Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Serra Catholic 6 Quaker Valley 4 ROSTRAVER – Serra Catholic is off to a 9-1-0 start and has handled the Class A competition with relative ease with the exception of the 6-2 loss to defending Penguins Cup champions Bishop McCort back on December 5th. The Eagles are very accustomed to big games at Class A because they have been involved in the majority of them for the past five years. For head coach Tom Mooney this will be a good opportunity to see how far this team has come since the beginning of the season and more importantly pick up a win over a QV team which figures to trying to claim the # 1 seed in the playoffs beginning in March, especially with a rematch set for February 13th at the Airport, which could be a huge game if Serra could knock off the undefeated Quakers. Quaker Valley is currently ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 Statewide poll and is undefeated on the season with a win over Bishop McCort under its belt. Head coach Kevin Quinn’s squad is one of three teams in Western Pennsylvania that are a cut above the competition in the weak 12-team Class A Division in Western Pa. In fact, some of the QV faithful are very positive thinkers and made it out to the PA Hockey Scholastic Showcase to get a look at defending Pennsylvania Class A Champions Penncrest, currently ranked # 1 in Eastern Pennsylvania and # 2 in the state of Pennsylvania. The Quakers will definitely be a part of the process and a win over Serra will go a long way in capturing the # 1 seed in the playoffs since Serra looks to be the only team that can unseed them due to the weak Class A competition and the rarity of important games at this level. Early in the opening period at 11:01, Quaker Valley found themselves on the opposite end of a 5 on 3 disadvantage and at 10:44, the Eagles cashed in as Josh Werner scored into a wide open net behind Zac Zinger, who made the initial save, but had no chance on the rebound. With another 1:44 left on the 2nd power play, the Quakers could not afford to dig a 2-0 hole and they were successful in killing the Serra man advantage. At 4:42 of the first, Serra took a 2-0 lead as Bryan Hickey beat Zac Zinger cleanly from in close. Quaker Valley would get their first opportunity on the power play with 23 seconds left in the first and it didn’t take long as George Jackson found a loose puck on the doorstep and converted a rebound with 5 ticks left to cut the Serra lead to 2-1 at the end of one. At 13:48 of the second, the Eagles reclaimed the two goal lead as Aaron Nolte set up Steven Gruhalla, who made no mistake beating Zinger. Serra came right back at 13:07 as Josh Werner picked up his 2nd goal of the evening coming right down the slot and extending the Eagle lead to 4-1. At 7:56 of the second period, Furman South unleashed a wrist shot which beat Jeff Smaracheck to get the Quakers back in the game at 4-2. Serra came right back at 6:13 as Aaron Nolte unleashed a wrist which I don’t think Zac Zinger ever saw giving the Eagles a 5-2 lead. The Quakers went back on the power play at 5:27 and converted as Mikail Lemieux danced through the slot and beat the Serra Catholic goaltender with a wrist shot to cut the margin to 5-3. The Quakers went back on the power play with less than a minute to go and would carry over to the third period. On to the third and the Eagles killed off the remainder of the penalty. With 11:08 remaining, Qv would get another chance to cut the lead with a power play. With 9:23 Jeff Smaracheck made a great save on Colin South, who appeared to have a wide open net. With 8:45, QV got another power play but could not score. And yet another power play with 5:27 to go and a 5 on 3 with 4:56 to play. As Serra appeared to kill off the disadvantage, Furman South made a terrific play and a better shot as with 3:05 to play South buried a wrist shot high over the stick hand side of Jeff Smaracheck, who made several nice saves during the 5 on 3 and the lead was now slim 5-4. Quaker Valley brought the kitchen sink in the final minutes but the Eagle defense and Smaracheck stiffened and held the Quakers out and when Steve Gruhalla scored into the empty net with 10 seconds left, QV would have their first loss of the season 6-4. Serra now can control their own destiny by winning out including a February 12th matchup with Bishop McCort and a rematch the very next night against Quaker Valley.

Serra Catholic 6 Quaker Valley 4 ROSTRAVER – Serra Catholic is off to a 9-1-0 start and has handled the Class A competition with relative ease with the exception of the 6-2 loss to defending Penguins Cup champions Bishop McCort back on December 5th. The Eagles are very accustomed to big games at Class A because they have been involved in the majority of them for the past five years. For head coach Tom Mooney this will be a good opportunity to see how far this team has come since the beginning of the season and more importantly pick up a win over a QV team which figures to trying to claim the # 1 seed in the playoffs beginning in March, especially with a rematch set for February 13th at the Airport, which could be a huge game if Serra could knock off the undefeated Quakers. Quaker Valley is currently ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 Statewide poll and is undefeated on the season with a win over Bishop McCort under its belt. Head coach Kevin Quinn’s squad is one of three teams in Western Pennsylvania that are a cut above the competition in the weak 12-team Class A Division in Western Pa. In fact, some of the QV faithful are very positive thinkers and made it out to the PA Hockey Scholastic Showcase to get a look at defending Pennsylvania Class A Champions Penncrest, currently ranked # 1 in Eastern Pennsylvania and # 2 in the state of Pennsylvania. The Quakers will definitely be a part of the process and a win over Serra will go a long way in capturing the # 1 seed in the playoffs since Serra looks to be the only team that can unseed them due to the weak Class A competition and the rarity of important games at this level. Early in the opening period at 11:01, Quaker Valley found themselves on the opposite end of a 5 on 3 disadvantage and at 10:44, the Eagles cashed in as Josh Werner scored into a wide open net behind Zac Zinger, who made the initial save, but had no chance on the rebound. With another 1:44 left on the 2nd power play, the Quakers could not afford to dig a 2-0 hole and they were successful in killing the Serra man advantage. At 4:42 of the first, Serra took a 2-0 lead as Bryan Hickey beat Zac Zinger cleanly from in close. Quaker Valley would get their first opportunity on the power play with 23 seconds left in the first and it didn’t take long as George Jackson found a loose puck on the doorstep and converted a rebound with 5 ticks left to cut the Serra lead to 2-1 at the end of one. At 13:48 of the second, the Eagles reclaimed the two goal lead as Aaron Nolte set up Steven Gruhalla, who made no mistake beating Zinger. Serra came right back at 13:07 as Josh Werner picked up his 2nd goal of the evening coming right down the slot and extending the Eagle lead to 4-1. At 7:56 of the second period, Furman South unleashed a wrist shot which beat Jeff Smaracheck to get the Quakers back in the game at 4-2. Serra came right back at 6:13 as Aaron Nolte unleashed a wrist which I don’t think Zac Zinger ever saw giving the Eagles a 5-2 lead. The Quakers went back on the power play at 5:27 and converted as Mikail Lemieux danced through the slot and beat the Serra Catholic goaltender with a wrist shot to cut the margin to 5-3. The Quakers went back on the power play with less than a minute to go and would carry over to the third period. On to the third and the Eagles killed off the remainder of the penalty. With 11:08 remaining, Qv would get another chance to cut the lead with a power play. With 9:23 Jeff Smaracheck made a great save on Colin South, who appeared to have a wide open net. With 8:45, QV got another power play but could not score. And yet another power play with 5:27 to go and a 5 on 3 with 4:56 to play. As Serra appeared to kill off the disadvantage, Furman South made a terrific play and a better shot as with 3:05 to play South buried a wrist shot high over the stick hand side of Jeff Smaracheck, who made several nice saves during the 5 on 3 and the lead was now slim 5-4. Quaker Valley brought the kitchen sink in the final minutes but the Eagle defense and Smaracheck stiffened and held the Quakers out and when Steve Gruhalla scored into the empty net with 10 seconds left, QV would have their first loss of the season 6-4. Serra now can control their own destiny by winning out including a February 12th matchup with Bishop McCort and a rematch the very next night against Quaker Valley.

North Allegheny 3 McDowell 1 CRANBERRY – When North Allegheny hired Tom Pandolfo three years ago, there was an instantaneous change to the hockey program with a reputation of being rich on talent, but never winning anything. Sure, the Tigers won the WPIHL Championship a handful of times in 1977, 1995 and 1999, but the true measure in this Interscholastic Hockey era is the success in the Penguins Cup and the State Championship of the State of Pennsylvania. This is and always has been the goal of the program, but now its attitude and expectations are geared toward it. After the Penguins Cup finals loss to Bethel Park a year ago and loss of some key personnel, the Tigers have re-tooled and are once again on course for another strong regular season at 10-1-0, but more importantly positioning for another playoff run in March. North Allegheny’s tribute to consistency over Pandolfo’s tenure was evidenced by its 3rd consecutive Director’s Cup title in a 4-2 win over Defending Pennsylvania Class AAA State Champions Bethel Park. The McDowell hockey program has a long history in Class AAA in Western Pennsylvania, which began to take form in the inaugural Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships in 1975. In the early days, the Trojans were the dominant team in the Lake Shore Hockey League in Northwestern Pennsylvania, who were in the hunt for Class AAA State Championships in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, & 1980, only to fall short by a game or two. After some pretty good success in the early 2000’s with a couple of Penguins Cup semi-final appearances, coach Paul Mancini has inherited a group laking the front line talent to compete with the Bethel Park’s. Mt Lebanon’s, Meadville’s and now North Allegheny’s for the ultimate prize as the Trojans are off to a respectable 6-4-0 start. McDowell skated stride for stride with the Tigers for the opening 14 minutes as John Cleary kept NA off the board. North Allegheny went on the power play in the final minute of the period to take the lead. At 13:39 of the second period, NA finally solved Trojan goaltender John Cleary with just 3 seconds left in the power play as Alan Halapin scored on a rebound to make it 1-0. With 9:04 remaining in the period, Dylan Rohrer picked up a loose puck at center ice and raced toward John Cleary only to be stopped, but had the presence and tenacity to pick up his own rebound and score a very big goal to make it 2-0. McDowell came back to cut the lead to 2-1 at 6:10 of the second period as Andy Kohler scored on a high shot over the shoulder of Max Richards, which seemed to fool the Tiger goaltender. With 8:15 remaining Alan Halapin scored a huge goal sneaking a snapshot past John Cleary to make it 3-1, which gave the Tigers Insurance. North Allegheny was able to skate out the clock defeating their former division rivals and moving closer to a home playoff berth.

Bishop McCort 2 Mars 0 CRANBERRY - Bishop McCort is off to an 8-1-0 mark after the first half of the season and for head coach John Bradley is in perfect position to defend their Penguins Cup title from a year ago. The Crimson Crushers appear to be part of a triumverate including undefeated Quaker Valley and Serra Catholic leading a sparse Class A group of contenders that will chase for the title in March and unseat Penncrest, who defeated McCort in the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship. Old hat for a program that’s leads all Class A programs in Pennsylvania with 5 State Championships since its inception in 1989. The problem for Western Pennsylvania is that Eastern Pa owns the past three titles. Mars coach Eric Glover coached in the inaugural Pennsylvania Class A State title game for the Plum Mustangs as an assistant coach to Jim Murray for a team which defeated Cardinal O’Hara 10-4 to capture Plum’s one and only State Championship. The Mars hockey program has been a direct benefactor of the growth in the Cranberry / Seven Fields area and given time will create the numbers needed to produce some hockey powerhouses, similar to neighbors North Allegheny and Pine Richland, who have enjoyed consistent success over the past few seasons along with stability in the coaching. The Crimson Crushers took the lead at 9:41 as Marc Domonkos took advantage of a shorthanded opportunity and gave his team a 1-0 lead. Brent Troyan had a strong first period keeping the Planets off the board. Bishop McCort and Mars engaged in end to end action with the Planets looking to score the equalizer. The Crushers would get a huge insurance goal with just 1:27 remaining in the 2nd period as Marc Domonkos found an empty net on the back door after collecting a Shawn James rebound and depositing it past Planets goaltender Whiteford for a 2-0 count at the end of two. The Crimson Crushers completed a strong defensive effort in the 3rd period clinching the shutout for Troyan for an impressive 2-0 victory over a feisty Mars squad. If the Planets find some scoring between now and March, they could be a factor in spoiling someone’s playoff run or possibly creating one for themselves. Expect Bishop McCort to be there looking to atone for their loss to Penncrest and maybe take it one step further for # 6.

North Allegheny 3 McDowell 1 CRANBERRY – When North Allegheny hired Tom Pandolfo three years ago, there was an instantaneous change to the hockey program with a reputation of being rich on talent, but never winning anything. Sure, the Tigers won the WPIHL Championship a handful of times in 1977, 1995 and 1999, but the true measure in this Interscholastic Hockey era is the success in the Penguins Cup and the State Championship of the State of Pennsylvania. This is and always has been the goal of the program, but now its attitude and expectations are geared toward it. After the Penguins Cup finals loss to Bethel Park a year ago and loss of some key personnel, the Tigers have re-tooled and are once again on course for another strong regular season at 10-1-0, but more importantly positioning for another playoff run in March. North Allegheny’s tribute to consistency over Pandolfo’s tenure was evidenced by its 3rd consecutive Director’s Cup title in a 4-2 win over Defending Pennsylvania Class AAA State Champions Bethel Park. The McDowell hockey program has a long history in Class AAA in Western Pennsylvania, which began to take form in the inaugural Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships in 1975. In the early days, the Trojans were the dominant team in the Lake Shore Hockey League in Northwestern Pennsylvania, who were in the hunt for Class AAA State Championships in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, & 1980, only to fall short by a game or two. After some pretty good success in the early 2000’s with a couple of Penguins Cup semi-final appearances, coach Paul Mancini has inherited a group laking the front line talent to compete with the Bethel Park’s. Mt Lebanon’s, Meadville’s and now North Allegheny’s for the ultimate prize as the Trojans are off to a respectable 6-4-0 start. McDowell skated stride for stride with the Tigers for the opening 14 minutes as John Cleary kept NA off the board. North Allegheny went on the power play in the final minute of the period to take the lead. At 13:39 of the second period, NA finally solved Trojan goaltender John Cleary with just 3 seconds left in the power play as Alan Halapin scored on a rebound to make it 1-0. With 9:04 remaining in the period, Dylan Rohrer picked up a loose puck at center ice and raced toward John Cleary only to be stopped, but had the presence and tenacity to pick up his own rebound and score a very big goal to make it 2-0. McDowell came back to cut the lead to 2-1 at 6:10 of the second period as Andy Kohler scored on a high shot over the shoulder of Max Richards, which seemed to fool the Tiger goaltender. With 8:15 remaining Alan Halapin scored a huge goal sneaking a snapshot past John Cleary to make it 3-1, which gave the Tigers Insurance. North Allegheny was able to skate out the clock defeating their former division rivals and moving closer to a home playoff berth.