Seneca Valley Raiders

Mt Lebanon 2 Bethel Park 0

SOUTH PARK –

       The history of the venue for many of us who have been involved with hockey dating back to the early 1970’s is memories of the Boards and Screens being brought out by volunteers in the beginnings of the PAHL as many people from this area got their start at the South Park skating facility. Among them Philadelphia Flyers legendary goaltender Ron Hextall and the McDonalds, Lane and Lowell Jr are among the most famous and players like Mt Lebanon’s Pat McDermott and South Hills Catholic’s Rick Vernon were among the early High School Stars to have skated out of South Park. For tonight’s game, one of the finest officials in Western Pa Chet Steen, got his start prior to skating for Baldwin and was reminiscing with Tim Morgeret, who was in attendance and it’s great to see at the rink and hopefully doning the skates and stripes real soon.

        People who have been in hockey a long time appreciate the history and Jamie Cummings, who started skating for the Blue Devils 37 years ago in 1971 looked forward to this night and was so appreciative of the dual meaning of watching his son Chris, who is afflicted with Juvenile Diabetes, play in a historic event he will remember for a long long time and as well and maybe more importantly the efforts of two volunteers Bethel Park Head Coach Jim McVay and Mt Lebanon Head Coach Paul Taibi, who turned a vision of a charitable event into a night of remembrance for the 1000 + people who came through the gate and the hundreds more who lined the hillside on Corrigan Road above the South Park facility. Through the efforts of rival coaches, who worked together to build this event, promote it and then prepare their teams for an always entertaining match up, hats off for a job well done and while there was plenty of buzz about the future outdoor games, this one will be the one these kids remember as the original and first Bethel Park – Mt Lebanon Classic.

         The other memory for me at least and I am sure many others is the friendships re-kindled by Bethel Park and Mt Lebanon folks who are friends and neighbors from amateur developmental teams, who all participated in this game. These were two adjacent schools and two neighboring communities, that wore their jersey’s with pride for their school and there was no talk of travel hockey and no talk of who was missing and no talk of curfew clocks or any of that. In fact, the starting goaltenders parents, the Behling’s and the Garcia’s park next to each other in the lot and while the Garcia’s were looking for warmth prior to game, the always’s prepared Bob Behling was putting the finishing touches on the goalie equipment, while tailgaters enjoyed the moment of this long standing rivalry. When I asked Mt Lebanon Head Coach Paul Taibi to describe the atmosphere, the words that came to mind were “Fun” and “Excitement” and oh yeah “the Memories for Both Teams of this game for a Long Time”.

        So with the fire roaring in the SP Fireplace, BP TV in place high above the Boards with the voice of the Hawks Jeff Nunez on the call, some pretty pristine conditions on the ice and some dignitaries on hand for the pre-game ceremonies, all that was left to do was play the hockey game. Bethel Park (13-4-2) and currently seeded 6^th in the upcoming Penguins Cup playoffs was doned in the Orange jersey’s and Mt Lebanon (16-1-2) currently ranked # 2 in the seedings were ready to square off and make history with fans, friends, neighbors and interested onlookers around the boards and on the hillside in what Jamie Cummings described as a “Unbelievable, Magical and Passionate” event.

        The first period was a typical BP – Lebo game with close checking, clean physical play, and end to end action. The Hawks got the first chance on the power play and the Blue Devils snuffed them. Lebo’s Jon Wilen had a chance on a partial break at 9:40, but was negated on a tremendous diving play by BP defenseman Zach Blake. Another BP power play was killed by Lebo. Then with 30 ticks to play in the opening period, Chris Cummings found a streaking Ben Rascoe, but Ben ‘Jerry’ Garcia came up big for the Hawks as Lebo outshot Bethel 9-5 in the opening period.

        Bethel picked up their play in the second period and had many near misses and the others were swatted away and covered by Lebo keeper Robbie Behling as BP out shot the Blue Devils 9-5. A scoreless tie and as the temperatures dropped, the play and the anticipation of what was to come grew greater. The funny this was that no one in the place moved from their spots and the crowd on the hillside continued to grow.

        After another ice cut [there were two ice cuts, which was a pretty good idea and no curfew, which is an even better idea for ALL games], the ice was absolutely perfect for the third period. Both teams battled well into the 3^rd period and the Hawks and Lebo’s both had good chances, only to be turned aside by goaltenders Garcia and Behling or they were near misses, but instead of intensity in the crowd, in was a festive atmosphere of Fun and Competitive Rivalry, which in sports is rare these days. Mt Lebanon prides itself in the 0-0 tie and the 1-0 game and hey Bethel Park has played a few of those in their day as well, so both teams battled for the games first tally. Mt Lebanon seemed to have a slight edge in the play in 3rd period and after a pretty good power play, the Blue Devils held the zone, got the puck to Brooks Behling, who unleashed a shot from the left circle, which was stopped by Ben Garcia and found it’s way onto the stick of Jon Wilen, who found the net with 2:31 to play in regulation giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead and sending the Lebo Lunnies on the hillside into a frenzy. Bethel feveriously worked to gain the Lebo zone in the final minutes, but the Blue Devils have been there before an went into lock down mode to secure their incredible 10^th shutout of the season including Robbie Behling’s 8^th and denied coach McVay’s Hawks and when Ben Rascoe, who had a ski mask on fit for a Holiday in Aspen got the puck alone behind the BP defense, he slid it into an empty cage with :19 to play, Mt Lebanon secured a 2-0 victory.