Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

CHICAGO - A special report for Pa Hockey The day after Team Pittsburgh shocked Team Minnesota in a game with many twists and turns lead the Western Pa contingent to the quarter-finals against Tri-State, who pummeled Team Connecticut 11-1 in the C Bracket finale. Pittsburgh found itself in an interesting position facing a team made up of high school players from Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, which is essentially the all-star team of the Iowa High School Hockey League, who entered the 1/4 finals with a 4-0-0 record with wins over Ohio, Florida, Northwest and the aformentioned Connecticut, which is hardly the road of Team Pittsburgh. Early in this contest the casual hockey fan could see that Team Pittsburgh gave Tri-State fits with a superior skill level and speed. With the early domination in territorial play Pittsburgh looked to take advantage, but a couple of ill-advised penalties put Tri State right in the hockey game even though being dominated on the shot total, the score remained scoreless through one period. Teamn Pittsburgh's bestr chance came as Shane Ferguson got behind the Tri-State defense with 1:37 remaining but Nick LeQuire was equal to the task. Pittsburgh took another penalty early in the second period and it cost them as Bryan Beaman redirected a Geoff Vicek shot from the right point past Bryan Ross high over the glove side to give Tri-State a 1-0 lead and a power play with 15:14 to play in the 2nd period. Tri State put Pittsburgh on the power play at 14:46 and Shane Ferguson tied the score at 1-1 backhanding a Matt Bartkowski rebound past LeQuire. Bryan Ross made a terrific stop from point blank range at 12:33 to keep the 1-1 score. At 9:56, Matt Bartkowski made a good play to settle the puck at the point and move it to Ferguson in the corner, who cycled the puck with Josh Fodor who found a streaking Josh Mandic who made no mistake depositing the puck into an empty net with 9:56 to play and give Pittsburgh its first lead 2-1. The goal was as pretty a passing play as you will see in any hockey game. Pittsburgh put Tri State back on the power play at 9:43 and on a 5 on 3 at 8:56 and gave Tri State a chance to ie the score again, which they did as Derek Kohles banged home a rebound to make it 2-2 with 8:27 to play. As mentioned last night, the line of Fodor, Ferguson and Mandic has been on fire in this tournament and Josh Fodor seized the moment to gain control of this hockey game as he took the puck end-to-end, walked to the middle of the ice and fire a wrist whot high over the glove side of LeQuire, who may have had trouble seeing the shot go in, but Pittsburgh regained the lead 3-2 with 5:20 remaining in the middle period. Pittsburgh went on the power play with 1:37 remaining in the period and Paul Dittrich hit the post with a blistering wrist shot low to the far post and Team Pittsburgh headed to the third period with a slim 3-2 advantage. Pittsburgh has dominated the third period on this tournament outscoring opponents 8-1 in three games and compiled a staggering shot totoal advantage in those periods. Josh Mandic just missed just thirty seconds in as the puck was just brushed wide by the Tri State goaltender. The play of this hockey game came with 13:38 to play in regulation as Josh Mandic picked the pocket of a Tri State forward in the neutral zone and sent Ferguson and Fodor in on a two on one, which Fodor used Fergy as a decoy and blistered a wrist shot up under the crossbar to give Pittsburgh a semmingly comfortable 4-2 lead. Team Pittsburgh effectively ran the lines and kept the pressure on Tri State, who seemed to struggle against the speed and tenacity of Pittsburgh. Bryan Ross made a real nice save from point blank range with 3:15 to play. Two goals are unsafe because one mistake can put a team right back in the hockey game and that's exactly what happened as after a bad clearing attempt Tri State scored on a rebound to cut the lead to 4-3 with 51 seconds to go. Pittsburgh would shut the door in the final minute as Tri State never got the puck out of their zone and Tean Pittsburgh won a little differently, not playing their best game, but good enough to move on to the semi-finals of the 2006 Chicago Showcase for the second straight year. Mt Lebanon's Matt Bartkowski was named the Most Valuable player of the 2006 Chicago Showcase, with solid play at both ends of the ice in the first four games.

CHICAGO - A special report from Pa Hockey So Team Pittsburgh defeated New York and California in the opening two games of the 2006 Chicago Showcase and with a 2-0 record to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Now the fun is to begin as they would have the honor of sharing the ice with Team Minnesota, the same team who has won the Chicago Showcase countless times over the years under the late great coach Ted Brill and more recently under Dave Hendrickson, who is a joy to talk to every time one comes to the rink and I have gotten to know over the past few years. Last year's schooling of Team Pittsburgh 7-1 in the semi-finals would be a reminder to the returning players of last years team of the significance of Minnesota High School Hockey to the rest of the United States as a leader of the sport and how programs should model and conduct themselves in this sport. As a casual fan its just a thrill to watch our boys from Western Pa match up against the 'Institution' of Interscholastic Sports in America. Former Team Pittsburgh players Ryan Vesely of Greensburg CC and Chris Perry of Hempfield were on hand with their Team Pittsburgh to cheer on the team, seven years removed from Team Pittsburgh's lone trip to the finals in 1999, a 6-2 setback to no other than Team Minnesota. The early part of this contest consisted of some penalty killing by Team Pittsburgh of the lethal Minnesota power play and some great goaltending by Thomas Jefferson's Cody Krynock, who is a great story because he didn't start tendinmg goal for the Jaguars until January after a stint on defense. Team Minnesota had a better of the chances and the shot advantage at 10-6 but the opening 17 minutes was a fast paced scoreless tie. The second period Team Pttsburgh would get a golden opportunity at 16:07 as Brock Heinauer kept the play alive in the Minnesota zone and Chris Urso found Timmy O'Brien on the back door who just missed and Urso banged home the rebound to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Minnesota kept plugging away at Pittsburgh and capitalized on a turnover as Brian McMillin fired a low slapshot past Cody Krynock at 11:57 to tie the game at one apiece. Pittsburgh failed to clear the zone again at 5:26 and McMillin was open again on the weak side beating Krynock on a slapper to give Minnsota a 2-1 lead. Pittsburgh did start to get more chances late in the period with a 12-11 shot advantage and almost ties it at the buzzer as Timmy O'Brien and Brock Heinauer both had great chances, but Minnesota goaltender Alex Petersen made a spectacular save throwing his body at the loose puck and keeping Minnesota in front 2-1 at the ice cut. So Pittsburgh had to be satisfied playing the Minnesota team to a one goal game and could have settled for the great effort guys speech, but this team would be tested even further when they put Minnesota on the power play at 15:17 and then yielded a PPG goal at 14:43 as Alex Braden redirected a pass past Krynock after some excellent puck movement to make it 3-1 in favor of Minnesota. Matt Bartkowski hit both posts on a slapshot at 13:30 and the deficit remained two. Moments later Pittsburgh dug another hole with a penalty at 13:02, but was able to kill it off and gain a little momentum. A power play came their way at 11:26 that turned into a 5 on 3 at 10:19 putting Pittsburgh in a nice position to get back in the game. Then Tean Pittsburgh seized the moment as they moved the puck quickley and Kevin Miller beat Petersen on a wrist shot low to the glove side to cut the lead to 3-2 with 9:05 remaining in a definite change of momentum. Pittsburgh turned up their game and applied the pressure to Minnesota with 6 1/2 left in regulation. Josh Fodor, who has been part of Team Pittsburgh's best forward lines with Ferguson and Mandic at both ends of the ice showed great patience and found a wide open Kevin Pawlos on the doorstep, who made no mistake and buried a wrist shot high up under the crossbar past Petersen with 4:56 to play to knot the score at 3-3 in a dramatic turnaround. With 3:32 remaining, Josh Mandic gathered the loose puck in the neutral zone and found two streaking linemates creating a 3 on 1 and as Josh Fodor drove the Minnesota defenseman to the net, Shane Ferguson served as the trailer and took a nice feed from Mandic and buried it low to the glove side erupting the Pittsburgh bench and the Team Pittsburgh faithful in attendance giving the a 4-3 lead. Team Pittsburgh played to win in the final minutes and penned up Minnesota in their zone with quick shifts and tenacious forechecking to seal a monumental victory for this team and a watershed win for Western Pennsylvania hockey, who is now on the map and this group can relish an accomplishment 22 years in the making. Coach Paul Taibi showed his class by presenting team manager Dev Klasnick with the game puck for his 22 years of service and class to Team Pittsburgh, who is now the # 1 seed heading to the quarter-finals of the 2006 Chicago Showcase. Sounds nice..............but it was a great thrill to watch and people from Western Pa should really be proud of this great moment !

CHICAGO - A special report from Pa Hockey So Team Pittsburgh defeated New York and California in the opening two games of the 2006 Chicago Showcase and with a 2-0 record to guarantee a spot in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Now the fun is to begin as they would have the honor of sharing the ice with Team Minnesota, the same team who has won the Chicago Showcase countless times over the years under the late great coach Ted Brill and more recently under Dave Hendrickson, who is a joy to talk to every time one comes to the rink and I have gotten to know over the past few years. Last year's schooling of Team Pittsburgh 7-1 in the semi-finals would be a reminder to the returning players of last years team of the significance of Minnesota High School Hockey to the rest of the United States as a leader of the sport and how programs should model and conduct themselves in this sport. As a casual fan its just a thrill to watch our boys from Western Pa match up against the 'Institution' of Interscholastic Sports in America. Former Team Pittsburgh players Ryan Vesely of Greensburg CC and Chris Perry of Hempfield were on hand with their Team Pittsburgh to cheer on the team, seven years removed from Team Pittsburgh's lone trip to the finals in 1999, a 6-2 setback to no other than Team Minnesota. The early part of this contest consisted of some penalty killing by Team Pittsburgh of the lethal Minnesota power play and some great goaltending by Thomas Jefferson's Cody Krynock, who is a great story because he didn't start tendinmg goal for the Jaguars until January after a stint on defense. Team Minnesota had a better of the chances and the shot advantage at 10-6 but the opening 17 minutes was a fast paced scoreless tie. The second period Team Pttsburgh would get a golden opportunity at 16:07 as Brock Heinauer kept the play alive in the Minnesota zone and Chris Urso found Timmy O'Brien on the back door who just missed and Urso banged home the rebound to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Minnesota kept plugging away at Pittsburgh and capitalized on a turnover as Brian McMillin fired a low slapshot past Cody Krynock at 11:57 to tie the game at one apiece. Pittsburgh failed to clear the zone again at 5:26 and McMillin was open again on the weak side beating Krynock on a slapper to give Minnsota a 2-1 lead. Pittsburgh did start to get more chances late in the period with a 12-11 shot advantage and almost ties it at the buzzer as Timmy O'Brien and Brock Heinauer both had great chances, but Minnesota goaltender Alex Petersen made a spectacular save throwing his body at the loose puck and keeping Minnesota in front 2-1 at the ice cut. So Pittsburgh had to be satisfied playing the Minnesota team to a one goal game and could have settled for the great effort guys speech, but this team would be tested even further when they put Minnesota on the power play at 15:17 and then yielded a PPG goal at 14:43 as Alex Braden redirected a pass past Krynock after some excellent puck movement to make it 3-1 in favor of Minnesota. Matt Bartkowski hit both posts on a slapshot at 13:30 and the deficit remained two. Moments later Pittsburgh dug another hole with a penalty at 13:02, but was able to kill it off and gain a little momentum. A power play came their way at 11:26 that turned into a 5 on 3 at 10:19 putting Pittsburgh in a nice position to get back in the game. Then Tean Pittsburgh seized the moment as they moved the puck quickley and Kevin Miller beat Petersen on a wrist shot low to the glove side to cut the lead to 3-2 with 9:05 remaining in a definite change of momentum. Pittsburgh turned up their game and applied the pressure to Minnesota with 6 1/2 left in regulation. Josh Fodor, who has been part of Team Pittsburgh's best forward lines with Ferguson and Mandic at both ends of the ice showed great patience and found a wide open Kevin Pawlos on the doorstep, who made no mistake and buried a wrist shot high up under the crossbar past Petersen with 4:56 to play to knot the score at 3-3 in a dramatic turnaround. With 3:32 remaining, Josh Mandic gathered the loose puck in the neutral zone and found two streaking linemates creating a 3 on 1 and as Josh Fodor drove the Minnesota defenseman to the net, Shane Ferguson served as the trailer and took a nice feed from Mandic and buried it low to the glove side erupting the Pittsburgh bench and the Team Pittsburgh faithful in attendance giving the a 4-3 lead. Team Pittsburgh played to win in the final minutes and penned up Minnesota in their zone with quick shifts and tenacious forechecking to seal a monumental victory for this team and a watershed win for Western Pennsylvania hockey, who is now on the map and this group can relish an accomplishment 22 years in the making. Coach Paul Taibi showed his class by presenting team manager Dev Klasnick with the game puck for his 22 years of service and class to Team Pittsburgh, who is now the # 1 seed heading to the quarter-finals of the 2006 Chicago Showcase. Sounds nice..............but it was a great thrill to watch and people from Western Pa should really be proud of this great moment !

CHICAGO - A special report for the 2006 Chicago Showcase Many people who attended the 2005 Chicago Showcase walked away amazed after Team Pittsburgh's stunning four goal rally late in the 3rd period to defeat defending champions of the Chicago Showcase California 5-4. This game would serve as a rematch of sorts as California would have a chance at redemption from a year ago. Should Team Pittsburgh be able to defeat California again, they wuld clinch a spot in Saturday's Quarter-Finals and face Minnesota, who soundly defeated Pittsburgh a year ago in the Semi-Finals, for the top spot in the A bracket. California took advantage of an early power play at 11:22 of the opening period scoring on a wrist shot from the center point, which eluded Bryan Ross for a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh would answer as Phil Trombetta would bang home a Matt Bartkowski rebound to knot the score at one apiece. Pittsburgh held a 12-7 shot advantage in the opening period. On to the second period and Pittsburgh would play opportunist shorthanded as Josh Fodor buried a snapshot high over the glove side of Adam Krauss at 16:22 after a terrific steal and feed by Shane Ferguson to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Kruase robbed Brendan Conlon with a sliding save with 9:18 remaining to keep it a one goal game as Pittsburgh increased the territorial advantage at 7-4 for the second period. Pittsburgh would start the third period with a fibe minute power play which was partially killed off by some aqgressive penalty killing by Team California. Pittsburgh continue to dominate play in the third period and capitalized on their next man advantage as Matt Bartkowski scored on a big slapshot after a perfect feed from Phil Trombetta at 11:51 to make it 3-1 and again at 10:23 as Josh Mandic coverted a cross ice feed from Kevin Miller to increase the lead to 4-1. Team Pittsburgh outshot California 11-3 in the final period and continued to pressure them in mistakes. Timmy O'Brien hit the post on a nice setup by Chris Urso at 7:09, but Alan Halipin would put an exclamation point on a 5-1 victory for Team Pittsburgh just moments later as he intercepted an errant clearing pass and beat Krause to the glove side. The win sets up a battle for the top spot in the A bracket against Minnesota tomorrow evening at the Edge in Bensenville.

CHICAGO - A special report for the 2006 Chicago Showcase Many people who attended the 2005 Chicago Showcase walked away amazed after Team Pittsburgh's stunning four goal rally late in the 3rd period to defeat defending champions of the Chicago Showcase California 5-4. This game would serve as a rematch of sorts as California would have a chance at redemption from a year ago. Should Team Pittsburgh be able to defeat California again, they wuld clinch a spot in Saturday's Quarter-Finals and face Minnesota, who soundly defeated Pittsburgh a year ago in the Semi-Finals, for the top spot in the A bracket. California took advantage of an early power play at 11:22 of the opening period scoring on a wrist shot from the center point, which eluded Bryan Ross for a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh would answer as Phil Trombetta would bang home a Matt Bartkowski rebound to knot the score at one apiece. Pittsburgh held a 12-7 shot advantage in the opening period. On to the second period and Pittsburgh would play opportunist shorthanded as Josh Fodor buried a snapshot high over the glove side of Adam Krauss at 16:22 after a terrific steal and feed by Shane Ferguson to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. Kruase robbed Brendan Conlon with a sliding save with 9:18 remaining to keep it a one goal game as Pittsburgh increased the territorial advantage at 7-4 for the second period. Pittsburgh would start the third period with a fibe minute power play which was partially killed off by some aqgressive penalty killing by Team California. Pittsburgh continue to dominate play in the third period and capitalized on their next man advantage as Matt Bartkowski scored on a big slapshot after a perfect feed from Phil Trombetta at 11:51 to make it 3-1 and again at 10:23 as Josh Mandic coverted a cross ice feed from Kevin Miller to increase the lead to 4-1. Team Pittsburgh outshot California 11-3 in the final period and continued to pressure them in mistakes. Timmy O'Brien hit the post on a nice setup by Chris Urso at 7:09, but Alan Halipin would put an exclamation point on a 5-1 victory for Team Pittsburgh just moments later as he intercepted an errant clearing pass and beat Krause to the glove side. The win sets up a battle for the top spot in the A bracket against Minnesota tomorrow evening at the Edge in Bensenville.