Montour Spartans

ERIE This report was provided by McDowell Hockey McDowell Trojans - 5 Penn-Trafford Warriors - 2 ERIE - Throughout a hockey season, every team plays a couple of games that can be considered a test of their character. The McDowell Trojan varsity team played just such a game Wednesday night at the JMC Ice Arena versus the Penn-Trafford Warriors. And to the credit of the Trojan skaters, they came away with a renewed sense of optimism after disposing of the Warriors by the final score of 5-2 on the strength of two goals and an assist by junior Andy Kohler. McDowell came into the game with every reason to be flat. Their 1-2 start to the season included shut-out losses to league powers Meadville (4-0) and Bethel Park (7-0) which sandwiched their only win of the young season, a narrow 2-1 victory over a mediocre Seneca Valley team. Penn-Trafford made the trip north with a quick 4-0 start to the season having outscored their opponents 18-6. Included in their victory total was a 2-1 win last week at Meadville that propelled them to a #3 ranking in the PIHL this week. Their early success is no surprise to the rest of the league as it comes on the heels of a 17-7-1 record last year which was good for a #7 seed in the playoffs. After beating North Hills in an opening round game, they narrowly lost in the quarterfinals to eventual AAA state champion Bethel Park by the score of 2-1. So the Trojans would figure to have their work cut out for them if they were going to get the train back on the track. But if nothing else, McDowell was playing this important contest on home ice. And Coach Mancini’s game plan for success was simple: come out of the locker room flying and take advantage of the road weary Warriors by aggressively dictating play and putting their opponent on their heels. And McDowell would respond with success. McDowell went on the attack from the opening face-off and put immediate pressure in the offensive zone. The tenacity, determination and aggressiveness that the Trojans lacked in their three previous games was suddenly unleashed with a sudden fury. Penn-Trafford goalie Joel Sterniak would thwart the early onslaught by covering up Trojan winger Ryan Presnar’s hard shot from the point just 57 seconds into the game. But Jimmy Martin would win the ensuing face-off, and it would take just five seconds for Presnar to tip the puck to Andy Kohler who quickly swept the puck past an unsuspecting Sterniak and the Trojans had a quick 1-0 lead just 1:02 into the game. McDowell would stay on the attack and dominate possession early by generating pressure from all three offensive lines. And the dominance once again paid off as Ed Maras set up the next goal with possession of the puck behind the net from where he swung a pass to Brandon Oathout next to the net where he caught Sterniak off-guard by wrapping a shot inside the post from behind the net to give McDowell a 2-0 lead with 8:45 left in the opening period. With the offense clicking and the defense giving the Warrior forwards little room to operate, Penn-Trafford would not have a good scoring opportunity until B.J. Zagorac fired a shot high of the net at the end of a nifty give and go with 4:29 left in the period. The Warriors first shot on goal came with 3:35 left in the period, but Trojan netminder John Cleary was alert and in position to make a nice save. Despite having two power play opportunities and a 15-4 edge in shots on goal in the period, McDowell would not score again but would head into the second period with a 2-0 lead. But the second period would start off much like the first for McDowell. Martin and Kohler would team up in the red zone to feed Nick DiSanti who was positioned in front of the net from where he one-timed a quick shot past Sterniak giving the Trojans a 3-0 lead with just 1:42 elapsed in the second. Penn-Trafford would be given a chance to climb back into the contest on the power play when Andrew Sitek was whistled for boarding at the 12:01 mark. But the opportunity ended in disaster as Oathout corralled a loose puck at mid-ice and broke in on the Warrior goal. Sterniak was able to make the initial save, but a hustling Kohler was quick to gather up the rebound and put it past the prone goaltender to up the lead to 4-0 with 10:18 left in the second. Frustration was building on the visiting bench and took it’s toll as a Penn-Trafford skater was sent to the sin bin with a double-minor at the 6:53 mark. And McDowell would take advantage when defenseman Marc Mancini wristed the puck to the front of the net where DiSanti knocked it down and Matt Stahon slid it under Sterniaks pads, and the Trojans were in command with a 5-0 lead and 5:47 left in the second. The period would end without incident and the Trojans dominance in play and on the scoreboard was in direct relation to the whopping 35-8 advantage in shots on goal after two periods. But the third period would find the Trojans looking content with the 5-0 advantage and skating without the intensity and spark that got them the lead. Although McDowell played the third period more physical to Coach Mancini’s liking, they also hurt themselves by compiling three penalties. Cleary would come up big during the first penalty kill with a sprawling glove save on Warrior David Brammell’s point blank shot at the 10:15 mark. But Dan Hrovath would break up the shut-out for Penn-Trafford just 24 seconds later on a goal from in front of the crease. Eric Likar would also get in the act on the power play as his slapshot goal on a rush up ice would find the top shelf with 3:40 left in the game. But it was too little too late for Penn-Trafford as McDowell would coast to the important victory. Although the Warriors outshot the Trojans 13-9 in the final period, McDowell outshot Penn-Trafford for the game by a 44-21 margin. Andy Kohler finished the game with 2-goals and 1-assist while Nick DiSanti and Brandon Oathout tallied 1-goal and 1-assist each. Jimmy Martin added 2-assists. With an offense that looked much more improved and in sync for two periods with crisp passes and aggressive forechecking, they now have a foundation to build on. The next goal for Coach Mancini will be to capture that intensity and hustle for three complete periods of play. With the victory, McDowell evened it’s PIHL mark at 2-2 (6-5-1 overall) while Penn-Trafford falls to 4-1. The Trojans are now off until next Wednesday when they travel to Kittanning to face the Butler Golden Tornadoes in a West Division game at the Belmont Ice Complex. Face-off is set for 7:35pm. Goal Scorers: Penn-Trafford / Dan Hrovath, Eric Likar McDowell / Andy Kohler (2), Brandon Oathout, Nick DiSanti, Matt Stahon Shots On Goal: Penn-Trafford / 4 - 4 - 13 = 21 McDowell / 15 - 20 - 9 = 44

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 !

Thanks to NA for this report 1 - NA 12:55 Wes Waldschmidt 1 - NA 11:05 Matt Lancaster 2 - NH 3:23 Nick Rostek 2 - NA 1:49 Matt Lancaster 3 - NA 9:41 Dylan Rohar 3 - NH 7:32 David Hansell 3 - NA 6:15 Joe Camut 3 - NH 4:32 David Hansell SHOTS ON GOAL: NA 32 North Hills 17