyacona on a nice move to extend the Pine Richland lead to 5-2. Just 41 seconds later the freshman Brian Watt scored at 12:01 on another breakaway as Latrobe fell apart and the Rams seized a 6-2 lead. A little over a minute later, Phil Trombetta turned this one in to a rout at 10:49 7-2. Latrobe scored at 8:49 as JeffJoe Regula made it a 7-3 count. Pine Richland cemented their claim to the number one spot in Class AA and is looking for that next challenger to see if anyone will challenge them come March.

Franklin Regional 7 Elizabeth Forward 1 DELMONT – Franklin Regional hockey is a program that has struggled in recent years to keep the numbers that flourished in the program from the early 90’s up through the present. What boggles the mind for many is that Center Ice Arena sits in the back yard of the school district that can be called affluent with the move east by many people who have migrated from other east suburb districts. Head Coach Jim Daugherty, who entered the program during the mid 90’s has seen the program go from 4 teams including two freshman teams to the state it is now with barely enough players to field two teams at Junior Varsity and Varsity. The fact is the cost structure of the PIHL is so out of line that many people have moved away from High School Hockey to play just amateur or just high school, which has left the Panthers in a dilemma. In fact, it is over $ 1000.00 to play a Varsity game at the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center, which is unreal. This season the Panthers started off 1-4 with losses to Latrobe twice, Greensburg Salem and Thomas Jefferson, but have rebound to win two and have an opportunity to get the bus moving in the opposite direction and into the thick of the Class AA seeding frenzy, which is sure to be very interesting come February. Elizabeth Forward, their opponent for this evenings tilt came into existence in 1988 and had a string of losing seasons its first six seasons, then took a hiatus for a year and then had two more losing campaigns in 1997 and 1998 before disappearing into the developmental Junior Varsity and Freshman teams for three years until 2002 when the Warriors made in all the way to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals before losing to Bishop McCort. The Warriors had two more winning seasons in 03 and 04 and then have been heading in the other direction again the past two seasons. The challenge for the coaching tandum of Larry ‘Briggs and Stratton’ Briggs and Tom Mooney [who lead Serra Catholic to their last Penguins Cups] is to keep enough healthy bodies to compete in a very rigorous Class AA schedule and a 1-4-1 start. According to club officials, the Warriors will lose 7 seniors that will be replaced by eight 8th graders currently playing on the EF Freshman team. Elizabeth Forward and Franklin Regional are two programs that appear to have similar qualities and both will need to attract players through development over the next three to five years to avoid the ‘Teams that aren’t here any more’ portion of the Pa Hockey Website. The Panthers looked to take advantage of their momentum from their modest two game winning streak and the very noticeable short bench of the Warriors. EF goaltender Michael Cole made several nice saves in the opening minutes to keep FR off the board and the game scoreless. FR opened the scoring when Ryan Kramer buried a snapshot past Cole after a pretty passing play and setup with Carl Richter and Eugene Mack with 5:44 to go in the opening period. Elizabeth Forward tied it on the power play less than a minute later as Cruise Lizik’s wrist shot from the right point glanced off something and bounded past James ‘Bobby’ Orr at 4:45. The Panthers scored a huge momentum goal late in the first as Jared Yesko pounced on a loose puck on the doorstep of a John Cecere rebound to give FR a 2-1 advantage. The Panthers held a 15-6 shot advantage after one. On to the second period and the Panthers seized control of this hockey game as Stephen Shirk found the 5-hole through Cole after a nice cross ice pass from Eugene Mack to make it 3-1 with 11:18 to go in the 2nd. The Panthers kept bringing the offensive pressure as Ryan Kramer picked up his second goal at 9:26 on the power play. FR took a 5-1 lead with 1:37 as Jared Yesko scored his second goal of the game. The Panthers iced the game in the third period as Stephen Shirk scored his 2nd goal on a shorthanded breakaway and Brian Buckley closed out the scoring converting a Shane Crossey feed with 1:31 to go to give Franklin a convincing 7-1 victory, outshooting the Warriors 43-18 on the night

By MIKE MASTOVICH The Tribune-Democrat Bishop McCort’s hockey team gradually has reached full strength, and it shows. The Crimson Crushers beat Sewickley Academy 7-1 on Friday night at Cambria County War Memorial Arena for McCort’s third straight win. Coach John Bradley’s team is 3-3-1 after opening without a victory in the first four games. The Crushers began the season minus soccer players Zac Seidel and Justin Delic, football players Matt McIntyre, Dane Domonkos and Anthony Pioli, and the injured Chad James. Members of that group accounted for four goals and eight points on Friday. “Early on we had an opportunity to get some guys in the lineup and we were in all the games,” said Bradley, who had only nine players on his roster for one outing. “We lost a game in OT. They were all one-goal games. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of skill and a lot of guys that have the desire to play. “I don’t say it too often, but these guys – when they’re on, they’re going to be tough to beat. We’re letting some teams know we were down early because we didn’t have everybody. Some of the guys stepped up then and played well.” Six Crushers scored goals on Friday. Seidel had two goals and three points. Shawn James, Chad James, Todd Thomas, Jordan Jaco and Delic each hit the net as McCort outshot winless Sewickley Academy 31-10. “Now that we’ve got all of our players back we can set our lines up,” Seidel said. “It showed tonight that it helps having all of our guys back. We came in here thinking we just have to keep winning, keep our play up. We’re real excited and we’re going to keep building as we go on.” McCort posted a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal in the first period and had a 16-5 edge in the middle period. “We still try to take care of our zone,” Bradley said. McCort goalie Danny Mock stopped nine of 10 shots. Sewickley’s Steve Tehovnik was outstanding despite allowing seven goals. He turned aside a Jaco breakaway and a tight one-on-one challenge from Domonkos in the first period, and made a sweeping glove save on a Thomas shot from the slot in the second. “We easily could have had a lot more than seven goals,” Bradley said. “Their goalie played a great game and made six or seven sensational saves. Some guys had opportunities to put the puck in the net, but the kid made real nice point-blank saves on us.”

Franklin Regional 7 Elizabeth Forward 1 DELMONT – Franklin Regional hockey is a program that has struggled in recent years to keep the numbers that flourished in the program from the early 90’s up through the present. What boggles the mind for many is that Center Ice Arena sits in the back yard of the school district that can be called affluent with the move east by many people who have migrated from other east suburb districts. Head Coach Jim Daugherty, who entered the program during the mid 90’s has seen the program go from 4 teams including two freshman teams to the state it is now with barely enough players to field two teams at Junior Varsity and Varsity. The fact is the cost structure of the PIHL is so out of line that many people have moved away from High School Hockey to play just amateur or just high school, which has left the Panthers in a dilemma. In fact, it is over $ 1000.00 to play a Varsity game at the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center, which is unreal. This season the Panthers started off 1-4 with losses to Latrobe twice, Greensburg Salem and Thomas Jefferson, but have rebound to win two and have an opportunity to get the bus moving in the opposite direction and into the thick of the Class AA seeding frenzy, which is sure to be very interesting come February. Elizabeth Forward, their opponent for this evenings tilt came into existence in 1988 and had a string of losing seasons its first six seasons, then took a hiatus for a year and then had two more losing campaigns in 1997 and 1998 before disappearing into the developmental Junior Varsity and Freshman teams for three years until 2002 when the Warriors made in all the way to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals before losing to Bishop McCort. The Warriors had two more winning seasons in 03 and 04 and then have been heading in the other direction again the past two seasons. The challenge for the coaching tandum of Larry ‘Briggs and Stratton’ Briggs and Tom Mooney [who lead Serra Catholic to their last Penguins Cups] is to keep enough healthy bodies to compete in a very rigorous Class AA schedule and a 1-4-1 start. According to club officials, the Warriors will lose 7 seniors that will be replaced by eight 8th graders currently playing on the EF Freshman team. Elizabeth Forward and Franklin Regional are two programs that appear to have similar qualities and both will need to attract players through development over the next three to five years to avoid the ‘Teams that aren’t here any more’ portion of the Pa Hockey Website. The Panthers looked to take advantage of their momentum from their modest two game winning streak and the very noticeable short bench of the Warriors. EF goaltender Michael Cole made several nice saves in the opening minutes to keep FR off the board and the game scoreless. FR opened the scoring when Ryan Kramer buried a snapshot past Cole after a pretty passing play and setup with Carl Richter and Eugene Mack with 5:44 to go in the opening period. Elizabeth Forward tied it on the power play less than a minute later as Cruise Lizik’s wrist shot from the right point glanced off something and bounded past James ‘Bobby’ Orr at 4:45. The Panthers scored a huge momentum goal late in the first as Jared Yesko pounced on a loose puck on the doorstep of a John Cecere rebound to give FR a 2-1 advantage. The Panthers held a 15-6 shot advantage after one. On to the second period and the Panthers seized control of this hockey game as Stephen Shirk found the 5-hole through Cole after a nice cross ice pass from Eugene Mack to make it 3-1 with 11:18 to go in the 2nd. The Panthers kept bringing the offensive pressure as Ryan Kramer picked up his second goal at 9:26 on the power play. FR took a 5-1 lead with 1:37 as Jared Yesko scored his second goal of the game. The Panthers iced the game in the third period as Stephen Shirk scored his 2nd goal on a shorthanded breakaway and Brian Buckley closed out the scoring converting a Shane Crossey feed with 1:31 to go to give Franklin a convincing 7-1 victory, outshooting the Warriors 43-18 on the night

By MIKE MASTOVICH The Tribune-Democrat Bishop McCort’s hockey team gradually has reached full strength, and it shows. The Crimson Crushers beat Sewickley Academy 7-1 on Friday night at Cambria County War Memorial Arena for McCort’s third straight win. Coach John Bradley’s team is 3-3-1 after opening without a victory in the first four games. The Crushers began the season minus soccer players Zac Seidel and Justin Delic, football players Matt McIntyre, Dane Domonkos and Anthony Pioli, and the injured Chad James. Members of that group accounted for four goals and eight points on Friday. “Early on we had an opportunity to get some guys in the lineup and we were in all the games,” said Bradley, who had only nine players on his roster for one outing. “We lost a game in OT. They were all one-goal games. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of skill and a lot of guys that have the desire to play. “I don’t say it too often, but these guys – when they’re on, they’re going to be tough to beat. We’re letting some teams know we were down early because we didn’t have everybody. Some of the guys stepped up then and played well.” Six Crushers scored goals on Friday. Seidel had two goals and three points. Shawn James, Chad James, Todd Thomas, Jordan Jaco and Delic each hit the net as McCort outshot winless Sewickley Academy 31-10. “Now that we’ve got all of our players back we can set our lines up,” Seidel said. “It showed tonight that it helps having all of our guys back. We came in here thinking we just have to keep winning, keep our play up. We’re real excited and we’re going to keep building as we go on.” McCort posted a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal in the first period and had a 16-5 edge in the middle period. “We still try to take care of our zone,” Bradley said. McCort goalie Danny Mock stopped nine of 10 shots. Sewickley’s Steve Tehovnik was outstanding despite allowing seven goals. He turned aside a Jaco breakaway and a tight one-on-one challenge from Domonkos in the first period, and made a sweeping glove save on a Thomas shot from the slot in the second. “We easily could have had a lot more than seven goals,” Bradley said. “Their goalie played a great game and made six or seven sensational saves. Some guys had opportunities to put the puck in the net, but the kid made real nice point-blank saves on us.”