Announcement
Bethel Park 6 North Allegheny 3
Cranberry –
A traditional rivalry is one that is derived by the natural boundaries of geography such as Mt Lebanon and Upper St Clair and the other type of rivalry is developed when two teams meet each other on a frequent basis with something of significance on the line.
Bethel Park and North Allegheny is developing into one of those types of rivalries and for the head coaches Jim McVay and Jim Black, they really hope this is just the beginning.
The Tigers, who were the answer to the question of what program was historically is the bridesmaid of Western Pennsylvania Class AAA hockey, exorcised the demons last March to win its first Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championship. On their journey was a memorable, at least for Tigers fans, victory over a heavily favored Bethel Park team, 2-1 in double overtime, who was at the top of the rankings and just about everyone’s list to claim the State title. Don’t feel too bad for the Hawks, because in 2005, it was the same Bethel Park team that knocked off the Tigers, who were the favorites to win the Penguins Cup, 1-0 at Mellon Arena.
This game in February had its usual seeding implications and a Lebo Lite who’s who night was threatening to take place amongst the intimate gathering of people who wander into Cranberry BladeRunners for this tilt. Dr Denton was in attendance and appeared shortly after King Tut left, who was stationed with Central skipper Tom Pandolfo, amongst Tiger Sports Networ’s Jorden Dee and Don Vandergrift and everyone’s goaltending guru Bobby Black.
Bethel got the first chance on the power play at 14:32 but could not capitalize. The Hawks would strike first as Tommy Whetsel found room behind the NA defense and took a Brennan Kerr pass and beat Max Richards on the stick side to make it 1-0 at 9:42. NA had a chance on the man advantage at 7:40, but Bethel’s Chris Mandia stole the puck and hustled for a breakaway only to be pulled down causing a penalty shot. Mandia made a great move to the forehand on the penalty shot, but hit the pipe over an outstretched Max Richards and the game remained 1-0. With 3:49 to go in the period, Mandia took a Michael Seifert pass and buried a shot over the stick side of Richards to make it 2-0. The Hawks kept on coming in the opening period as Tyler Trocano made it 3-0 on his own rebound after a pass from Tommy Whetsel. This prompted a exodus of King Tut, whose could not take watching any more Bethel successes.
North Allegheny regained its composure in the 2nd period although they could not crack the BP defense. Josh Herbert got the Tigers on the board beating Ben ‘Jerry’ Garcia cleanly with 5:12 to go to make it 3-1. The hawks went on the power play, but it was NA who played opportunist as Dylan Rohar stripped the Hawk defense and broke out in a 2 on 1 feeding Josh Herbert, who buried the chance with 4:09 to make it 3-2. Moments later, the same two culprits were at it again and another shorthanded goal as Rohar showed great patience to have Hebert hustle into the play and bury a cross ice pass for a tap in and a tie hockey game 3-3 with 3:34 to play. Bethel Park appeared to be in trouble, but they came up with a strong shift at this point of the game and got a terrific break as Zack Blake’s shot from the left point hit something in front of Max Richards and bounded over the North Allegheny goaltender and into the net with 2:13 to play and a huge goal and a 4-3 Bethel Park lead. The Tigers took a very bad penalty at the end of the period, keeping the momentum with the Hawks.
Bethel Park regained its momentum during the early part of the third period and Matt Quigley’s shot through a screen at 13:35 to play beat Richards on the stick side to make it 5-3. Tommy Whetsel closed the door on North Allegheny with a beautiful wrist shot over the stick side of the NA Goaltender and a 6-3 final score for BP. For Bethel Park, renewed hope of capturing a top 4 seed and for North Allegheny, now they are in a dogfight to maintain their top 4 seed and should these teams meet again the rivalry will continue to grow!
