Seneca Valley Raiders

2004 Pennsylvania Cup ~ Class A Radnor 5 Serra Catholic 2 Serra Catholic entered the 2004 Class A State Championship game on a roll defeating Somerset in the Penguins Cup final 3-1 at the Mellon Arena on March 28th. The play of goaltender Timmy Johnson has been just superb in the playoffs yielding just five goals in three post-season goals as the Eagles have been outshot in every game thus far in the playoffs. Serra and head coach Tom Mooney were looking to capture their 4th Pennsylvania Class A title in 5 years to move closer to Bishop McCort, who has captured five State Championships for the most of any school since the Class A championships were initiated in 1989. Serra Catholic felt and stated publicly that they received no respect for the 2002 championship and were looking forward to proving that they are a worthy champion and regardless of the outcome of this years championship, Serra has given its fans and ALL fans an exciting view of some great hockey over the past five years. Radnor is making their third consecutive trip to the finals and head coach Ed Ritti III was looking forward to his return trip to Pittsburgh after bowing to Serra in the 2002 Pennsylvania Cup 5-4 at the Rostraver Ice Garden. The Raiders have been Pennsylvania’s most dominant team over the past two seasons winning the Pennsylvania Cup Class A championship a year a go with a 2-1 win over a very good Westmont Hilltop team at Ice Line in West Chester. Coach Ritti also had a score to settle with Penguins Cup officials who harassed the coach and his team at Rostraver prior to the game [which is par for the course for people who attend about a half dozen games a year and that’s if you include the playoffs and deal with people about as well as a first grader would deal with a college Calculus class]. So coach Ritti III asked to check the paperwork of Serra Catholic and maybe send a little message to the Eagles. As the teams lined up for the opening faceoff and were announced individually, interestingly the Radnor players turned and would not even look at the Serra players. The focus of the Radnor team was very evident in the opening minutes of this championship game as the Raiders looked very sharp early pinning Serra Catholic in its own end and outgunning the Eagles 11-4 in shots. Timmy Johnson was perfect as he easily brushed aside the Radnor dominance in shots, but it was the Serra defensive trio of Josh Jones, Steven Kolbe and Ryan Noone, who kept the Raiders on the perimeter much like they did against Somerset’s high scoring trio in the Penguins Cup final. Radnor just kept on coming in the second period pounding the Eagles with 21 more shots to Serra’s 8. The Raiders Ed Devine got things started showing great patience and threaded a perfect pass to Chris Brennan, who drilled a one-timer between the legs of Timmy Johnson at 13:03 of the 2nd for a 1-0 Radnor lead. With 7:35 left in the middle frame, it was Brennan again on a great individual effort to chip the puck around the Serra defenseman and then poke it past a gambling Timmy Johnson into the empty net for a 2-0 Radnor lead. Serra tried to get back in the game by sending their forwards out of the zone a little earlier than their normal defensive posture and Bart Bitterman made them pay as the Radnor defenseman made a terrific play to intercept a lead pass then feed Chris Brennan, who hit a streaking Eddie Devine who buried a shot in behind Timmy Johnson for a 3-0 lead at 2:45. Now Radnor was in complete control of this hockey game and most fans would have just started the trophy presentations. Being around this Serra hockey team for the past five years, I can tell you that they are never out of a game. In 2001, the monumental comeback against Springfield after being down 3-0 and then coming back to win 5-4 or in 2002 when Radnor, who was outshooting them badly but watched Serra come back and magically defeat them 5-4 at Rostraver. Well it took Serra just 6 seconds to start the minds rolling again as Justin Lubasch took a wrist shot from just over the blue line which handcuffed Erik Johnson at 2:39 to get Serra on the board 3-1. Radnor took a bad penalty on the next faceoff and Lubasch set up linemate Ray Gillis with a perfect pass which Gillis tipped up under the crossbar at 2:13 and in under a minute those pesky Eagles pulled within one at 3-2. Radnor had to wonder what had become of the huge shot advantage of 33 –12 after two period as Eddie Devine was stoned by Timmy Johnson on a breakaway with 14 seconds remaining in the 2nd period to give the Raiders a little something to think about going to the locker room. Serra had again, much like the Blackhawk game and Somerset game, made their opponent expend a ton of energy producing shots but only have a one goal lead. Knowing Johnson could be the difference the Serra team must have figured they could pull another one out similar to 2002. Johnson would be the difference but in this years championship it would be Radnor’s Erik Johnson, who stopped all 13 Serra shots in the third period including a great save on Joey Manning with 9:31 left in regulation. Austin Cohen would deliver the big blow to Serra’s chances on a great pass from Brad Dowlin, Cohen beat Timmy Johnson on the breakaway on the backhand to give Radnor a huge insurance goal and a 4-2 lead with 8:00 to play in the 3rd. Austin’s brother Colby Cohen would score at 2:10 on another assist from Dowlin, who had four on the afternoon to make it 5-2 and Erik Johnson put an exclamation point on an impressive Radnor victory by stoning Ryan Noone, Steve Gruhalla and Justin Lubasch in the games final minute to give the Radnor Raiders their 2nd consecutive Pennsylvania Cup Class A crown.