Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

Seniors Matt Giunta and Jonathan Smith accounted for all seven Mustang goals; and the line of Giunta (3G, 2A), Smith (4G, 2A) and Junior Shawn O'Connor (0G, 5A) tallied 16 of Plum's 18 points as the Mustangs defeated the Tornados 7-1. Smith got Plum started at 11:22 of the first when O'Connor sent him in on a breakaway. Smith went back-hand to the five hole to put Plum up 1-0. Giunta also assisted on the goal. Just 27 seconds into period two, Smith got his second on an unassisted effort when his first shot was blocked, but he followed the puck to the net and backhanded it in for a 2-0 lead. At 10:54 with Plum on the power play, Giunta did a spin-o-rama style backhander into an open cage on a rebound of a Smith shot to put Butler down by three. O'Connor got the second assist on the goal. In period three, the Mustangs only registered seven shots, but made the most of them with four more goals. Giunta won the opening face off to Smith who came down his off wing, went to the forehand and beat the Butler netminder to the far post for his hat trick just seven seconds into the period. Four minutes later, Giunta got his second goal when O'Connor's shot rebounded off the back boards and was smoothly deposited into the cage by Giunta to make the score 5-0. Smith also picked up an assist on the goal. With 6:08 to play, Plum took a bench minor for too many men. Sophomore goalie John Bronder's shut-out bid was thwarted with only 5 minutes remaining, as Butler cashed-in on the power play on a screened slap shot from the point. At 2:27, Giunta completed his hat trick, once again backhanding an O'Connor rebound into the net. Sophomore Anthony DaDamo also earned an assist on the goal. Smith closed out the scoring with his fourth of the night, this one coming on the power play with a point-blank slap shot on a perfect feed from O'Connor. DaDamo picked up his second assist of the evening on the goal. Shots on goal were 24 for each team, and Bronder stopped 23 of 24 shots for his first victory of the season.

MEADVILLE - Mt Lebanon entered the House of Chills as the # 1 ranked team in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 poll and have gone unchallenged in the opening three games waltzing through Central Catholic, Cathedral Prep and Gateway by a combined score of 21-2. So Coach Paul ‘the professor’ Taibi knew a little stiffer test awaited the untested Blue Devils in Meadville in a match-up of two of the pre-seasons top teams. Meadville has not been as convincing defeating McDowell, Seneca Valley and Baldwin but dropped a 2-1 decision to Penn Trafford in the games final 1:18 for a 3-1-0 record. The Bulldogs also know that this contest will be a barometer for its club going forward if its hopes to compete for the Penguins Cup in March. Head Coach Jamie Plunkett’s teams usually peak in time for the playoffs, which does not underestimate the importance of this game in the final standings for seeding 1-5 in the playoffs, which is critical for home ice advantage in rounds one and two and matches lesser opponents in those rounds. Mt Lebanon 1-0 1st period as Jon Wilen scored on the power play as Tyler ‘the Terminator’ Murovich and Josh ‘they are finally letting play’ Mandic at 6:20 of the opening period. Meadville tied the game as Casey Rogers unleashed a slapshot just inside the post past Matt Vaughn with 2:32 remaining in the opening period. A very evenly played first period saw both teams register 6 shots on Vaughn and the Bulldogs Brian Danczak. The Blue Devils took the lead with 11:32 remaining in the 2nd as Josh Mandic one-timed a Tyler Murovich cross ice pass on the power play that beat Brian Danczak high over the glove hand side. Mt Lebanon pressed the attack late in the second period but Brian Danczak kept the goals out and the teams went to the ice cut with the Blue Devils held a 2-1 lead. Coach Paul Taibi was looking to play defensive in third period, but took it to the extreme as assistant coaches Dave ‘the Milk Man’ Dorsey and Bobby ‘Who’s Who’ Montana locked Tyler Murovich and Josh Mandic in the locker room. Fortuntely, ‘the Terminator’ had his cell phone and called the Bat Phone to summon Professor of Egyptology King Tut fka Bob Sebastian representing the ‘Concerned Citizens of Mt Lebanon’ to fetch the key and release the young men to return to play at 14:32. At 13:36, Danczak robbed Jon Wilen from point blank range to keep it a 2-1 game. The Bulldogs had an early season mental mistake at 9:36 wit h a too many men on the ice penalty giving the Blue Devils a huge opportunity to go up by two. Brian Danczak came up big on Josh Mandic at 8:57 with a cross crease save. Sean McDermott would get a rise out of the Mt Lebanon faithful and his bench as he pounced on Shane Ferguson rebound to give Lebo a 3-1 lead. Meadville showed their frustration by taking another penalty and again in was McDermott who finished Josh Mandic pass at 6:39 and all the sudden in a little over two minutes a tight 2-1 contest was now a 4-1 Mt Lebanon advantage. At 4:08, Meadville etched a little closer as Mike Noonan beat the Mt Lebanon defense and deked Matt Vaughn to pull the Dawgs to within 4-2. Meadville started to mount a little pressure on Mt Lebanon in the waning moments of the third period prompting Meadville to pull the goalie with 1:40 to play. Shane Ferguson warmed up the bus with an empty netter with 31 ticks remaining for a convincing 5-2 victory for the Blue Devils.

Seniors Matt Giunta and Jonathan Smith accounted for all seven Mustang goals; and the line of Giunta (3G, 2A), Smith (4G, 2A) and Junior Shawn O'Connor (0G, 5A) tallied 16 of Plum's 18 points as the Mustangs defeated the Tornados 7-1. Smith got Plum started at 11:22 of the first when O'Connor sent him in on a breakaway. Smith went back-hand to the five hole to put Plum up 1-0. Giunta also assisted on the goal. Just 27 seconds into period two, Smith got his second on an unassisted effort when his first shot was blocked, but he followed the puck to the net and backhanded it in for a 2-0 lead. At 10:54 with Plum on the power play, Giunta did a spin-o-rama style backhander into an open cage on a rebound of a Smith shot to put Butler down by three. O'Connor got the second assist on the goal. In period three, the Mustangs only registered seven shots, but made the most of them with four more goals. Giunta won the opening face off to Smith who came down his off wing, went to the forehand and beat the Butler netminder to the far post for his hat trick just seven seconds into the period. Four minutes later, Giunta got his second goal when O'Connor's shot rebounded off the back boards and was smoothly deposited into the cage by Giunta to make the score 5-0. Smith also picked up an assist on the goal. With 6:08 to play, Plum took a bench minor for too many men. Sophomore goalie John Bronder's shut-out bid was thwarted with only 5 minutes remaining, as Butler cashed-in on the power play on a screened slap shot from the point. At 2:27, Giunta completed his hat trick, once again backhanding an O'Connor rebound into the net. Sophomore Anthony DaDamo also earned an assist on the goal. Smith closed out the scoring with his fourth of the night, this one coming on the power play with a point-blank slap shot on a perfect feed from O'Connor. DaDamo picked up his second assist of the evening on the goal. Shots on goal were 24 for each team, and Bronder stopped 23 of 24 shots for his first victory of the season.

MEADVILLE - Mt Lebanon entered the House of Chills as the # 1 ranked team in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 poll and have gone unchallenged in the opening three games waltzing through Central Catholic, Cathedral Prep and Gateway by a combined score of 21-2. So Coach Paul ‘the professor’ Taibi knew a little stiffer test awaited the untested Blue Devils in Meadville in a match-up of two of the pre-seasons top teams. Meadville has not been as convincing defeating McDowell, Seneca Valley and Baldwin but dropped a 2-1 decision to Penn Trafford in the games final 1:18 for a 3-1-0 record. The Bulldogs also know that this contest will be a barometer for its club going forward if its hopes to compete for the Penguins Cup in March. Head Coach Jamie Plunkett’s teams usually peak in time for the playoffs, which does not underestimate the importance of this game in the final standings for seeding 1-5 in the playoffs, which is critical for home ice advantage in rounds one and two and matches lesser opponents in those rounds. Mt Lebanon 1-0 1st period as Jon Wilen scored on the power play as Tyler ‘the Terminator’ Murovich and Josh ‘they are finally letting play’ Mandic at 6:20 of the opening period. Meadville tied the game as Casey Rogers unleashed a slapshot just inside the post past Matt Vaughn with 2:32 remaining in the opening period. A very evenly played first period saw both teams register 6 shots on Vaughn and the Bulldogs Brian Danczak. The Blue Devils took the lead with 11:32 remaining in the 2nd as Josh Mandic one-timed a Tyler Murovich cross ice pass on the power play that beat Brian Danczak high over the glove hand side. Mt Lebanon pressed the attack late in the second period but Brian Danczak kept the goals out and the teams went to the ice cut with the Blue Devils held a 2-1 lead. Coach Paul Taibi was looking to play defensive in third period, but took it to the extreme as assistant coaches Dave ‘the Milk Man’ Dorsey and Bobby ‘Who’s Who’ Montana locked Tyler Murovich and Josh Mandic in the locker room. Fortuntely, ‘the Terminator’ had his cell phone and called the Bat Phone to summon Professor of Egyptology King Tut fka Bob Sebastian representing the ‘Concerned Citizens of Mt Lebanon’ to fetch the key and release the young men to return to play at 14:32. At 13:36, Danczak robbed Jon Wilen from point blank range to keep it a 2-1 game. The Bulldogs had an early season mental mistake at 9:36 wit h a too many men on the ice penalty giving the Blue Devils a huge opportunity to go up by two. Brian Danczak came up big on Josh Mandic at 8:57 with a cross crease save. Sean McDermott would get a rise out of the Mt Lebanon faithful and his bench as he pounced on Shane Ferguson rebound to give Lebo a 3-1 lead. Meadville showed their frustration by taking another penalty and again in was McDermott who finished Josh Mandic pass at 6:39 and all the sudden in a little over two minutes a tight 2-1 contest was now a 4-1 Mt Lebanon advantage. At 4:08, Meadville etched a little closer as Mike Noonan beat the Mt Lebanon defense and deked Matt Vaughn to pull the Dawgs to within 4-2. Meadville started to mount a little pressure on Mt Lebanon in the waning moments of the third period prompting Meadville to pull the goalie with 1:40 to play. Shane Ferguson warmed up the bus with an empty netter with 31 ticks remaining for a convincing 5-2 victory for the Blue Devils.

The Indiana High School Varsity Ice Hockey team fell to Greensburg Central Catholic Thursday night 3-1 at the Kirk Nevin Rink in Greensburg. Adam Rusiewicz had the lone goal for the night at 11:30 in the third period unassisted. Mike Kennedy stopped 28 of 31 shots by the Centurians, while Indiana had 27 shots on goal. Greeansburg CC Ryan Homanics stopped 26 of 27 Indiana shots and got scoring from Evan George in the 2nd Period at 4:33 and two goals in the 3rd period from Alfonso Arevalo at 8:36 and again at 6:04 for a 3-0 Centurian advantage. Marc Perez picked up two assists for GCC. Thank you to Indiana and Greensburg CC for contributing to this report !