Seneca Valley Raiders

CORAOPOLIS ~ Blackhawk coach Dave Stepanian loves the fact that his team is off to a 6-0-0 start, in first place and ranked # 4 in the Post Gazette poll. The Cougar coach knows that his team will do better when it faces division foes Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley plus Wheeling Park after that over the next week or so. Blackhawk has done it with the excellent goaltender of John Fitzgerald and the stalwart defensive tandem of Sam Kristian and Eric Steadman leading the way. Quigley has had a rough start in 2003-2004, but head coach Bob DiVito and his trusty assistant coaches Hank and Chris Cummings know having stud forward Kenny Lytle back in the lineup would boast the fragile ego of a club which is off to an 0-4-1 start with losses to ranked teams Serra, Elizabeth Forward, Quaker Valley [2-1 OT] and Wheeling Park and a tie with defending Penguin Cup champion Westmont Hilltop. The Spartans also play with heavy hearts as long time Quigley stalwart Josh Singleton passed away on 9-14-2003 and his jersey hangs above their bench in memory, as he is sorely missed by the Quigley folks. The first period saw some good end to end action as John Fitzgerald made the games first big save on Josh Backus with a sliding stop at 13:01. The deceptive Matt Stepanian showed great presence as he gathered the puck below the goal line and threw the puck at the backside of Josh Brunner and trickled behind the Quigley goaltender for a 1-0 Cougar lead at 8:37. Blackhawk had a couple chances to go up 2-0 with no avail in the middle of the first period. John Fitzgerald became the story in the opening frame as he stoned Josh Backus again from point blank range at 7:17 and made several key saves in killing off a Spartan power play to hold onto a slim 1-0 advantage at the end of one period. On to the 2nd and Drew Bosco got behind the Quigley defense and beat Brunner on the forehand at 8:57 for a 2-0 lead for Blackhawk. Quigley showed great character by turning up their game a notch led by freshmen Sean Wormald and Tim Powell, who almost scored but were turned away by Fitzgerald. Then the Spartans got a break late in the period on a 3 on 1 as Josh Backus put the puck to the net and Kenny Lytle slammed home the rebound with just 48 ticks left and cut the lead to 2-1. Quigley kept on coming and almost tied it forcing the Cougars to take a penalty and put the Spartans on the power play to start the third. Quigley almost tied it on the power play in the 3rd as Nate Dobson just missed at 13:55. The Spartans finally tied the game at 9:45 as Kenny Lytle got behind the Blackhawk defense and made no mistake as he buried a shot upstairs on the stick side to knot the game at two apiece. Blackhawk showed resilience and why they are undefeated as all of their players seem to do the little things necessary to win close hockey games, a sign of good coaching. While Quigley was pressuring to go ahead, the Cougars struck when the had to as Drew Bosco and Eric Steadman provided some nice work to get the puck into the Quigley zone and to the front of the net where unheralded Zach McMillan was stationed and hit paydirt beating Brunner on the rebound at 5:03 for the game winner and a 3-2 Blackhawk victory and a perfect 7-0-0 record.

Special Report to Pa Hockey courtesy of Upper St Clair ~ CASTLE SHANNON - USC and Mt. Lebanon renewed their backyard rivalry Monday night with undisputed possession of first place in the AAA West Division on the line. Mt. Lebanon got on the board first, when Eric Sloan scored off a feed from Jack Millhouse late in the first period. USC stormed back early in the second. The Panthers tied it when Jeff Greenberg deflected a Kris McDonough shot from the right point. Less than two minutes later, Ian Joyce scored on a brilliant individual effort to put USC on top. The Panthers looked like they might take command, but the Blue Devils capitalized on a pair of USC penalties late in the period. Dan Wilen scored on the 5 on 3 off an assist from Tony Valerino, then Valerino scored on the ensuing 5 on 4 off an assist from Eric Sloan, as the Blue Devils led 3-2 at the end of two periods. USC picked up the tempo in the third in search of the tying goal, and got it midway through the period when Kris McDonough blasted a slap shot from the left point to beat Lebo goalie Matt Vaughn, off assists from Matt McGinnis and Jeff Greenberg. Both teams threatened late but Vaughn and USC goalie Kevin Gorder each made clutch saves to preserve the tie. After Mt. Lebanon out shot USC 19-17 through two periods, the Panthers had the upper hand in the third and in overtime, outshooting the Blue Devils 11-5, for a game total advantage of 28-24. An outstanding AAA game, with end to end action and only three penalties. With the tie, USC moves to 6-0-1, while Mt. Lebanon is now 6-1-1.

HARMARVILLE ~ Cathedral Prep Pete McCormick has inherited a hard working group of players which emulates ECP’s style going back over many years. The 2003-2004 season, what the Ramblers really miss in their lineup is the scoring punch of Jeff Dionosio, Kyle Rogers, Jon Merriott, and the others who have graduated, so Prep has resorted to hard work and playing on the edge to force opponents out of their game. Combined with a super goaltending tandem of David Schumaker and Ryan Zapolski, Prep was looking to make a little noise against Fox Chapel and get back in the North Division race. The Foxes have been quietly going about their business in an impressive 6-0 start and coach Keith Kearney would like keep it a secret as he has revamped the Foxes lineup through youth and balance. Where the Foxes may be very strong is between the pipes as Senior Todd Hendry has been one of Class AAA’s best goaltenders over the past two years and while the FC offense may become overzealous at times, the future public relations magnet Hendry has come up with some timely saves and has been real steady as the Foxes head into a real critical stretch of their schedule with Cathedral Prep, Mt Lebanon and finally a big divisional battle with Plum next Monday night. One of the keys to their early season success has been the Foxes ability to get scoring from up and down their lineup and early in the first it was Sam Stack, who opened the scoring at 11:02 beating David Schumaker. The game turned into a tight checking and physical affair, but Fox Chapel would score a critical goal from its top line as Kyle Misour cashed in with a little under a minute to play to extend the FC lead to 2-0. Prep did not concede and start to apply some pressure and the result was a great chance for Andrew Doyle alone in front, but a better save by Hendry who covered the net down low to keep the two goal advantage at 12:31. The Ramblers became a bit frustrated and took some undisciplined penalties creating a 5 on 3 for the Foxes. Joe Budz hit the post for FC at 10:28, but the Ramblers survived killing off the penalties. Prep was whistled again at 4:51 putting the Foxes on the Power Play and this time Fox Chapel would not be denied as Joe Budz and Matt Quigley banged away and Budz got the final stick on it giving FC a 3-0 lead. A delayed penalty gave Fox Chapel another power play and they cashed in again as Justin Kreps found a loose puck on the door step from a Sam Stack rebound and all the sudden it was 4-0 Foxes with 2:44 left. Prep fought back as Nick Longnecker and Andrew Callighan made a nice entry into the FC zone and Callighan fed Andrw Doyle, who buried a shot up over the shoulder of Hendry at 1:52 to put Prep on the board late in the second. The Ramblers had a 5 on 3 carryover to the third,with a big opportunity to get back into the game, but Fox Chapel was able to kill off the advantage. The Foxes put the game on ice as Jason Kreps [4:50] and Adam Petrovich [3:04] put the game out of reach for a 6-1 Fox Chapel victory and a perfect 7-0-0 record heading into a big showdown with Mt Lebanon Thursday at Valley Sports Complex.

INDIANA – Over the river and through the woods to ‘the house of King Samuel’ we go…..you know the theme….up route 286 and into Indiana ….a great little town all decked out for the holidays…..the Indiana Ice Center for a pre-Thanksgiving feast between home town Indiana and their route 422 nemesis the Penguin Cup Finalist Kittanning Wildcats before a packed house over 750 strong at the Indiana Ice Center. Now Dom Glavech had to be feeling pretty good about things, but in the back of his mind a memory of a 3-2 playoff loss has a fresh wound for the Indians played at the Belmont in March. So coach Glavech figured that Mike Mentch may have similar feelings as Indiana outshot Kittanning handily but lost sending the ‘Cats’ off to Rostraver for the Penguin Cup Semi-Finals. So Indiana would start Mike Kennedy between the pipes for the # 4 ranked Indians. Jeff Smouse, on the other hand, is always the worrier and his Wildcats are ranked # 2 with a perfect 4-0-0 record with two impressive routs of decent opponents, 10-1 over West Allegheny and an 8-2 shellacking of a good Canevin team on the road. The head coach of Kittanning was on guard that his team may be a little overconfident, but hey why not Adam Toy is between the pipes and this guy has Indiana’s number over the past few years and why would Smouse have any other expectations than another strong performance before a hostial environment in Indiana with ‘the Hockey Hooligans’. The worst thing that can happen in a big game is two officials who over call the game, which destroys the opportunity to let the players decide the outcome, so the two officials assigned to this one did their best to muck it up early with penalty to Indiana at 14:31, penalty to Indiana at 12:28 and another penalty to Kittanning at 12:00 ……and with 10:00 remaining in the opening period the fans got to finally see a little 5 on 5. Through a very evenly played first period, the teams exchanged shots 5-4 in favor of the Indians, but Kittanning struck first as Pat Schneider took a big blast from the left point over the glove side of Mike Kennedy at 4:47 and a 1-0 Wildcat lead. Adam Toy made a great save to thwart a 2 on 1 between Corey Mills and Alan Halapin, Hard work towards the end of the opening period forced an Indiana penalty putting Kittanning on the power play early in the 2nd and the Wildcats capitalized as Schnieder threw a wrister to the net which eluded Kennedy and before the Indiana goaltender could find it Duston Kellner chipped it home at 14:03 and Kittanning opened up a 2-0 advantage. Indiana stuck back quickly as Zach Diamond found a loose puck from an Alan Rusiewicz shot from the left point and in one motion slid the puck underneath Toy to cut the lead to 2-1 at 13:47. Indiana turned up the heat firing 11 shots at Toy, who made a nice save on Zach D’Amico at 8:15. The Indians would not be denied as Michael Jack provided excellent work in the corner and worked the puck to the net where Corey Mills and Alan Halapin did the rest as Halapin got the last stick on it and Indiana tied the game at 2-2 with 7:38 remaining, which carried over into the final period. The Indians came out flying in the 3rd and applied a ton of pressure on the Kittanning defense, but how many times do we see a team get a lot of pressure at one end and the other team respond by scoring a huge goal to deflate the effort. So while Adam Toy was stopping everything but the kitchen sink and the kitchen sink, the Wildcats were patient for that opportunity. Not even Jeff Smouse could have predicted his young guns [Sophomore-Freshman-Sophomore] line would pull through in a big way, but they did ….so with 5:29 left Lee Heilman won the faceoff, Joey Ford moved the puck to the net and Justin Kovatch found that loose puck and banged it behind Kennedy sending the throng of Kittanning faithful into a tizzy and a 3-2 lead. The Wildcats pride themselves in forechecks and great defense, but that blow to Indiana was all they needed as the Indians took a frustration penalty with 4:37 left putting one more nail in the coffin. Indiana would have one last flurry which would end up in the hands of Adam Toy, who absolutely robbed Michael Jack from point blank range with 1:17 remaining, giving the Wildcats a huge road victory 3-2 and a perfect 5-0-0 record heading for showdowns with Thomas Jefferson 12/11 and Pine Richland 12/18.

Semi-Finals 11/23/03 ~ Pine Richland stuns NA in OT ! North Allegheny cruised into the CC Invitational semi-finals with impressive victories over Orchard Park, Central Catholic and Monsignor Bonner and the trademark on Tom Pandolfo’s regime has been the ability to hold the lead in the third period or comeback when down by excellent conditioning, timely goals and aggressive hard work by the Tigers. NA would have to accomplish the same thing against Pine Richland, but would have to do it without top scoring forward Joe Smarto. Pine Richland has seen a re-birth under Jimmy Black, who knows the talent pool at PR has been good for a while and needed some direction to get the program back to the top of Class AA to battle Thomas Jefferson, Kittanning and others for the 2004 Penguin Cup. The Rams defeated a gritty Archbishop Ryan squad and two of Class AAA’s top ranked teams Upper St Clair and Mt Lebanon, Ho …Hum 6-0 over USC and a thrilling 2-1 win over Mt Lebanon and next up would be top ranked NA. PR wasted no time jumping on NA as Adam Fodor opened the scoring for PR taking a feed from Ryan Tessmer and beating Bobby Daly for a 1-0 lead at 14:24. Daly was the story for North Allegheny in the first period stopping Adam Fodor in front at 12:37 and again at 11:03 to keep NA within one. The Tigers had an opportunity to tie the game on a two man advantage, their best chance coming when Paul Dittrich hit the post at 3:50. Dittrich would make the most of another chance late in the 2nd period scoring at 2:31 to tie the game at one apiece going to the third. Pine Richland regained the lead in the third period as Josh Phillips scored on assists from Tessmer and Tom DiDinato just 2:09 in. The Tigers tied it as Dittrich picked up his second goal at 4:57 of regulation. North Allegheny became the aggressor at this point trying to intimidate Pine Richland, but the Rams stood tall and played an even third period with the Tigers. The game went to overtime and Jordan Yoklic buried a great cross ice pass from Ryan Tessmer past Daly at 3:52 of overtime sending the Rams to their first ever Central Catholic Invitational final.