Seneca Valley Raiders

CRANBERRY - For Bethel Park things haven't changed much over the past few years.....its like same crowd and different faces as when arriving at 7:00 for the 7:50 faceoff you can still see those Hawks filing out of the locker room for the pregame run, which is a trademark of the Jim McVay tenure. It was a pretty empty building and I enjoyed watching it ! You see, this year North Allegheny and Bethel Park both lost a dozen seniors apiece from last years squads and the Tigers were coming off big wins over Mt Lebanon and Meadville. So would they have the advantage in this big early season contest ? Hey there's a reason the Hawks have three straight Pennsylvania State Championships.....and its has little to do with last games performance and who is in those uniforms and has alot to do with tradition, preparation and belief that every time they step on that ice they are gonna just do it ! Great odds for a program who has only lost in the regular season twice in three years prior to 2002-2003. A fast moving first period and up and back they went in normal NA-BP fashion with tight checking and strong goaltending at both ends by Matt Feige and Bobby Daley. Then at 7:09, Conner McLean shot the puck just wide of the post and the puck caromed off the live boards and found its way onto the stick of Mike Diethorn, who beat Daley on the far post with a shot right on the ice to give Bethel a 1-0 lead. North Allegheny came back just 14 seconds later as the Hawks got caught on a rare odd man break as Brian Maloney found a streaking Joe Smarto who fired another shot down low to tie the game at 1-1. On to the second and Bethel regained the lead at 6:23 as Dale Arnold slammed home a rebound from a Jacobus Bleik shot and the Hawks were back on top. Less than a minute later, Feige robbed Derek Rubarsky with a great save to preserve the lead. Then NA's Daley got into the act as he made a sprawling stop on Steve Miller at 4:43 to keep the Tigers within one. At the start of the third period, Dan Zabkar gave Bethel a two goal cushion as his shot from the point found its way through traffic at 13:58 and past Daley. The score remained 3-1 until Joe Smarto scored on a wrist shot through the five hole at 3:34 and cut the lead to 3-2. NA now pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and had an outstanding opportunity as Joe Rosenberg found a loose puck in the slot but could not beat Feige and the mass of bodies in front of the net and Bethel Park pulled out an exciting 3-2 win.