Montour Spartans

Bethel Park 7 North Allegheny 0 BETHEL PARK – Semi Who’s Who night with Batman, Robin ‘the Boy Wonder’ and Alfred headlining the featured guest list including Central’s Tom Pandolfo, Cal’s Jan Battista and Justin Berger, Bobby and Bonnie Black from Pine Allegheny, NA’s Denny Sheran, the Bethel Park tailgaters before a sparse but vocal crowd at the Bethel Park BladeRunners on the campus of the University of Bethel Park. Bethel Park and North Allegheny played in the St Margaret’s Fall Face Off and held on to defeat the Tigers 5-4 after building a 5-1 lead. These teams and programs are so familiar with one another that former NA coach Pandolfo was scouting North Allegheny just as much as BP. The Blackhawks are widely regarding as one of the favorites to capture the Penguins Cup and were ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Pre-Season Coaches poll.The Tigers of NA were ranked a close 3rd behind Meadville, who was upended by Central Catholic in the opener 6-3 on Monday night. There is no question that when the playoff bell rings in March that both of these teams will represent the top teams in Class AAA. Home ice advantage is always worth a goal advantage or perhaps a penalty call for the home team and BP received the first power play in the opening period. At At 10:14 Graham Cohen found Matt Seifert on the back door who deposited the puck past Max Richards to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. At 8:28 of the first Wes Waldschmidt had a couple of Hawks draped on him and just miss and it resulted in an NA power play. At 5:20 of the first period a big scramble the occurred in the front of the NA net and the Hawks kept banging away and the puck squirted past Richards and the whistle blew and the goal counted and it was 2-0 Bethel Park. On to the second and at 11:07, the Hawks struck again as Tommy Whetsel found Kenny Lehman to cap off a 2 on 1 to give BP a 3-0 lead. Bethel made it 4-0 when David Spadacene blistered a wrist shot down on the ice to the stick side with a little over 9 minutes to play to make it a 4-0 hockey game and chasing Max Richards in favor of Adam Lutty. Graham Cohen cashed in with 7:04 remaining in the 2nd period to turn this into a 5-0 hockey game. Bethel cruised to a running clock in the third period as Graham Cohen scored on a backhand with 10:08 remaining and capitalized on a Tiger defensive lapse at 8:20 of the final period to create a running clock and a 7-0 whitewash of North Allegheny by the Hawks. Bethel, many of whose players play on a split season amateur team looked like a team in the middle of their season and North Allegheny didn’t. Although it is only March, the Hawks made a statement and it will be up to the rest of AAA to answer over the next five months.

Central Catholic 6 Meadville 3 Harmarville – Central Catholic is coming off a couple of non CC type seasons in 2005 and 2006, which saw the Vikings slip and not make the Penguins Cup Semi-finals after 3 consecutive trips in previous years. If you are going to jumpstart your program and make a change, hiring Tom Pandolfo is a pretty good choice and being able to get Stu Rulnick as his assistant is a cherry on top. The Vikings have had talent through their program, but amazingly have only made it to the Pennsylvania State Finals twice in the 35-year history of the program in 1982, losing to Erie Fairview in the finals and in 1998 losing to LaSalle in a heartbreaker at the Rostraver Ice Garden. It may be unfair to many to measure the success in those terms, but Bethel Park, Mt Lebanon and Meadville have gotten the job done using that criteria and Central Catholic and North Allegheny haven’t, so when it comes to the end of the day the word ‘great’ used with program or coach doesn’t go together until the aforementioned happens. The Vikings are looking to change all of that and a good place to start is 8-time Pennsylvania champions from ‘the House of Chills’. Meadville has won those championships and the end of a season that does not result in a win leads a disappointing summer and begins the drive in another chapter to be written. After the Bulldogs won it in 2003, I can distinctly remember a reflection with head coach Jamie Plunkett [who celebrates year # 20 and is nearing 1000 games in his coaching career] at the Ice Line after their comeback victory over a very strong Malvern Prep team. Coach Plunkett mentioned to me that he never stopped believing in his players and had faith that he would get back and win it SOMEDAY, but wasn’t sure he’d ever see it again and folks this was after a 7 year drought dating back to 1996. Championships are won in a fickle way and if you don’t believe that hang around Bethel Park, who grasped victory from the jaws of defeat in 2005 over coach Pandolfo’s NA Tigers 1-0 at the Mellon Arena in the Penguins Cup in a game no one could have predicted in a million years, but the point is belief and confidence in your players is where it all starts. I sense that in several camps this season including Meadville and Central and Bethel and NA and Mt Lebanon and those five teams will vie for who travels to Philly…Delphia in late March or early April, so remember this game is on October 30th and not March 30th. Central came out on the opening period with the fire I would expect from a Tom Pandolfo team and dominated Meadville all over the ice. The Vikings opened the scoring at 9:57 as Chris Urso took a nice feed from C.J. Burke for a quick 1-0 lead. Just 8 seconds later, Burke lit the lamp again with a wicked wrist shot to make the score 2-0. CC was not done as they took advantage of a 4 on 4 situation and Andy Hanno walked off the near boards and beat Mike Licinski through the 5-hole for a three to nill count. Mike Licinski made several nice stops during Bulldog penalty kills and to give his team an opportunity to get back into the game. The backbreaker came with :07 left on the first period clock as Chris Urso took advantage of a turnover and buried a wrist shot high over the glove hand side for his 2nd goal of the game and give the Vikings a 4-0 lead and a 12-2 shot advantage. The Bulldogs finally broke through on the power play at 14:19 as Pat Leone gathered a loose puck in the slot and deposited high over the glove side of John Scalo to cut the Central lead to 4-1. Then at 9:06, the Bulldogs were a little overzealous on an effort to hit C.J. Burke in a shorthanded situation and it cost them as Andy Hanno picked up the loose puck and deposited behind Licinski to reclaim the four-goal advantage. Licinski was able to stop Burke on a breakaway at 8:28, but gave up a very weak shorthanded goal to Josh Martin, whose shot from the goal line banked off something in front to make it 6-1. Meadville finally settled down and after Aaron Nye’s open ice hit as his own blue line. Pat Leone picked up the puck in the neutral zone and carried it into the CC zone beat a defenseman and fed a streaking Nick Fedorka who scored into an empty net to make it 6-2 as the Vikings carried a 25-7 shot advantage to the final period. On to the third period and the Bulldogs finally started to get some offensive pressure in the Central zone, but could not score until at 5:44 when freshman Bill Espy scored to cut the lead to 6-3. Extracurricular activity began to re-institute the Meadville – Central rivalry at 4:18 of the final as both teams engaged in a scrum behind the Meadville goal. The Vikings were able to limit Meadville to only one goal as the final shot total read 27-12. An impressive win for the Vikings and back to the drawing board for the Bulldogs and it would be easy to say that the Central Catholic – Meadville rivalry is now in a new chapter….the question is will this chapter continue into March for either or both squads ?.

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey Coaches Association and Pa Hockey conducted the 11th Annual Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The votes are streaming in and the results will be tabulated and posted here soon for Class A, AA and AAA. Who will be the favorites for the 2007 Penguins Cup ? We have the previews of our Elite 8 in each classification for Pa Hockey ! PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL 2006-2007 "AAA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AAA SOUTH BETHEL PARK 1 AAA WEST MEADVILLE 2 AAA NORTH NORTH ALLEGHENY 3 AAA SOUTH MT LEBANON 4 AAA NORTH CENTRAL CATHOLIC 5 AAA SOUTH UPPER ST. CLAIR 6 AAA WEST SENECA VALLEY 7 AAA WEST MCDOWELL 8 2006-2007 "AA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AA NORTH PINE-RICHLAND 1 AA SOUTH PETERS TOWNSHIP 2 AA NORTH KITTANNING 3 AA WEST WEST ALLEGHENY 4 AA SOUTH THOMAS JEFFERSON 5 AA EAST FRANKLIN REGIONAL 6 AA WEST CANEVIN 7 AA NORTH CATHEDRAL PREP 8 2006-2007 "A" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM A EAST BISHOP MCCORT 1 A SOUTH SERRA CATHOLIC 2 A WEST QUAKER VALLEY 3 A SOUTH MARS 4 A NORTH FREEPORT 5 A WEST SEWICKLEY ACADEMY 6 A NORTH WESTMONT-HILLTOP 7 A WEST BEAVER 8

Plum uses quick start to defeat Penn Trafford & capture GCC Crown Plum 7 Penn Trafford 2 GREENSBURG - After Plum’s semi-final win over State College, the question was asked ‘when the last time Plum won a tournament’. No. it wasn’t when David Smith’s grandfather Jim coached because he coached Penn Hills in the 1970’s before Plum began their program in 1989 and captured the Pennsylvania Class A Championship the same year. With the memory churning, we need to look no further their the Plum bench and head coach Joe Piccolino, who played for the 1997 WPIHL AA Champions who defeated Fox Chapel and the 1996 WPIHL AA Champions, who defeated Indiana, but it was the 1998 WPIHL AAA Championship series with some kid named Umberger, who scored in overtime, to beat a team from Central Catholic in the third and deciding game of the WPIHL Championship Series before a packed house at Harmarville that will long be remembered as the Mustangs greatest conquest. That was the last time Plum won anything of significance, which is a decent amount of time. Penn Trafford has never won a league, Penguins Cup or State Championship, but after 10 losing seasons in 2003, the Warriors almost upended defending State Champions Bethel Park and lost a heartbreaker in overtime after a controversial penalty gave BP a power play in overtime and the Hawks prevailed. The confidence from that game coupled with the arrival of Todd Purvis behind the bench has resulted in three consecutive Class AAA East Division titles. The Warriors consecutive division title streak may be on the line and if anyone can derail them it’s the Plum Mustangs and this championship game could be a preview of a more meaningful game on January 27th at the Center Ice Arena. PT won the 2004 Greensburg CC Invitational by defeating Franklin Regional 4-0 and is looking to make it two out of three in the Greensburg CC Invitational. At 10:04 of the opening period, Andy Weston got around the PT defenseman causing a hook and a power play chance for Plum. With 8:47 left in period number one, Vinnie Somma took a pass from Chad Covol and wristed it past Billy Taylor low to the stick side to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. At 7:29 of the first period, the Mustangs went back on the power play. With 5:59 left in the period, David Humphries took a shot from the center point and Andy Weston gathered the rebound and buried a shot up under the crossbar past Billy Taylor to extend the Plum lead to 2-0. With 3:55 remaining in the 1st, Penn Trafford received their first chance on the power play. The Mustangs would play opportunist as Vinnie Somma, stole the puck with 2:26 to play and beat Taylor inside the far post to give the Stangs a 3-0 advantage. On to the 2nd period at 10:52, Shawn O’Conner scored on the backhand to up to lead to 4-0. Plum continued its onslaught at 3:48 as freshman Vinnie Somma would not be denied as he showed the tenacity of a pit bull and banged away until the puck ended up behind the Penn Trafford goaltender and it was now 5-0. With 1:50 remaining, Somma and Chad Covol dug the puck out of the corner and Ben Colosmo finished it off to make it 6-0, as Somma picked up his 3rd assist and 6th point of the evening. In the third period, Penn Trafford finally broke through with 6:54 remaining as Chase Keibler broke John Bronder’s shutout bid on the Warrior’s 14th shot to make the count 6-1. Jessie DiPietro scored a power play goal from in between the circles with 3:38 remaining to cut the Mustang lead to 6-2. Chad Covol wrapped up the scoring with 1:13 left resulting in the final score of 7-2. So now the answer to the question as to when Plum won a tournament is now 2006 in the Greensburg CC Invitational over division rival Penn Trafford. For more Recap on the Plum Website please click on the icon or title above

Plum 4 State College 2 GREENSBURG – State College enters the 2006 – 2007 season fresh off the Open Division Championship defeating Carrick at Mellon Arena. With the largest enrollment in all of Western Pennsylvania hockey, rather than play in Class AAA, the Icers choose to participate against Class A doormats like Ferndale, Johnstown, Valley, and former AAA turnstile Woodland Hills, who are lucky to even have teams let alone compete at ANY level in the PIHL ‘Glorified JV’ Open Division. State College has faired well in the GCC Invitational defeating 3-time AAA East Division Champions Penn Trafford 3-0, Franklin Regional 3-0 and host Greensburg CC 4-2, while dropping a 4-2 decision to Greensburg Salem, who has decided to return to Class AA and play competitive hockey. Plum had a rough season playing in Class AAA in 2005-06 and head coach Sean Keller has remained on top assist Plum Alum Joe Piccolino, who has taken over the reigns of the Plum program. The Mustangs are coming off a 0-2-1 finish of the stiff competition at the St Margaret’s Fall Face-Off in a bracket with Penguin Cup AAA Finalist North Allegheny and AA powers Thomas Jefferson and Montour, which was the necessary pieces to the puzzle, which will help them compete at the Class AAA level. The Stangs have a little chip on their shoulder after last years wild card playoff loss to Baldwin and are looking to challenge for the East Division title with Penn Trafford this season. Plum defeated Fox Chapel, Kiski, Woodland Hills and tied Latrobe 2-2 in this years tournament and advanced into the Semi-Finals for the 6th consecutive year but has yet to capture the GCC Invitational Title. At 6:33 of the opening period, Ben Colosmo picked up his own rebound and beat State College goaltender Mac Weiler on the ice through the 5-hole to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Plum kept up the pressure and worked the puck through to the slot and Andy Weston buried a wrist shot on the stick side of Weiler to give Plum a 2-0 lead. Shots on goal for the first period were seven apiece. After three quick shots turned aside by John Bronder, State College went on the power play at 10:07, but John Bronder was equal to the task and the Mustangs kept their 2-0 advantage. The Icers continued to pour on the shots and finally scored as David Scultz scored on a wrist shot high to the stick side at 5:26 to cut the advantage to 2-1. Plum took advantage of a 4-4 situation as Ben Colosmo buried and slap shot high over the glove hand of Weiler from the right point to give the Mustangs a 3-1 with 2:04 left in the seconds period. Ben Colosmo buried a Chad Covol rebound with 11:51 remaining in regulation to give the Mustangs a 4-1 lead and complete the hat trick. John Bronder kept State College off the board stopping 21 of 23 Shots to help the Mustangs advance to the finals of the Greensburg CC Invitational, allowing a meaningless goal to the Icer’s Robbie Holdcroft at the buzzer to make the final count different, but the outcome was a Plum victory.