Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Canevin 4 Canon McMillan 3 MT LEBANON – Canevin (15-4-2) and Canon McMillan (12-6-3) meet in this evening’s match-up with a little more at stake than the December 1st meeting here at the Mt Lebanon Rec Center that ended in a 6-6 tie in a game in which Canevin scored twice in the final minute to tie the game. Both teams have had great seasons as the Big Macs won their 2nd consecutive division title and advanced through the opening round of the playoffs defeating Latrobe convincingly 6-2 for the right to meet Canevin. Coach Dave Fryer’s Big Macs are looking to return to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals, where a year ago they were ousted by Peters Twp in a game that CM held a 4-1 advantage and succumbed to a furious rally that propelled the Indians to their 4th consecutive Penguins Cup and the State Championship win over Haverford 4-0. If you are a ‘Concerned Citizen of Canevin’, you are a lot less concerned this season than last and for Crusader’s coach Brian Henderson this has to be quite a switch from the past few years when Canevin has been off the playoff radar. The Crusaders won several key games down the stretch to capture the # 3 seed, a bye and one step away from a place their program has not been in over five years, which is the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals. Anyone who doesn’t believe that either of these teams can’t upset the applecart and go on a run to RMU Island Sports Center has not been following the momentum built by both of these teams in the second half of the season. In a quick moving opening period, both teams worked at both ends of the ice to created chances and limit scoring opportunities against one another before a festive packed house at the Rec. The Big Macs had the first opportunity on the power play at 10:18, which was unsuccessful, but Justin Cormack found a streaking Jesse Patnesky down the slot and Joey Ziemanski made the games first big save at 7:02. Canevin had a great opportunity as # 10 was in alone on a breakaway at 4:27, but Mike O’Neill came up big. The Crusaders outshot CM 9-6 in the opening 15 minutes. On to the second period and the Big Macs struck as Nick Cusilito found a loose puck on the doorstep and fired a bullet which snuck past Joey Ziemanski to give the Big Macs a 1-0 lead at 14:31. CM applied the pressure and Ziemanski kept the deficit at 1-0 stopping Justin Cormack. The Crusaders went on the power play at 11:07 and tied the game as Kevin Pawlos slapshot from the right point was tipped by Josh Daley and trickled past Mike O’Neill to knot the game at 1-1 with 9:47 to play in the 2nd. O’Neill had to be sharp as Josh Daley took a drop pass from Zach Haluzchak and fired a wrist shot low to the stick side at 4:27. Ziemanski made a very good series of save on Jesse Patnesky and Nick Cusilito at 3:44 as the game remained tied at one apiece. At 2:32 of the second period, Zach Haluzchak made a terrific forecheck to force a turnover and the result was moments later Michael Darnely shooting the puck and got his own rebound tapping in past O’Neill to give the Crusaders a 2-1 lead. With 37 seconds remaining in the period, Nate Bohn found Patenesky in the slot and Jesse rifled a shot off the crossbar and Canevin would hold off a late Big Mac surge to take a slim 2-1 lead to the ice cut. Canon McMillan outshot Canevin 13-11 in the period. Canon Mac came out flying in the opening minute of the third and hard work paid off as Corey Griffith banged home a short pass from Kyle Harnan to tie the score at 2-2 with 13:33 remaining in regulation. With 11:32 to play, Canevin would receive a golden chance on the power play., but it would be the Big Macs who played opportunist as Nate Bohn intercept an errant pass and drove the defense and dropped it off to Justin Cormack, who made it count beating Ziemanski on the stick side at 10:40 to give CM a 3-2 lead. Canevin made the best of the rest of the power play as Zach Haluzchak beat O’Neill on a long wrist shot to the blocker side at 9:57 to tie the game again. Canevin’s Michael Darnelly stole the puck from the Big Mac defense just 10 seconds later at 9:47 to give the Crusaders a 4-3 lead beating O’Neill low to the stick side. At 6:29, Canon Mac’s Justin Cormack split the Canevin defense and Ziemanski made the save, but the Big Macs would get a power play out of it and could not convert. With 4:52 remaining, Canon Mac was whistled on a questionable play late in the game and time was now the ally of Canevin. Ziemanski made a game saving save on Kyle Harnen on the back door with 32 seconds remaining and another after a big scramble with 8 ticks left and the Canevin Crusader’s would keep their magical season alive with a trip to Ice Castle next Tuesday in the final 4.

Kittanning 5 Montour 4 {OT] NEVILLE ISLAND Montour (14-6-1) and Kittanning (14-6-1) enter tonight’s game knowing what’s at stake in tonight’s second round playoff game. Kittanning ousted Moon in the opening round of the playoffs and has been arguably been the hottest team in Class AA in the past month of the season. Coach Jon Yackmack’s Wildcats travel well as many of the faithful from the Belmont made the trip with the Hurst along with Max & Tim among the ‘Concerned Citizens of Kittanning’. Team Montour has been on a roller coaster ride this season after a year ago when coach Danny Siegel’s troops when the Spartans were bounced from the playoff by Chartier’s Valley and have really overachieved this season are kind of a mystery team as the playoffs enter round two. The winner of this contest will meet Canevin in Tuesday’s semi-finals at Ice Castle and Pine Richland will face defending State Champions Peters Twp, in a rematch of the 2005 Penguins Cup, which the Indians won at Mellon Arena. A packed house of Spartans fans in the house including Frankie Vallie and the much ballyhoo’d four Spartans and many ‘Concerned Citizens of Montour’. Kittanning jumped out on top as Zach Avi scored from in close beating freshman Matt Skoff as the puck slithered past him at 12:49 to give Kittanning a 1-0 lead. The Spartans tied the game with 7:13 remaining in the opening period as Zach Perry beat Joey Mecurio through the 5-hole. With just 1:35 remaining in the period, Kittanning regained the lead as Lee Heilmann deflected a Colin McKelvey shot from the far boards past Matt Skoff to make it 2-1. On to the second and with Montour on the power play Joey Ford was in a shorthanded breakaway and Matt Skoff made a terrific save, but Nick Troup gathered the rebound and scored into an empty net to give the Cats a 3-1 lead with 9:30 to go in the period. Montour came right back at 8:28 as Alex Wayne scored on a long slap shot from the right point for a power play goal and a 3-2 Kittanning advantage. The Spartans went on the power play with 5:13 left and a chance to tie the game. Kittanning played giveaway and it cost them as Zach Perry intercepted the errant pass and fired a slapshot high over the stickside of Joey Mecurio with 4:11 to go and a brand new hockey game at 3-3. The third period was a close checking affair as the Wildcats went on the power play at 10:09 and then again with a 5 on 3 with 7:18 remaining in regulation. With 6:53 remaining in the 3rd period, Joey Ford walked down the slot and wristed one past the glove side of Matt Skoff to give the Cats a 4-3 lead. Kittanning went on the power play with a little over four minutes to go but Kittanning could not score and the score remained 4-3 in favor of the Wildcats. The Spartans pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and a faceoff in the Kittanning zone with 21 seconds left and a 6 on 4 power play and Paul Ciotti scored with no time left on the clock to tie the game 4-4 and send this one to overtime. Kittanning swarmed the Montour zone in the opening minute of overtime and Zack Avi banked the puck of Matt Skoff with 9:11 left in OT to give Kittanning a heartstopping 5-4 victory over the Spartans and a trip to Ice Castle to face Canevin in the semi-finals at Ice Castle.

North Allegheny 2 Central Catholic 1 [2 OT] CRANBERRY – The entrance of Mr Who’s Who Bobby Montana, with his trusty camera and Lebo contingent of Head Coach Paul Taibi, Dave ‘the Chocolate Milk Man’ Dorsey, Ron ‘Tom’s Father of Lexington’ Valerino, Bethel Park’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay with his expert cameraman Dennis Bannon, Meadville coaches Dr. Jamie Plunkett and Dickie ‘this Old House’ Holabaugh. Pine Richland’s Jim Adams, NA Announcer Don Vandergrift, the ‘svelt’ Billy Zuri, Current NA Concerned Citizens Jim Pekins, Dennis Sheran, Ken McGlumphy and former ‘Head Concerned Citizen Tom Pandolfo’ among a jammed packed Cranberry BladeRunners, which is the only place in America you can buy Strawberry Water in an ice rink. North Allegheny (19-3-0) and Central Catholic (14-7-2) are perennial participants in the Penguins Cup playoffs and over the past few years have been in the hunt to move forward in the process of challenging to win it. The Vikings started the playoffs off with a 9-3 hammering of Franklin Regional, but coach Kevin Zielmanski knows that his team must excel against top opponents to be able to get to the promised land. CC is very capable of being a that team and the keys are getting strong goaltending and a consistent effort for 45 minutes, which will be a pre-requisite to entertaining any thoughts of defeating # 3 seed North Allegheny. The Tigers got a taste of what its all about a year ago coming within one goal of capturing the championship of Western Pennsylvania AAA in 2005 losing to eventual Pennsylvania Cup AAA State Champions Bethel Park in the Penguins Cup final. What is different for NA is that they are not the favorite to win the 2006 Cup, which is a double edged sword, because the underdog role gives the Tigers a looser attitude than a years ago, but as a part of this process of contending for a State Championship, every shift, every goal, every mental mistake becomes magnified the further along we get into the playoffs. One emotional lift for the Tigers could be the presence of Chris Simanic, who was a key ingredient to the Tigers winning the 2005-06 Director’s Cup over Bethel Park in December. If anyone hopes to supplant Mt Lebanon, the # 1 or Bethel Park, the defending champion, it will take a monumental effort to get to RMU Island Sports Center. Central Catholic looked to take the lead early in this contest as Chris Urso could not beat NA’s Max Richards at 14:31. Joe Kerr hit the post of an open net at 10:20 after being set up on a nice feed from Chris Urso. The Tigers had the games first power play at 8:41 and could not capitalize, but struck first with 4:02 left in the opening period as Josh Herbert beat Bobby Magyarics with a wrsit shot high over the stick side after a pass from behind the net from Matt Lancaster to give North Allegheny a 1-0 lead. Alan Halapin set up Chris Gilson streaking down the slot, but shot hit the crossbar and the Tigers held a 1-0 lead after the first. On to the second period and Central Catholic was the recipient of another 2 on 1 due to some lax backchecking by the Tigers off the opening faceoff as Chris Urso beat the defenseman at the blue line and found Joe Kerr, who deposited the puck behind Max Richards to tie the score at one apiece just 17 seconds into the second. The game settled into a tight checking affair at both ends as both the Vikings and Tigers looked to seize the lead. With 2:22 remaining in the period, CC went on the power play but could not score. The third period was a very tight checking affair with limited chances at both ends. Central Catholic enjoyed some good pressure for the majority of the period, but the Tigers came on as the game hit the 5 minute remaining mark. Ian McGlumphy had the best chance for NA with 4:14 to go as he hit the side of the net. The Tigers got a golden opportunity with a power play with 3:57 to go, but the Vikings dug in and killed the first minute. Then it happened a penalty against the Tigers with 2:39 to go created a 4 on 4 and a CC power play but we moved on into overtime with a 1-1 score. The first overtime was action packed and end to end as both team have several chances the best coming as Magayrics stopped Matt Lancaster and the rebound by Josh Herbert at 5:57 of the first overtime. In the second OT, North Allegheny had the second great chance as Wes Waldschmidt was stoned from right in front again by the Central goaltender at 9:39. Bobby Magayrics did everything he could to help the Vikings pull off the upset. But it would not be enough this evening. As the Tigers didn’t get a bounce in last year’s Penguin Cup final when they needed it, North Allegheny made their own break as the play started from the Tiger end as Alan Halapin made a nice pass out of the zone up the boards to Chris Gilson, who has been a solid player for the Tigers for several years, who drove the Viking defenseman deep in his own zone and slid the puck over to a streaking Joey Camut, who deposited the game winner past the Viking keeper and to send the Tigers to the Penguins Cup semi-finals next Wednesday.

North Allegheny 2 Central Catholic 1 [2 OT] CRANBERRY – The entrance of Mr Who’s Who Bobby Montana, with his trusty camera and Lebo contingent of Head Coach Paul Taibi, Dave ‘the Chocolate Milk Man’ Dorsey, Ron ‘Tom’s Father of Lexington’ Valerino, Bethel Park’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay with his expert cameraman Dennis Bannon, Meadville coaches Dr. Jamie Plunkett and Dickie ‘this Old House’ Holabaugh. Pine Richland’s Jim Adams, NA Announcer Don Vandergrift, the ‘svelt’ Billy Zuri, Current NA Concerned Citizens Jim Pekins, Dennis Sheran, Ken McGlumphy and former ‘Head Concerned Citizen Tom Pandolfo’ among a jammed packed Cranberry BladeRunners, which is the only place in America you can buy Strawberry Water in an ice rink. North Allegheny (19-3-0) and Central Catholic (14-7-2) are perennial participants in the Penguins Cup playoffs and over the past few years have been in the hunt to move forward in the process of challenging to win it. The Vikings started the playoffs off with a 9-3 hammering of Franklin Regional, but coach Kevin Zielmanski knows that his team must excel against top opponents to be able to get to the promised land. CC is very capable of being a that team and the keys are getting strong goaltending and a consistent effort for 45 minutes, which will be a pre-requisite to entertaining any thoughts of defeating # 3 seed North Allegheny. The Tigers got a taste of what its all about a year ago coming within one goal of capturing the championship of Western Pennsylvania AAA in 2005 losing to eventual Pennsylvania Cup AAA State Champions Bethel Park in the Penguins Cup final. What is different for NA is that they are not the favorite to win the 2006 Cup, which is a double edged sword, because the underdog role gives the Tigers a looser attitude than a years ago, but as a part of this process of contending for a State Championship, every shift, every goal, every mental mistake becomes magnified the further along we get into the playoffs. One emotional lift for the Tigers could be the presence of Chris Simanic, who was a key ingredient to the Tigers winning the 2005-06 Director’s Cup over Bethel Park in December. If anyone hopes to supplant Mt Lebanon, the # 1 or Bethel Park, the defending champion, it will take a monumental effort to get to RMU Island Sports Center. Central Catholic looked to take the lead early in this contest as Chris Urso could not beat NA’s Max Richards at 14:31. Joe Kerr hit the post of an open net at 10:20 after being set up on a nice feed from Chris Urso. The Tigers had the games first power play at 8:41 and could not capitalize, but struck first with 4:02 left in the opening period as Josh Herbert beat Bobby Magyarics with a wrsit shot high over the stick side after a pass from behind the net from Matt Lancaster to give North Allegheny a 1-0 lead. Alan Halapin set up Chris Gilson streaking down the slot, but shot hit the crossbar and the Tigers held a 1-0 lead after the first. On to the second period and Central Catholic was the recipient of another 2 on 1 due to some lax backchecking by the Tigers off the opening faceoff as Chris Urso beat the defenseman at the blue line and found Joe Kerr, who deposited the puck behind Max Richards to tie the score at one apiece just 17 seconds into the second. The game settled into a tight checking affair at both ends as both the Vikings and Tigers looked to seize the lead. With 2:22 remaining in the period, CC went on the power play but could not score. The third period was a very tight checking affair with limited chances at both ends. Central Catholic enjoyed some good pressure for the majority of the period, but the Tigers came on as the game hit the 5 minute remaining mark. Ian McGlumphy had the best chance for NA with 4:14 to go as he hit the side of the net. The Tigers got a golden opportunity with a power play with 3:57 to go, but the Vikings dug in and killed the first minute. Then it happened a penalty against the Tigers with 2:39 to go created a 4 on 4 and a CC power play but we moved on into overtime with a 1-1 score. The first overtime was action packed and end to end as both team have several chances the best coming as Magayrics stopped Matt Lancaster and the rebound by Josh Herbert at 5:57 of the first overtime. In the second OT, North Allegheny had the second great chance as Wes Waldschmidt was stoned from right in front again by the Central goaltender at 9:39. Bobby Magayrics did everything he could to help the Vikings pull off the upset. But it would not be enough this evening. As the Tigers didn’t get a bounce in last year’s Penguin Cup final when they needed it, North Allegheny made their own break as the play started from the Tiger end as Alan Halapin made a nice pass out of the zone up the boards to Chris Gilson, who has been a solid player for the Tigers for several years, who drove the Viking defenseman deep in his own zone and slid the puck over to a streaking Joey Camut, who deposited the game winner past the Viking keeper and to send the Tigers to the Penguins Cup semi-finals next Wednesday.

2006 Nailers Cup Semi-Finals WHEELING - Story provide by the Carrick Hockey Club Abbott, Hennon, Kelly lead way The Carrick Cougars travelled to Wheeling, West Virginia to face the Wheeling Central Catholic Knights in the Nailer Cup Semi-Finals last night. It is the first step of three that the Cougars must travel to become the Open Class Champions. But this step would not be an easy one. The Cougars barely escaped their first encounter with the Knights in early February, and were outshot and outworked in stretches when they defeated WCC on Feb 20th at Rostraver. It would be the first game Coach Chuisano's boys would play in nearly two weeks and they would have to do it without Senior forward TJ Gault who was serving the final game of his suspension. But the Cougars have faced and defeated nearly every challenge placed in front of them this season, and they would get an opportunity to do it again on Wheeling Central's home ice. The first period saw over ten minutes of the Cougars dominating the puck in the WCC defensive zone, but they were unable to beat Knight goalie Tommy Pie. Then, with 4:53 left in the period defenseman Nick Kelly jumped on a loose puck in the slot and blasted a slap shot over Pie's right should to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. But Wheeling Central was not about to lay down for Carrick and with just under a minute remaining, the Knights would fire a series of shots at Cougar goalie JT Kohnen. Kohnen was up to the task making several tough saves and keeping his team ahead as the period ended. When the second period opened up the Cougars were looking to create some breathing room. It took Justin Hennon only 1:10 to bounce on a Mitchell Faust rebound and ram it through Pie. Sophomore Jay Kass earned an assist on the play and Carrick was on it's way with a 2-0 lead. After a series of penalty kills the Cougars' captain Matt Abbott scored to make it 3-0. The assists went to junior Aaron Hahne and Kass. Just :46 later Kelly would get his second of the night. This one was a power play goal and was assisted by senior Justin Deery. The Cougars appeared to be going into the third period with an impressive 4-0 lead, but took a late penalty leading to an unassisted goal by the Knight's Cory Palmer. Carrick had the 4-1 lead, but managed to lose momentum late in the period by taking several penalties and giving up the late goal. WCC had outshot the Cougars 11-9 in the period and were only down by three because Kohnen managed to stop two break aways and a number of point blank shots. The momentum carried into the third period period for WCC was quickly negated when Abbott scored on a breakaway just 23 seconds into the final frame. What made the Abbott goal even more deflating to the Knights was that it occurred on a 5 on 3 WCC power play. As Abbott has done all year, he managed to bail his team out of a tough spot. The Cougars, with Kohnen being very sharp, now had commanding lead. Just When WCC thought it could not get worse, the Cougars managed to kill the penalties, and Hennon netted his second goal just :53 after the sides were even to make it 6-1. Junior center Chris Larkin was then set up with a nice pass from Hahne with just over three minutes remaining to make it 7-1. Then, with only :14 left, Abbott would complete his first Nailer Cup hat trick with a breakaway goal to put Carrick on top 8-1 and send the Knights home for the season. The first step was complete. The Cougars have made it to the Nailer Cup finals. Wednesday at 7pm at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, the Cougars will face the winner of the Wheeling Park/Morgantown game. They will be at full strength for the first time in weeks, and Coach Chuisano's boys will be looking for the Nailer Cup tropy. It will be the second step toward the Open Class Championship. NOTES--Both Carrick and Wheeling Central were called for 13 penalties a piece. It is the second highest total for the Cougars this season (Linsley was 14). Aaron Hahne had 3 assists for the Cougars while Faust and Kass had two each. Coach Chuisano got at least one goal from each of the top three lines. Kohnen stopped 21 of 22 shots as the Cougars outshot the Knights 27-22. The defense gave up only 5 shots in the third period. Although the game was played in Wheeling, Cougar fans outnumber WCC fans by at least 2-1 giving Carrick the true home ice advantage. Carrick's only loss this season came to Wheeling Park. The Patriots scored 4 goals in two minutes of the second period and won despite being outplayed by Carrick for most of the game. The Cougars managed to beat Wheeling Park in the final seconds earlier in the season at Ice Castle, but did so without Hahne and Kelly. Carrick defeated Morgantown twice in two close games (6-4 and 4-3) and were outshot in Morgantown. GAME INFO--The player and family bus will leave the Carrick shopping plaza at 4:30 sharp on Wednesday. Anyone wishing to take the bus should call Terry Delehenty or contact an Executive Board member. We will consider ordering a second bus, but the demand must make it feasible. Game prices are $7 for adults and $5 for students. The bus will cost $13 per seat. The ride to Wheeling (even at 4:30 rush hour) is just about one hour. Anyone wishing to follow the bus is welcome.