Seton LaSalle Rebels (SH Catholic) 1979 AA 1998 A

Peters Twp puts an exclamation point on second straight Class AA State Championship! ICELINE ~ Holy Ghost Prep has been ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey elite 8 poll for most of the 2002-2003 season. Coach Tibbels team went 19-1-4 during the regular season and then defeated Neshaminy in the LBCSHL Championship for their first ever title. The Firebirds then carved through the Flyers Cup defeating Freedom [LVIHL], Archbishop Wood [SHSHL] and Abington [SHSHL] by a margin of 20-4 to reach the Flyers Cup final against West Chester Henderson. HGP ran into a hot goaltender in WC Henderson’s O’Neill and fell behind 3-1 late into the Flyers Cup final. The Firebirds fought back to tie the game with under five minutes to go and then got a goal from Steve Biasini in overtime to capture their first ever Flyers Cup. So now Pa Hockey’s # 1 ranked Class AA team would move onto the PA Final against the # 2 ranked team and defending State Champ Peters Twp. Peters Twp went through the regular season in an almost disinterested state and looked to be vulnerable position, but maybe they were just lulling their foes into believing that they were beatable. After capturing the # 1 seed in the Penguins Cup, the Indians smashed Hampton 9-2 and Greensburg CC 8-0 to reach the Penguins Cup against Kittanning. In the finals, Peters struck early and often to defeat the Wildcats 6-3 to capture their 2nd straight Penguins Cup and move on to play # 1 ranked Holy Ghost in the finals. Head Coach Mark Cooper used the battle cry of no respect for the defending State Champions and funnel it toward Holy Ghost. More importantly the Indians had an opportunity to establish themselves as one of the most dominant Class AA teams in State History. The game would be played in front of a partisan Holy Ghost Prep crowd and a huge student section, which filled the end zone and showed their patriotism by joining in a stirring rendition of ‘God Bless America’ which would have made Kate Smith proud. The first period turned into a penalty fest as the teams took a total of 14 penalties as Peters established a physical presence, particularly on super the scoring tandem of Paul Worthington and Ryan Gunderson. The second order of business was to test the Firebirds goaltending, who have not faced an onslaught like Peters all season. The Indians pounded Holy Ghost for a 14-4 shot advantage on goaltender Dave Monteith in the 1st with a balanced attack and broke open the game early with four goals from Matt Clackson [8:02], Mike Papciak [7:23], Matt Schwartz [2:56] and Brandon Rubeo [2:22] for a 4-0 lead at the end of one. Peters Twp displayed their penalty killing by killing two 5 on 3’s late in the first period. On to the second and Peters continued its onslaught with the penalty box filled again with 15 more penalties. Matt Schwartz added his second goal at 12:56 and Mike Sherer beat Andrew Golin on the slapshot at 3:51 to spur Peters Twp to a 6-0 lead. Holy Ghost finally took advantage as Ryan Gunderson [2:54] and Paul Worthington [1:02] took advantage of the Firebirds power plays and cut the lead to 6-2. If their was any chance for HGP, the Peters line of Christian Minella, Matt Schwartz [who finished the game with 2 goals & 4 assists totaling six points] and Matt Clackson would put an end to it with one of the prettiest passing sequences and a great backdoor finish by Minella with 33 seconds left in the 2nd period to put the Indians on top 7-2 at the end of two periods. The third period was pretty much academic as Peters added two more goals by Minella and Kevin Kustron, who took a great pass from Mike Papciak [who had a goal & three assists for four points] and HGP’s Worthington added a tally at 11:21 to make the final outcome 9-3 and a second straight Pennsylvania Class AA Championship. Kyle Kittleberger stopped several Firebird chances with some spectacular goaltending throughout stooping 23 shots. The win by Peters Twp put this team in the company of the best Class AA teams who have ever captured the Pennsylvania State Class AA Championship and opened a debate that this may be the best team in the state at any level. HGP Head Coach Brian Tibbels called Peters “better than any AAA teams in the state”. Holy Ghost had a great year, but may have just picked the wrong year to make it to the State Finals as Peters showed why many consider them the top team in the state at any level. Senior captain Matt Schwartz was very pleased that his line along with Minella and Matt Clackson accounted for five goals in his post game remarks “Early in the game it was our job to pick up our game and seize the moment” for the Indians. Kyle Kittleberger was thrilled on the defensive end admitting that the defense was looking forward to the challenge of stopping the high scoring tandem Gunderson and Worthington, he added “we really wanted to limit the time and space of Gunderson and Worthington” and was very proud of the play of his defensive unit. Coach Mark Cooper summed it up best by claiming his team had really molded through “personalities which make our team a loose bunch of guys and a very tight-knit group, which was the key to the team’s success”.

2003 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships Ice Line – West Chester, Pennsylvania March 30, 2003 Radnor overcomes a hot goaltender & scores their first State Championship! ICELINE ~ If Westmont Hilltop head coach Art McQuillan had scripted the perfect season for the Hilltoppers, he could not have imagined that his plan would go as well as the road to West Chester, which had brought Westmont to the Pennsylvania Cup Class A final in 2003. As the second half of the Western Pa season wound down, many were anticipating the match-up between three-time defending champion # 1 ranked Serra Catholic and the upstart # 3 ranked Mars Planets, winners of 18 straight victories to start the season. The ultimate match-up that never happened was foiled by Westmont, who upset Mars in the Penguins Cup semi-finals 3-2 and then upended Serra Catholic 4-3 in the Penguins Cup to capture their 1st ever berth in the State Finals after 16 straight Penguins Cup playoff appearances which ended in disappointment. The leaders for the Mighty Hilltoppers have been unquestionably Patrick Krumenacher, whose goaltending was unbelievable against Mars and Serra and Justin McCloskey, who scored the game winning goals in both games. Westmont is the first public school to win the Penguins Cup in Class A since 1992, when State College won it. Radnor started the 2002-2003 season with one goal in mind and that was to avenge their 5-4 loss to Serra in the 2002 Pennsylvania Cup final. So if coach Ed Ritti III was looking forward to playing Serra again after learning that the Eagles were in the Penguins Cup final, however pre-mature that may sound, he was probably getting a little ahead of himself. The Raiders ripped through the regular season and Inter-County play-down with an 19-1-0 record and ousting Springfield, who handed Radnor its only loss of the season. In the Flyers Cup playoffs, coach Ritti’s # 2 ranked team demolished the competition in four games outscoring everything in front of them 31-4 to put themselves in position to reach their goal of a 1st State Championship. The Raiders improved their overall team with balance across three lines, a stronger defensive unit and a measured improvement between the pipes with Joni Ek. The question remained if Radnor could complete the process by learning from a year ago and win their 1st Pennsylvania Class A Championship. Radnor came out in the first period much like they did against Serra a year ago by outshooting the Hilltoppers 14-4 in the opening period, but were held off the board by Krumenacher, who was very solid in not giving Radnor a lot of rebound chances. Westmont was whistled for two consecutive penalties at 2:47 and 2:08 to put Radnor on a 5 on 3 power play. The Hilltoppers killed off the first part of the penalties, but a great length of the ice rush by Chris Brennan, finished off by a great move on the forehand beating Krumenacher at 1:20 put the Raiders on top 1-0. Westmont killed off the remainder of the second period as Krumenacher robbed Eddie Devine from point blank range and kept the Hilltoppers within one. The second period was a little more even as Westmont began to get some opportunities as they picked up the physical play on Radnor. After Brennan was whistled for a retaliation penalty at 11:00 of the 2nd period, the Hilltoppers Brian Willet blasted a slapshot past Ek on the short side from the top of the circle and tied the game at 1-1 with 10:34 remaining. Ek and Krumenacher held their own for the remainder of the period as the 2003 Class A final headed for the final period at one apiece. Radnor could not score on the power play at 10:43 of the third, but used the momentum to gain a territorial advantage and the edge in shots for the final period of regulation of 18-5 in the 3rd. Krumenacher made several great saves and afforded his club a chance to pull off a third straight upset and a first ever State Title. The Raiders went on the power play at 7:48 and Brennan won the puck in the corner and moved it to Nick Ryder, who founded Ed Devine, who buried a wrist shot past a sprawling Krumenacher to give Radnor the lead 2-1 with 6:58 remaining. Radnor kept up the pressure and then turned to excellent fundamental hockey as the kept the puck deep in the Westmont zone in an effort to hang on. Some excellent work by forwards Lee Sinkow and Austin Cohen and the unheralded Raider defense with under 5 minutes remaining, moved the puck out of danger and helped the Radnor to hold on for a 2-1 victory and give Eastern Pennsylvania its first State Championship since Conwell Egan [AAA] in 1999 and first Class A Title since 1992, when Haverford defeated State College.

Breakaway Hockey Network will bring you all the action of the State Finals with Eastern Pa's Jeff Nolan .................make sure you tune in Sunday starting at 11:00 AM Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships Sunday March 30, 2003 Live from IceLine in West Chester, Pennsylvania 11:00 AM ~ Westmont Hilltop vs Radnor 1:15 PM ~ Peters Twp vs Holy Ghost Prep 3:30 PM ~ Meadville vs Malvern Prep Listen to the Flyers Cup Finals on Breakaway and NSN Monday - Radnor vs Cherokee Tuesday - West Chester Henderson vs Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday - LaSalle vs Malvern Prep

NEVILLE ISLAND Island Sports Class A Mighty Hilltoppers storm back & end the reign for Serra Catholic Serra Catholic joined the South Hills Interscholastic Hockey League in 1996 after a nine year stint in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League, which included many trips to Johnstown to play Bishop McCort and Westmont Hilltop. The Eagles also moved to a new home at the Rostraver Ice Garden and have compiled a 103-23-10 record including three consecutive Pennsylvania Class A State Championships. Coach John Mooney’s team in 2002-2003 may be his best yet with balance in scoring, defense and goaltending. Serra looked to join rarified air in Class A as Bishop McCort won the Penguins Cup and Pennsylvania Class A Championship as four time winners as the Crimson Crushers won it in 1994,1995,1996 and 1997. The winner of this 2003 Penguins Cup would move on to face Radnor, who will be the Flyers Cup representative in this years State Final and whom Serra defeated 5-4 in a thriller at Rostraver in last years Championship. Westmont Hilltop has been to the dance many of times with an astonishing 16 consecutive Penguins Cup playoff appearances since 1985 including eight trips to the Penguins Cup Semi Finals with only one trip to the Penguins Cup final in 1998, which turned out to be a heartbreaking loss to Seton LaSalle in the games finals moments. To make things worse for this trip for the Mighty Hilltoppers, their # 1 fan and chief transportation correspondent Bob The Bus Driver could not attend Westmont’s crowning achievement after a thrilling win over Mars last week at Rostraver. Westmont’s coach Art McQuillan has been the stabilizing force in the Hilltopper program with all sixteen years at the helm and this year more than any seems to be interested in not losing their final game of the season, so the long time coach brought his Hiltoppers to Neville Island with the simple thought that maybe ‘its time for something new’, which is like something out of a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant. Which lends to the next question is if Westmont found a Chinese restaurant during their stay in Cranberry Friday night ? A packed house at the beautiful Island Sports Center gathered as nearly 1500 fans filled the building with chants of ‘Eagles’ and ‘We are Westmont’ to start the 2003 Class A Penguins Cup between the three time defending Penguins Cup and Pennsylvania Class A champions Serra Catholic and Westmont Hilltop. The first period had all of the elements of a great championship game as Serra came out with considerable pressure on Westy. After Patrick Krumenacher stone the Eagles early, the Hilltoppers went on the power play first with an opportunity for the games first goal. Serra’s Joey Manning had other ideas and the speedy Eagles forward continued his hot hand in the playoffs, chipping the puck past Westmont’s defensemen and racing 120 feet to beat Krumacher down low for a 1-0 Serra lead at 7:40. Westmont came right back as Filip Haukka blistered a wrist shot upstairs far to the glove side of Timmy Johnson to tie the game at one apiece. The Eagles had a huge shot advantage of 14-5 after one period as Krumenacher picked up where he left off in the Mars game. On to the second and the next goal would be huge as the ice began to level a little as Westmont began getting some scoring opportunites. Steven Kolbe, more known for his steady play on the blueline in Serra’s championship run, continued good fundamental hockey as he looked to dump the puck into the Westmont zone. Kolbe’s soft dump was on goal and handcuffed Krumacher and trickled by him for a 2-1 Serra lead at 13:01. Serra extended their lead as Jessie Lubasch and C.J. King set up Steve Leppo after excellent work in the Westmont zone and Leppo buried it for a 3-1 Eagle lead with 9:03 left in the second. Serra pressed for the fourth goal and hit the post several times throughout the second period. Then the Hilltopper’s got a break as Justin McCloskey as Westmont’s leading scorer was in alone and deked Timmy Johnson and the Serra goaltender just got a piece of it and it glanced of the post, but Anthony DeMarco came late on the play and slammed home the rebound to bring Westmont back within one 3-2 with 7:17 remaining. The Hilltoppers came right back with momentum and DeMarco, whose had a hot hand in the playoffs, scored at 5:09 and we had a brand new hockey game 3-3 at the end of two. Westmont seemed to tire near the end of the 2nd, but Serra could not take advantage to take the lead. As championship teams go, Serra Catholic came out storming in the third period, but Krumenacher was outstanding with a little help as Leppo and Lubasch hit the post with excellent chances and the Eagles poured 13 shot and 38 on the day on the lanky Westmont goaltender. As he has done throughout the playoffs, Justin McClosky wanted this game on his stick and the talented sophomore put Westmont one step closer to the Hilltoppers first ever Penguins Cup as he beat Johnson with 9:47 remaining in the third period and Westmont had its first lead 4-3. There was plenty of time left for Serra and they pressured Westmont and when Brian Willett was whistled with 2:38 left, the Eagles would have a golden opportunity to send the game into overtime. But the Sludgin Trudgin Hilltoppers wanted one more bus ride with their favorite fan and this one would be to West Chester to face Radnor as Westmont held on in the games final moments and captured their first ever Penguins Cup 4-3 over Serra.

NEVILLE ISLAND Island Sports Class AA Peters Twp stakes claim to 2nd straight Penguins Cup & awaits Flyers Cup foe ! The buzz in Kittanning has reached an all-time high of late and resulted in wonderful league rep staples Max Pozzuto and Tim Lane going ‘California blond’ like the rest of the Wildcats. The Kittanning hockey program has returned to the glory of the Armstrong Central days on the mid-1990’s where they battled Meadville in two consecutive Penguins Cups, winning one before bowing to Council Rock in the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup in 1991 5-4. Although head coach Jeff Smouse probably doesn’t remember the Armstrong Arrows of the 70’s and 80’s, there are plenty of long-time supporters of the program to relay the stories of Eric ‘Zip’ Zimmerman, Pat McCue, Brett Frederick and some of the array of talent, which has come and gone through the Belmont……but the one missing piece to that puzzle is that elusive State Championship which has not been a part of the 460+ wins in 32 years for the Kittanning /Armstrong High School program. Its seems there is always a star studded team in their way of that glory as in the 1970’s it was Churchill and the 1980’s North Catholic or Upper St Clair or 1990’s Meadville that has been in the way of that crown. I am sure that Peter Twp Mark Cooper has no idea what this all means as the Peters Twp coach knows that his team has replaced the Thomas Jefferson dynasty as the team to beat in Class AA and the label of top team in Class AA with their overpowering run to the State Championship in 2002 culminating in a 10-3 pounding of Archbishop Carroll last year. The Indians have been even more impressive in this year’s playoff run outscoring their first two opponents 17-2 including an impressive machine like 8-0 beating of Greensburg CC in the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals. There is no question that if Peters can complete the run with a 2nd Class AA Pennsylvania Cup, they will go down as one of the most dominant Class AA teams in history including 1999 Thomas Jefferson, 1997 Erie Cathedral Prep, 1994 Greensburg CC, 1984 Canevin or 1982 Erie Fairview teams , who not only finished the deal as Pennsylvania Cup Class AA champions, but did it with such overwhelming dominance that they will be remembered for a long time after this season is over. If they don’t win the State Title, they will join 1996 Indiana or 1992 Johnstown or the Franklin teams of the mid-1990’s as teams who were great teams but couldn’t get the job done. So Kittanning would be the next team in line for Peters Twp to put behind them on their way to possible glory and oh by the way all of their studs where in the house before another packed house at Island Sports Center. Peters Twp wasted no time pressuring Kittanning’s defense and it didn’t take long for them to get on the board as Pa Hockey Top 25 Matt Schwartz overpowered Adam Toy with a wrist shot to the stick side to give Peters a 1-0 lead at 9:15 of the first period. On the very next shift, it was Chris Clackson talking a pass from Mike Papciak and beating the Kittanning defense and Toy on the backhand for a 2-0 lead and the Indians where on a roll at 7:53. Maybe Kittanning was a little nervous, but the ‘Cats settled down and got some chances on Kyle Kittleberger. After Kittleberger robbed Eddie Germy from in front, Luke Heller scored on a rebound over the PT goaltender at 1:34 to cut the lead to 2-1. Kittanning was back in the game but not for long as the talented Chris Clackson made ‘more moves than Mae West’ on the Kittanning defense and Toy and buried his second goal for a huge goal and 3-1 lead for PT at 1:12. On to the second period and Kittanning looked to be lulling Peters into a defensive game early on but the Indians pounded Adam Toy and the Wildcat defense for an unreal 23 shots on goal. Mike Papciak got things started at 11:11 as he showed great patience and found Brandon Rubeo on the doorstep and threaded a beautiful pass to Rubeo, who made no mistake into a wide open net behind Toy and a 4-1 lead. Peters played opportunist as Greg Crogan picked the pocket of Kittanning’s forward kept the puck in the zone and moved it to Brandon Rubeo, who found his linemate Papciak, another Pa Hockey Top 25 selection, who buried a shot past Toy and the Indians were off a running with a 5-1 lead at 9:06. Chris Clackson completed the hat trick at 7:44 on another assist from Papciak and Peters Twp was well in control with a 6-1 lead with over half the game gone. Eddie Germy responded with a goal off some hard work by he and Joel Shriver and cut the Peters lead to 6-2 at 7:26. Peters continued to keep the pressure on Kittanning as they took a commanding 6-2 to the locker room. The play was really chippy in the third period as twelve penalties were dished out as Kittanning tried to fight back in to the game. Zach Cain beat Kittleberger in behind the Peters defense on another excellent play by Joe Shriver, who although he didn’t receive an assist did a great job getting the puck off the far boards and in front of the net at 6:47 to cut the lead to 6-3 in favor of Peters Twp. The Indians closed out the game limiting the Wildcats to five shots in the third period and Peters Township scored an impressive 6-3 Penguins Cup Class AA Championship win over Kittanning and secure a trip to West Chester next week against the winner of Holy Ghost Prep and West Chester Henderson. As legend would have it, the Bantam Hornets contest played after the Class AAA Penguins Cup ended in the middle of the game due to an ugly hit along the boards with a handful of parents in the stands and no scouts in sight…….maybe after all High School Hockey is alive and well and the players can play both !