Seneca Valley Raiders

Every February Pa Hockey goes through the process of picking the top 25 players in Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. So before all of you tell me how political it is............or how its one man's opinion [actually two now that Matt Sacks has chimed in from Philly].....or that I have my favorites....let me ask this question ? Besides Tom Pandolfo....who has seen every team in Western Pa play ? OK after much anguish and paring down a list of about 100 players the Top 25 in Western Pa is here and its sister Top 25 in Eastern Pa is here as well. And if that isn't enough our annual list of the top 5 Fans is here and Top 5 Freshman who have bolted onto the scene as well as our Top 5 coaching performances. Finally, if you are going to battle or want to build a company the question is who would you want to be on the Board of Directors of that entity....well our Top 10 Scholars are a start and I have a sneaking suspicion some of these kids are Ivy League material ! Enjoy it ! Comments are welcome ! And if you don't like it go cry about it on PIHLWeb because I love reading uninformed nonsense and they need the 5 million [The ICSHL Website actually gets more hits than PIHLWeb for those counting over 10-15 million because they have better search engines] more hits for all that unreported income they're taking in.....The Pa Hockey Top 25 is one reason why it the # 1 Interscholastic Hockey Website in the State of Pennsylvania ! CORRECTION: Fabulous Freshman 5 should be Wes Waldschmidt whose brother Garrett is a Junior for the North Allegheny Tigers

BETHEL PARK – Nothing like a 9:00 game on a Monday night and surprise because no Junior B practice or no Hornets practice or no Midget AAA Junior Select JV Travel practice either. So everybody who is anybody was present for a big Class AA matchup between red-hot Pine Richland, fresh off a 5-1 pasting of Kittanning and Peters Twp, who shut down Indiana 3-0 in their last big game. You see there is quite a debate about Class AA between people from Kittanning, Indiana, Peters Twp, Pine Richland and of course Thomas Jefferson. So with his Jaguars playing doormat Carrick, TJ coach Don ‘the Dean’ Powell was attempting to become the first coach to scout his upcoming opponents and coach a game on the cell phone. Although BP BladeRunners has no heat, it does have pretty good cell phone reception, so coach Powell and yours truly could do their business. So with us two being the only so-called experts in the house, I will give you my take on what happened because Bulldog and Hockey North and all the other guys with big opinions, must not have any money for gas to show up for what would prove to be a classic matchup. Pine Richland and Peters Twp, in a rematch of an 11-0 game from last season, which I am sure many of the Pine Richland players remembered and would like to forget frankly. The Rams came out flying in the first period and Brian Kreit found a loose puck on the doorstep from a Ryan Tessmer shot and slammed it home for a 1-0 PR lead at 14:21. Pine Richland went on the power play at 12:41, but PT got had the best chance as Bryan Papciak raced in on the breakaway only to be turned aside by Brandon Gazzo at 11:14. Pine Richland extended its lead to 2-0 as Ryan Tessmer scored a highlight reel goal when he weaved through the Peters Twp defense and beat Rob Madore at 2:11. Pine Richland had a golden opportunity to go up 3-0 on the power play early in the second, but Peters Twp stood tall and killed it. The Indians used that momentum to cut the lead to 2-1 at 12:20 as Dan Crogan fired a wrist shot from the top of the circle to beat Gazzo on the short side. Peters Twp turned it up a notch and caught Pine Richland running around in their own end to create several chances. The Indians would tie the game at 11:05, on a terrific passing play by Chris Clackson and Si Bishop to set up Kevin Kustron, who chipped a shot past Gazzo and the game was tied at two apiece. Rams coach Jimmy Black had seen enough and called a very wise timeout to settle his troops immediately after the goal and this would pay off as Ryan Tessmer would give PR the lead again at 3:11 on a Mario Lemieux type goal as he caught Rob Madore off the post and banked it off his back at 3:11, which trickled behind the young PT goaltender to give the Rams a 3-2 advantage. Peters Twp thought they had tied the game at 12:12 but Gazzo stoned Gerry Raymond, but the Indians would not be denied as Raymond, on the back door, tipped a great pass from Bryan Papciak up under the crossbar just ten seconds later and the game was tied again at 3-3 with 12:02 remaining. The game was in the balance and both teams had chances to take the lead it through the third period with some great end to end action. Ryan Tessmer wanted to decide this game and he would be the difference. After being robbed on a great skate save by Rob Madore moments earlier, Tessmer dipsy-doodled through a host of Indians into the slot and buried a shot low on the stick side with 3:50 remaining to give the Rams a 4-3 lead. Peters would pull the goalie in the games final minute but could not tie the game and Pine Richland would prevail with an exciting 4-3 victory before an intimate gathering at BP BR.

BETHEL PARK ~ If there is one thing McDowell coach Marlin Coon would like to happen before the 2003-2004 season ends, it would be to play a couple of games with an entire lineup similar to the one that is used for a league roster. The Trojans were on the road to face Bethel Park without leading scorers injured Gary Peterson and suspended Brian Hammel. McDowell was also looking to get back on the scoreboard after being shut out by North Allegheny 7-0 and Franklin Regional 3-0. Bethel Park coach Jim ‘Mort’ McVay has had his own problems, with the off-ice circus, which has been a distraction for the Bethel Park team just to play hockey at times. Fortunately, the Blackhawks have overcome and have put together a pretty nice season, with their only 2nd half losses to division rival USC and a heartbreaking 2-1 setback to Erie Cathedral Prep, in a game where the Hawks outshot the Ramblers badly, but could not solve Prep’s Ryan Zapolski, who is one of the best goaltenders in Class AAA. Now BP would have one more issue as star defenseman All-Star Danny Zabkar will be out of the lineup indefinitely, so BP would have to come up with a big effort, but could be comforted that the game is at Bethel Park BladeRunners, where ‘there’s no place like home’. Bethel Park dominated the opening period outshooting the Trojans 17-2 with the play in McDowell’s end for most of the period. A Bethel Park power play at 5:33 resulted in the Trojans John Cleary robbing Michael Diethorn at 5:05 to keep the game scoreless. Diethorn would have another great chance at 4:01 and make it count as he buried a rebound from high in the slot to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. On to the second and Bethel extended their lead as Jason Hedglen finished off a nice give and go with Scott Scheeser at 12:22 to make it 2-0. McDowell picked up their game and started to get some chances on untested sophomore BP keeper Brian Meriam and posted 10 shots in the middle period to Bethel’s 7. Mark Skirzynski found the net with some hard work from linemates Ed Maras and Anthony Mihalik at 3:02 and all the sudden we had a hockey game at 2-1. McDowell dominated the third period with a 12-5 advantage in shots and several golden opportunities to tie the game. Brian Meriam made a nice save on Skirzynski at 7:05 and another one on Anthony Miahalik at 6:29, but those were just routine compared what would happen in the final 3 ½ minutes. The Trojans really started to break through the BP defense at this point and Ed Maras was parked right in front for what seemed to be a sure goal, but Meriam snatched the puck out of the air at 3:37 to keep the Hawks in the lead. Another great save on Mihalik with exactly two minutes left, as the Trojans could not buy a goal. McDowell kept coming and Skirzysnski walked in alone with ten seconds left but Meriam would deny him and Bethel Park would hold on with a 2-1 victory and a little turnabout from their trip to Erie last week.

SOUTHPOINTE ~ Peters Twp has won the past two Pennsylvania Class AA State Championships and last seasons team may have been one of the best teams in state history. The Indians lost their first game of the season and have reeled off 11 straight including an impressive 3-0 win over a very good Indiana team last week. So here’s Mark Cooper and his team is 11-1-0 and ranked # 2 on Class AA tied with Kittanning and all everyone is talking about is Kittanning and Thomas Jefferson….no respect I say and coach Coop wanted a little word with Mr Pa Hockey before the game…..and is was to say thanks because this is just what Peters wants is everyone to forget them, but believe me this team is coming of age with some new faces and some old ones and should be in a position to take a run at anyone as they look forward to a big grudge type match against Thomas Jefferson on February 23 in the season’s final week. Finally, it happened last night and as promised to my good friend and co-hockey nut Center Ice’s Earl Bugaile, I made a Trinity hockey game after a season and a half have seen ALL 65 Varsities play. Not knowing what to expect, I have scoreboard watched the Hillers over the past year and although they are a playoff contender this year, I was not sure of who they have and who there superstars were…..shame on me. I have known Larry Marks for several years and the coach has done an outstanding job with a program, who frankly struggles with numbers and is not real deep in the talent pool. Trinity exemplifies a team effort and excellent positional play which has brought the Hillers a respectable 5-7-2 in their 10th season and looking to build upon their first ever playoff appearance from a year ago. Trinity and Peters Twp squared off in the first period before an intimate gathering for the 9:50 game at Iceoplex on a night no one should even be on the roads in a game that promised to end before midnight [no game should start after 9:00]. Trinity matched Peters shift for shift early and both teams had a couple of good chances but the Hillers Mick Alexander and Indians Shane Frey kept the game scoreless through the first thirteen minutes. Trinity would strike first as Chris Graf slammed home a rebound at 1:28 to give the Hillers a 1-0 lead. Great start for Trinity which looked to take the lead into the intermission, but Matt Lazaro’s seemingly harmless dump into the zone from just outside the blue line was misplayed by Alexander and Peters got a big break and a 1-1 tie with just 12 seconds left in the opening period. Peters turned up the heat in the 2nd period but Alexander rebounded and made several nice save as the Indians pressured Trinity. Gerry Raymond found the net for PT as he scored on a rebound from the slot to give Peters it first lead at 8:43 of the second. The Indians would score three more times in the final period as Brandon Tingle added an insurance goal and Chris Clackson closed out the scoring late to give the Indians a 5-1 win over a tough Trinity squad. Thank you to Earl Bugaile for contributing to this game summary !

SOUTHPOINTE ~ West Allegheny coach Sean Hart has watched has his team has compiled a 5-9-2 record over the seasons first 16 games and the Indians have lost to all of the teams ahead of them in the standings including Kittanning, Montour, Indiana, Pine Richland, Thomas Jefferson [twice], Peters Twp, Canevin and Trinity. If the Penguins Cup playoffs began today, West Allegheny is sitting in 12th place and would travel to Indiana, but as it stands right now the Indians are holding on to that 12th spot by a mere half game over Moon. I think what coach Hart is looking at in the standings is what or who is in front with Trinity, Canevin and Greensburg CC all within reach, so tonight’s game had a little desperation to it. Canon McMillan has all but secured a playoff spot and should clinch home ice advantage for the playoffs, which are a month away. Coach Bob Fryer’s Big Macs or Lightning [not sure what their nickname is?] have been a pleasant surprise and held a top 5 ranking, until they got a little dose of reality as they were shelled by Kittanning last week by the score of 8-2. The Big Macs have played well against the better teams, which made this performance a little out of character. A nice turnout on just an awful night on the roads for Senior Night at Iceoplex, which is one of the best places in Western Pennsylvania to watch a hockey game, whether in the stands, which were pretty full or in Jay’s Restaurant. Canon Mac’s Shannon Anesetti was the story early as she stopped Mark Polidor at 13:54 and made an even better save on a tip from in front by Ryne Savitsky at 12:49. West Allegheny struck first as Polidor made a great move at the top of the circle faking to the right and firing a bullet to the left corner low on the stick side at 9:48 to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. At the other end, WA’s Dan Kuzio made nice save on Nick Godfrey at 8:45, but the Big Macs would tie it as Jeff Warnock muscled his way past two WA defenseman and lofted a wrist shot high over the glove side of Kuzio at 6:22. West Allegheny went on the 5 on 3 power play at 2:49 and Mark Polidor gave his team the lead on a rebound at 2:12. The West Allegheny super sophomore’s hooked up again to extend the lead as Ryne Savitsky took a great pass from Polidor and broke in all alone and beat Anesetti with a wicked backhander upstairs at 12:23 for a surmising 3-1 West Allegheny lead. Jesse Patnesky brought CM back within one on a nice play by Doug Stanton, who made West Allegheny pay for not clearing the zone and fed a wide open Patnesky for the tap in at 6:20. After Shannon Anesetti stopped Steve Sarachine in front, Polidor banged home the rebound to complete the hat trick at 4:21 and give the Indians a 4-2 lead. Sarachine would provide a big insurance tally at 10:44 of the third period on a nice pass from Polidor to make it 5-2 and Nick Godfrey would score on a rebound late in the final period at 1:27 to make the final 5-3 in favor of West Allegheny, who moved a little closer to securing a playoff spot.