Archbishop Carroll Patriots - 1981 AAA 2004 AA

NEW KENSINGTON - This report is courtesy of Central Catholic Hockey The PIHL season began last night and the Mount Lebanon Blue Devils arrived at Valley Sports Complex dressed as contenders for the state championship this season. The Blue Devils started dishing out tricks and not treats thirteen seconds into the game when Shane Ferguson pushed home a rebound of a Josh Mandic shot to give the Devils the early lead. The tricks continued as the first line of Shane Ferguson, Tyler Murovich, and Josh Mandic dominated the game for the Blue Devils. Not long after, they increased their lead with a goal by Tyler Murovich. The first period ended with the score 2 - 0. Central started to bounce back and finally tallied a goal of their own when senior Joe Kerr deflected a shot by Josh Martin passed Lebo goalie Matt Vaughn to make it a 2 - 1 game. The lead didn't last too long as the Devils scored a third goal on the power play when a shot to the left of Viking goalie Bob Magyarics was whiffed but the puck trickled to an open Jesse Root who redirected the puck into an open net for a 3 – 1 lead. That was the score at the end of the second period. Any thoughts of a comeback by the Vikings were quickly throttled by the first line of the Devils again. It only took them twelve seconds this time as Ferguson skated freely down the right wing boards an unleashed a wicked wrist shot that appeared to strike just under the cross-bar but was called a goal by the officials working the game. That made the score 4 - 1 and seemed to deflate the Vikings. C.J. Stellabotte scored the second goal for Central on the power play. The final score was 6 - 2 in favor of Mount Lebanon; a team that clearly demonstrated that they are worthy of being ranked number one in the preseason.

Prelimary Round Latrobe 1 McDowell 1 Nick DiSanti scored for the Trojans 12:38 of the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead. David Farah tied the score for Latrobe with 2:43 remaining in the 2nd period as the Wildcats and McDowell battled to a 1-1 tie. Latrobe goalie Jason Hendrick stopped 27 of 28 shots, while the Trojan combo of John Cleary and Tim Shea, stopped 20 of 21 shots. Baldwin 5 Downingtown West 3 Baldwin spotted Downingtown West a 2-0 lead as Eric Marino and Bobby Blanken scored for the Whippets early in the 1st at 14:08 and again early in the 2nd at 14:19. The Highlanders rattled off four straight goals in the second as Mike Kirk notched a pair and teammates Chad Revak and Brad Haas also lit the lamp to give Bladwin a 4-2 lead going to the third. Blanken’s power play goal with 2:10 remaining cut the lead to 4-3, but Mike Kirk added an empty netter for the hat trick to give the Highlanders a 5-3 victory and an outside shot at getting to the title game pending the out come of Serra Catholic’s final two games. Baldwin netminder Ryan Smith made several key saves in the third period stopping 19 of 22 shots in the game. Serra 8 Butler 1 Serra won its second game of the Invitational and set up an opportunity to go to the finals with a win or tie against Downingtown West with a convincing 8-1 victory over Butler. Josh Werner and Jared Matthews each scored a pair of goals as Steven Gruhala, Matthew Radovic, Michael Puskar and Aaron Nolte added goals for the Eagles. Serra outshot Butler 38-11, with Nick Koroly yielding only one goal to Zach Pennington. Conestoga 5 Latrobe 2 Conestoga won their opening game over Kittanning 4-1 in the opener of the Kittanning Invitational. A young Latrobe team had other ideas after a loss to the Kittanning Wildcats and a tie earlier in the day against McDowell. Mike Kimmel opened the scoring for Latrobe early in the first at 13:12 and Matt Mesaros made it 2-0 with6:06 left in the opening period. Conestoga went to work in the second period as Kyle Izett scored a natural hat trick with three goals in 2 minutes and 2 seconds as the Pioneers jolted to a 3-2 lead and took that lead to the ice cut. Insurance came in the form of linemate Billy Conlin, who had two assists on the Izett goals in the second period and added a huge goal with 10:27 left in the third. Kyle Izett capped of a four goal performance with 5:42 remaining as Conestoga outshot Latrobe 33-18 putting head coach Mike Grave’s Pioneers in the driver’s seat for a spot in the finals. Kittanning 5 McDowell 4 McDowell opened up the 2005 Kittanning Invitational with a 1-1 tie against Latrobe and the win would prove costly as starting goaltender John Cleary would be ejected and have to sit out this afternoon’s contest. Kittanning owned a victory over Latrobe and a loss to Conestoga and both teams would need help to get an opportunity to play for the championship. The Trojan’s Nick DiSanti opened the scoring at 11:33 of the opening period. Ethan Zimmerman knotted the score for the Wildcats at 4:33 of the 1st. After a scoreless second period Kittanning struck first as Joey Ford combined with Zach Avi to give the Cat’s a 2-1 lead. Ed Maras and Steve Murray scored at 9:02 and 4:53 and it looked like the Trojans would win this taking a 3-2 advantage. Back came the Wildcats as Evan Blodgett scored with 3:08 remaining to tie it and Nick Troup converted with just 1:11 remaining to give hometown Kittanning a heartstopping 4-3 win, despite being outshot 44-18. Joey Mecurio was stellar between the pipes stopping 41 McDowell shots.

Championship Final Conestoga 2 Downingtown West 1 [OT] The Ice Line complex is located near West Chester in suburban Philadelphia and is the home ice for Conestoga and Downingtown West ice hockey programs. The Pioneers play in the illustrious Central Division of the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League and own a couple of State Championships dating back to 1985 and 1986, including a perfect season in 86 coached by former Fox Chapel and Upper St Clair head Taylor Railton. Mike Graves now leads a Conestoga program looking to make their mark in the Flyers Cup AA division. Interestingly enough Conestoga and Downingtown West, both AA Flyers Cup participants do not participate in the same division in the ICSHL. After the Downingtown East Cougars won the 2004 Kittanning Invitational, they decided not to return to defend their title. So by osmosis or by invitation, the Downingtown West Whippets made the trek to Kittanning to play in this year’s event. Coach Brad Wentzel took over the West program after the split of the Downingtown School District, which apparently is ready to split again. The amazing part to me is that West and East have been able to field very good hockey teams in consecutive years and come West and play their way to the Kittanning Invitational final. The Whippets defeated perennial Class A power Serra Catholic 5-3 and win the tiebreaker to gain a spot in the final. Downingtown West and Conestoga traded power play goals in the first period as Conestoga’s Billy Dunn scored at 9:11 assisted by Kyle Izett and Brian Wanner. The Whippets tied the game at 2:14 as Bobby Blanken scored on an assist from Evan Miller. After a scoreless 2nd period, a 1-1 battle turned into end-to-end action with tight checking and limited chances for both teams. With 4:41 remaining Downingtown West netminder Greg Graham made a spectacular save on the Pioneer’s Billy Conlin to keep the game tied at 1-1. And then with around a minute and a half remaining, Pioneer’s goaltender Jason Burriss made two terrific stops on Downingtown’s Brendan Smith and Evan Miller to send it to overtime. At 4:34 of overtime Conesotga’s Kyle Izett poked home a rebound past Brendan Smith after a scramble in front for the Invitational winning goal to capture the 2005 Kittanning Invitational. Kyle Izett was named tournament MVP for his outstanding performance for Conestoga. Conestoga outshot Downingtown West 27-22. 2005 Kittanning Invitational McDowell 7 Conestoga 3 Conestoga wrapped up a berth in the final of the 2005 Kittanning Invitational after defeating Latrobe 5-2 and Kittanning knocked off McDowell 4-3 with a comeback win last evening. The Trojans may have been playing Conestoga for a spot had it been able to hold onto a third period lead against the hosting Wildcats. McDowell defeated Conestoga 7-3 on the strength of four second period and two third period goals. Brandon Oathout led the way with a pair of goals for the Trojans, while Ryan Presnar, Matt Stahon, Nick DiSanti, Andy Kohler and Trevor Shaw added singles. Michael Dunn, Bill Dunn and Brian Wanner scored for the Pioneers. McDowell’s John Cleary stopped 33 of 36 shots to pick up the win in goal. Downingtown West 5 Serra Catholic 3 Downingtown West and Serra Catholic matched up in a game which would decide who would face Conestoga in the 2005 Kittanning Invitational final. The Eagles defeated AAA schools Baldwin 7-4 and Butler 8-1 an only needed a tie or a win to secure a spot in the Championship. The Whippets would need to defeat Serra and then face a flurry of possible tiebreaker scenarios after a win over Butler 10-2 and a loss to Baldwin 5-3. Downingtown West pulled off the victory on the strength of a pair of goals Bobby Blanken and single scores from Steve Blanken, Joe Tillman and Zach Bohm. The eventual game winner came with 10:33 remaining from Bohn and Bobby Blanken added an insurance tally late in the third period. Serra took a 2-2 tie to the final period and the Eagles goals were scored by Aaron Nolte, Jared Matthews and Steven Gruhalla as Serra outshot West 33-26. Greg Graham continued his fine play between the pipes for the Whippets with 30 saves and his team advanced on the tiebreaker of penalty minutes.

Prelimary Round Latrobe 1 McDowell 1 Nick DiSanti scored for the Trojans 12:38 of the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead. David Farah tied the score for Latrobe with 2:43 remaining in the 2nd period as the Wildcats and McDowell battled to a 1-1 tie. Latrobe goalie Jason Hendrick stopped 27 of 28 shots, while the Trojan combo of John Cleary and Tim Shea, stopped 20 of 21 shots. Baldwin 5 Downingtown West 3 Baldwin spotted Downingtown West a 2-0 lead as Eric Marino and Bobby Blanken scored for the Whippets early in the 1st at 14:08 and again early in the 2nd at 14:19. The Highlanders rattled off four straight goals in the second as Mike Kirk notched a pair and teammates Chad Revak and Brad Haas also lit the lamp to give Bladwin a 4-2 lead going to the third. Blanken’s power play goal with 2:10 remaining cut the lead to 4-3, but Mike Kirk added an empty netter for the hat trick to give the Highlanders a 5-3 victory and an outside shot at getting to the title game pending the out come of Serra Catholic’s final two games. Baldwin netminder Ryan Smith made several key saves in the third period stopping 19 of 22 shots in the game. Serra 8 Butler 1 Serra won its second game of the Invitational and set up an opportunity to go to the finals with a win or tie against Downingtown West with a convincing 8-1 victory over Butler. Josh Werner and Jared Matthews each scored a pair of goals as Steven Gruhala, Matthew Radovic, Michael Puskar and Aaron Nolte added goals for the Eagles. Serra outshot Butler 38-11, with Nick Koroly yielding only one goal to Zach Pennington. Conestoga 5 Latrobe 2 Conestoga won their opening game over Kittanning 4-1 in the opener of the Kittanning Invitational. A young Latrobe team had other ideas after a loss to the Kittanning Wildcats and a tie earlier in the day against McDowell. Mike Kimmel opened the scoring for Latrobe early in the first at 13:12 and Matt Mesaros made it 2-0 with6:06 left in the opening period. Conestoga went to work in the second period as Kyle Izett scored a natural hat trick with three goals in 2 minutes and 2 seconds as the Pioneers jolted to a 3-2 lead and took that lead to the ice cut. Insurance came in the form of linemate Billy Conlin, who had two assists on the Izett goals in the second period and added a huge goal with 10:27 left in the third. Kyle Izett capped of a four goal performance with 5:42 remaining as Conestoga outshot Latrobe 33-18 putting head coach Mike Grave’s Pioneers in the driver’s seat for a spot in the finals. Kittanning 5 McDowell 4 McDowell opened up the 2005 Kittanning Invitational with a 1-1 tie against Latrobe and the win would prove costly as starting goaltender John Cleary would be ejected and have to sit out this afternoon’s contest. Kittanning owned a victory over Latrobe and a loss to Conestoga and both teams would need help to get an opportunity to play for the championship. The Trojan’s Nick DiSanti opened the scoring at 11:33 of the opening period. Ethan Zimmerman knotted the score for the Wildcats at 4:33 of the 1st. After a scoreless second period Kittanning struck first as Joey Ford combined with Zach Avi to give the Cat’s a 2-1 lead. Ed Maras and Steve Murray scored at 9:02 and 4:53 and it looked like the Trojans would win this taking a 3-2 advantage. Back came the Wildcats as Evan Blodgett scored with 3:08 remaining to tie it and Nick Troup converted with just 1:11 remaining to give hometown Kittanning a heartstopping 4-3 win, despite being outshot 44-18. Joey Mecurio was stellar between the pipes stopping 41 McDowell shots.

Championship Final Conestoga 2 Downingtown West 1 [OT] The Ice Line complex is located near West Chester in suburban Philadelphia and is the home ice for Conestoga and Downingtown West ice hockey programs. The Pioneers play in the illustrious Central Division of the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League and own a couple of State Championships dating back to 1985 and 1986, including a perfect season in 86 coached by former Fox Chapel and Upper St Clair head Taylor Railton. Mike Graves now leads a Conestoga program looking to make their mark in the Flyers Cup AA division. Interestingly enough Conestoga and Downingtown West, both AA Flyers Cup participants do not participate in the same division in the ICSHL. After the Downingtown East Cougars won the 2004 Kittanning Invitational, they decided not to return to defend their title. So by osmosis or by invitation, the Downingtown West Whippets made the trek to Kittanning to play in this year’s event. Coach Brad Wentzel took over the West program after the split of the Downingtown School District, which apparently is ready to split again. The amazing part to me is that West and East have been able to field very good hockey teams in consecutive years and come West and play their way to the Kittanning Invitational final. The Whippets defeated perennial Class A power Serra Catholic 5-3 and win the tiebreaker to gain a spot in the final. Downingtown West and Conestoga traded power play goals in the first period as Conestoga’s Billy Dunn scored at 9:11 assisted by Kyle Izett and Brian Wanner. The Whippets tied the game at 2:14 as Bobby Blanken scored on an assist from Evan Miller. After a scoreless 2nd period, a 1-1 battle turned into end-to-end action with tight checking and limited chances for both teams. With 4:41 remaining Downingtown West netminder Greg Graham made a spectacular save on the Pioneer’s Billy Conlin to keep the game tied at 1-1. And then with around a minute and a half remaining, Pioneer’s goaltender Jason Burriss made two terrific stops on Downingtown’s Brendan Smith and Evan Miller to send it to overtime. At 4:34 of overtime Conesotga’s Kyle Izett poked home a rebound past Brendan Smith after a scramble in front for the Invitational winning goal to capture the 2005 Kittanning Invitational. Kyle Izett was named tournament MVP for his outstanding performance for Conestoga. Conestoga outshot Downingtown West 27-22. 2005 Kittanning Invitational McDowell 7 Conestoga 3 Conestoga wrapped up a berth in the final of the 2005 Kittanning Invitational after defeating Latrobe 5-2 and Kittanning knocked off McDowell 4-3 with a comeback win last evening. The Trojans may have been playing Conestoga for a spot had it been able to hold onto a third period lead against the hosting Wildcats. McDowell defeated Conestoga 7-3 on the strength of four second period and two third period goals. Brandon Oathout led the way with a pair of goals for the Trojans, while Ryan Presnar, Matt Stahon, Nick DiSanti, Andy Kohler and Trevor Shaw added singles. Michael Dunn, Bill Dunn and Brian Wanner scored for the Pioneers. McDowell’s John Cleary stopped 33 of 36 shots to pick up the win in goal. Downingtown West 5 Serra Catholic 3 Downingtown West and Serra Catholic matched up in a game which would decide who would face Conestoga in the 2005 Kittanning Invitational final. The Eagles defeated AAA schools Baldwin 7-4 and Butler 8-1 an only needed a tie or a win to secure a spot in the Championship. The Whippets would need to defeat Serra and then face a flurry of possible tiebreaker scenarios after a win over Butler 10-2 and a loss to Baldwin 5-3. Downingtown West pulled off the victory on the strength of a pair of goals Bobby Blanken and single scores from Steve Blanken, Joe Tillman and Zach Bohm. The eventual game winner came with 10:33 remaining from Bohn and Bobby Blanken added an insurance tally late in the third period. Serra took a 2-2 tie to the final period and the Eagles goals were scored by Aaron Nolte, Jared Matthews and Steven Gruhalla as Serra outshot West 33-26. Greg Graham continued his fine play between the pipes for the Whippets with 30 saves and his team advanced on the tiebreaker of penalty minutes.