Montour Spartans

CORAOPOLIS - A rainy night in December and a trek to the Airport Ice Arena ….somehow this isn’t appropriate here in Western Pennsylvania, where we usually have snow in Mid-December, but then again it isn’t really normal that the West Allegheny and Canon McMillan hockey teams are undefeated at this point in the season. No one knows this better than CM coach Dave Fryer, a former West Allegheny player and coach, who has done a great job to this point getting the Big Macs into the playoff hunt again this season. Fryer and his counterpart in this matchup, West Allegheny coach Norm Cook, have heard the vibes throughout Western Pa that neither Canon Mac nor West A has played anyone and that neither is that good. Well neither coach makes the schedule and they can only account that their respective teams are perfect with the one each they have played. The Indians have done it with offense with Ryne Savisky, Marek Polidor, Ryan Kumpfmiller and a host of WA players leading the way. The Big Macs have combined defense and goaltending with scoring from Jesse Patnesky, Doug Stanton and Justin Cormack. Noticably Stanton was missing the game and school as he was off with the Junior B Penguins, who supposedly support High School Hockey but are Kool-Aid servers similar to the Hornets and other AAA midget organizations, who continue to stick it to High School Hockey, where they recruit ALL of their players from and continue to stab it in the back. A very festive and large crowd was on hand for the late game at the Airport, which is more people who will show up to see the Junior B Penguins play tomorrow morning in Boston or wherever their travels take them. The first period saw Canon McMillan go on the power play at 12:20 but the Big Macs could not get established and the best chance was by WA Ryne Savisky at 10:34. At 10:05 West Allegheny went on the power play and just ten seconds in at 9:55 Ryan Justus scored on a slap shot high over the glove hand of Drew Stanton for a 1-0 WA lead after a nice cross ice pass by Ryan Kumpfmiller. At 7:09, Stanton made a key save on Ryne Savisky from point blank range. West A extended its lead at 6:35 as Tony Lutz took a pass from Ryan Kumpfmiller, which Lutz chipped over blocker of Stanton to make it 2-0. West Allegheny turned it up a notch and continued to pressure CM with five shots in one spurt, but at 3:07 Canon Mac went on the PP and at 2:20 after good patience WA took another penalty leaving 1:13 on 5 on 3. The Big Macs made it count at 2:05 as Eric Lang scored on a rebound high over glove hand of Dan Kuzio to make it 2-1. On to the 2nd Period and CM tied the game at 11:46 as Justin Cormack scored on the breakaway got behind WA defense and beat Kuzio on the backhand great pass by Josh Tohey who sprung Cormack to tie the game at two apiece. The Big Macs took their first lead at 10:02 as Nick Cusolito banged home a loose puck and scored into empty net after great work by # 49 Erik McKown and # 8 Corey Griffith to make it 3-2. West Allegheny tied the game at 7:38 on a brillant backhand upstairs over the glove of Stanton by Marek Polidor after a great pass by Ryne Savisky. The Indians got the lead at 5:51 as Steve Sarachene picked up the garbage after great move by Savisky who was robbed by Stanton to give WA a 4-3 lead. West A had a great opportunity to add insurance on the power play, but Justin Cormack hit the post shorthanded at 2:55 and Drew Stanton stopped Ryan Kumpfmiller from point blank range at 1:13 to keep the score at 4-3 after two periods. The start of the 3rd Period was key as at 14:30 Justin Cormack scored from the slot to tie the game at 4-4. West Allegheny dominated the remainder of the period but could not beat Drew Stanton as the Canon McMillan netminder stopped all 20 shots in the final period and several point blank chances. At 3:05, Canon McMillan went on the power play, but also could not score as the game headed for OT. In the ovetime, the silent Jesse Patnesky, who played a strong defensive game, made the best of a wrist shot beating Dan Kuzio on the stick side at 4:37 of OT and giving the Big Macs a thrilling 5-4 victory and to remain undefeated heading for a showdown with Peters Township.

ERIE - Exclusive coverage provide to Pa Hockey by McDowell Hockey The McDowell Trojans and Plum Mustangs battled to an exciting 3 - 3 overtime tie Wednesday night at the JMC Ice Arena in a game featuring two of the top teams in the PIHL. Plum is currently ranked #5 in Western PA by PA Hockey while McDowell is ranked #7.Both teams displayed a wealth of speed and firepower as the game turned into a track meet on ice. The Trojans would dent the scoreboard first when Kaylan Rhoades dumped the puck into the offensive zone, only to see it take a tricky bounce and elude Mustang goaltender Brandon King just 3:38 into the game. Even though Plum outshot McDowell in the period by a 16 - 8 margin, Trojan goaltender John Cleary would keep the puck out of the net the entire period. But Plum would keep up the tempo to start the 2nd period and the pressure finally paid off. Jonathan Smith lead a rush up ice for the Mustangs that found him with no other option than to jam home a close range shot to tie the game 4:01 into the period. And a little over two minutes later they would feed off the momentum when Mike Renna scored on a rebound and scramble in front of the net for a 2-1 Mustang lead with 8:12 left in the 2nd. But McDowell didn’t buckle as they controlled play the rest of the period. And with intense pressure in the attacking zone, Mark Skirzynski would save a clearing attempt and Brian Hammel would find Eric Trapp who scored from close range to tie the game at two with 3:02 left in the period. And this time the momentum swung in McDowell’s favor as Trapp would put McDowell back in front on their only power play of the night as he flipped a shot at the post over King’s shoulder with 1:32 left in the period. Plum wasn’t dead just yet as Renna would score his second goal of the night on another goal mouth scramble with just 17 seconds left in the period to pull the Mustangs even once again. With fast and furious action up and down the ice the entire 3rd period and overtime, both teams traded opportunities to take the lead only to see both goaltenders rise to the occasion. After Plum dominated the first five minutes of the 3rd period, McDowell would assume the upper hand after that as they outshot Plum 14 - 9. The overtime saw much of the same end to end excitement as both teams had chances to end the game. But despite all of the offensive pressure, both netminders were unbeatable. Cleary stopped 38 of 41 shots for McDowell while King knocked away 40 of 43 shots for Plum. Both teams enjoyed only one power play opportunity with McDowell capitalizing on their man advantage. Plum defenseman Phil Mains enjoyed a big night contributing 3-assists while Trojan winger Mark Skirzynski chipped in with 2-assists in his first action in four weeks following a shoulder injury. McDowell’s PIHL record now stands at 6-2-1 (12-4-2 overall) good for 2nd place in the West Division behind North Allegheny. Plum leads the North Division with a 5-1-1 record. Goals By Period: Plum / 0 - 3 - 0 - 0 = 3 McDowell / 1 - 2 - 0 - 0 = 3 Shots On Goal: Plum / 16 - 10 - 9 - 6 = 41 McDowell / 8 - 18 - 14 - 3 = 43

INDIANA - Indiana came into this rivalry game off surprising loss to Somerset prior to Thanksgiving and rebounded with an exciting 3-2 victory on the road over Greens burg CC. The Indians returned home in front of a standing room only crowd at the HOKS Indiana Ice Center and head coach Dom Glavech was hoping to extend the I H S division lead with a big win. Kittanning has had an up and down season thus far including losses to undefeated West Allegheny and Canon McMillan and a 4-3 road win at Greensburg CC. Wildcat coach Jon Yackmack is looking for some consistency out of his young club heading into December’s schedule. The first period was fast paced and at 6:11 Corey Mills burst down the left side and lofted a powerful backhand past the short side of Peter Tolman to give Indiana a 1-0 lead. Kittanning held a slim 11-9 shot advantage in the opening period. Early in the 2nd period a power play for Indiana yielded several good chances and yielded 6 shots which Tolman turned aside, but the Indians gained momentum. Then at 9:07 a big hit by Michael Jack forced a turnover and Jack gathered the puck and moved it toward the net where Steven Geisel poked it past Tolman between the 5-hole and a 2-0 lead including a 12-1 shot advantage for Indiana at this point of the period. At 6:31 of the 2nd, Kittanning had 1:40 to work with on the power play and coach Jon Yackmack saw this as opportunity to get back in game and called timeout. Mike Kennedy made several good saves on Lee Heilman and Joel Shriver and at 3:51 Kittanning had puck on doorstep and apparently scored but puck was kicked in. All of the hard work paid off for the Wildcats as Joel Shriver got his own rebound and beat Kennedy to the puck to open the scoring Kittanning. The’Boys form the Belmont’ captured the momentum with most of their 8 shots in period to that point and Peter Tolman fed off this surge with a nice save on Corey Mills at 2:14. The big goal of the hockey game came at 1:38 as Nick Onuschuk stole puck at Kittanning blue line and moved in and beat Tolman low to the glove side for a big insurance tally and a 3-1 advantage. Indiana never looked back in the 3rd Period as at 12:18 Michael Jack’s big slapshot from right point found its mark high over the glove hand side through a screen past Tolman on the power play to extend the lead to 4-1. An errant clearing pass at 9:12 was intercepted by Nick Troup, who beat Kennedy clean from top of circle with slapshot to cut the lead to 4-2. Then with 7:55 remaining, Indiana’s Joe Appolonia overpowered Tolman after great play by Corey Mills, who intercepted neutral ice pass and drive skated Kittanning defenseman before threading a perfect pass to Appolonia in the slot to the right of Tolman for a final knockout punch for the Indians and a 5-2 victory at the ‘House of King Samuel’.

NEW RANKINGS ARE HERE.....ONLY ON PA HOCKEY !!!! Pa Hockey presents a time honored tradition of Pennsylvania's # 1 Interscholastic Hockey Website. The Pa Hockey Elite 8 rankings ranks the Top 8 teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Elite 8 rankings. We have solicited the expertise of Breakaway Magazine's Matt 'the Ladder' Sacks to rank Eastern Pa's Elite 8 each week and of course I will rank Western Pennsylvania and combine these rankings into the weekly Statewide rankings. Please make sure you look for Breakaway Magazine in the local rinks as they are being distributed in both Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. From the # 1 Source in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey .....only on Pa Hockey ! Week 16 Pa Hockey Elite 8 Rankings FINAL Regular Season Rankings

CANONSBURG - *****Game Summary provided exclusively to PA Hockey by Canon-McMillan Hockey***** As an undefeated team, Canon-McMillan has a bull's eye on its chest every game; every opponent they face wants to be the team that hands the Big Macs their first loss of the season. Bishop Canevin had every intent of doing just that on Monday night, but once again Canon Mac faced the challenge and came out on top with a 3-2 win over the Crusaders. The attempted upset formula this year has been to score the first goal against Canon-McMillan, and Bishop Canevin followed that pattern when Dane Hetland snuck a shot under the crossbar from the slot for a 1-0 lead. The goal came at 12:43 and was assisted by Scott Christopher. Canevin outplayed their opponent the rest of the period to keep the 1-0 lead in place after 15 minutes of play. The action would intensify in the 2nd period, and Canon Mac evened the score 4:30 in to the period when Doug Stanton took a head-man pass from Josh Tohey to convert on a 2-on-1 break in to the Canevin zone. Stanton carried the puck to his left and looked across to a streaking Jesse Patnesky to create a lane for himself to the net and an opening on the short-side to bury a wrist shot. The Crusaders restored their lead at the 7:00 mark when Christopher slammed home a loose puck on the backdoor, with assists from Hetland and Kevin Pawlos. Canevin then battled hard to extend their lead, but CM goaltender Drew Stanton denied each of their chances. As the period wound down, it looked as though Canon-McMillan would have to attempt their first 3rd-period comeback of the season. But Doug Stanton decided to start the rally a little bit early by blasting a slap shot from the high slot for his second goal of the night with just 7 seconds remaining in the period. Justin Cormack recorded the assist on the play, and the period ended with the score knotted at 2. A tripping call against Canon Mac just 35 seconds into the final period opened the door for Canevin to regain their lead, but Drew Stanton the Big Mac penalty killers kept the score even. Canon-McMillan got a power play opportunity of their own with 9:51 to play, but several point shots and rebound opportunities were turned aside by Crusader goaltender Joe Ziemianski. But a few minutes later, Patnesky was able to beat Ziemianski and put the Big Macs ahead with a quick slap shot from the right wing circle at 5:24. Tohey earned his second assist of the night on the play, and Canon Mac had their first lead of the night. From that point, the Big Macs tightened up defensively to keep Canevin from tying the game, and Drew Stanton was able to stop all 4 third period shots to earn his 5th win of the season. He finished the game with 23 saves, while Ziemianski did one better by making 24 saves. The win improved Canon-McMillan's record to 7-0, setting up a showdown of unbeaten teams on Thursday night when the Big Macs travel to play the West Allegheny Indians. Bishop Canevin fell below .500 with the loss, moving to 3-4-1 on the year. The Crusaders play again on Thursday night when they make a trip to Johnstown to play Somerset.