Seneca Valley Raiders

2003 Pennsylvania Class A Champions Radnor Raiders 4 NICK RYDER 5 ROB LOOLOIAN 6 SEAN KAVANAUGH 7 BART BITTERMAN 9 BRAD DOWLIN 11 CHRIS BRENNAN 15 GREG GALLAGHER 19 BEN MORSE 20 CHRIS DAMBLY 21 GILBERT DAVIS 22 LEE SINKOW 23 ED DEVINE 24 AUSTIN COHEN 25 JONI EK 27 DOUG VON ALLMEN 29 DAN CHEATLE 32 ERIK JOHNSON 37 JASON BOCK 41 TAYLOR VIT HEAD COACH - ED RITTI III ASSISTANT COACH - ED RITTI JR - DAVID WOOD

Meadville refuses to go away quietly and storms back for 8th State Title! ICELINE ~ Malvern Prep had to feel a sigh of relief to know that they would not have to deal with Bethel Park during the week the Flyers Cup began in mid-March. The Friars have been the best team in Eastern Pa and demolished the Flyers Cup field in the preliminary’s and then defeated an excellent LaSalle team 2-1 for their 3rd straight Flyers Cup to give themselves a third straight opportunity for a Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championship. A major obstacle for Malvern Prep has been Bethel Park, who defeated the Friars in their past three trips to the finals 3-2 in 2002 at Rostraver, 2-1 in 2001 at Haverford and 4-3 in 1997 at Ice Line in three of the best State Final games in recent memory. When the Blackhawks were ousted in the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals at the hands of Franklin Regional 6-3, the Malvern Prep faithful breath a quiet sigh of relief. Class Head Coach John Graves club would be ready to capture Malvern’s first Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championship since a 1990 win over Upper St Clair 6-3 in Pittsburgh. To help them on was an overflow crowd of an estimated 1600 shoulder to shoulder, with a loud cow bell clanging and chanting Friar student section looking to give the home team a lift. For Meadville, it has been a long drought for Pennsylvania’s 7-time State Champions [6 at Class AAA]. Coach Jamie Plunkett and his Bulldogs were licking their chops to redeem the 1999 triple overtime loss to Conwell Egan at Grundy and capture their first State Title since 1996 in Johnstown, a 3-2 victory over LaSalle. The reason for such optimism this season is simple, for much of the Dawg’s season, which culminated in an 18-3-3 record, Meadville has been able to get key goals at key times late in the game to tie or win games maybe they should not have, which is a formula for great success in the playoffs. With their first ever title in the Bulldog Invitational in January 2002, the hopes where really high in Meadville, that this could be the year. The Bulldogs made it to the Penguins Cup with relative ease defeating their opponents the first three game including North Hills, Plum and arch-rival Central Catholic by a total of 16-3 and jumped all over Franklin Regional in the Penguins Cup for an impressive 8-3 win capturing their 9th Western crown. As usual a large contingent of Meadville faithful were standing the entire game with chants of ‘Let’s go Dawgs’. Meadville’s strategy against many of their opponent’s was to jump on them early in the first period. Malvern Prep turned the tables as the Friars used the huge crowd to their advantage and Mike Curran opened the scoring at 11:58 of the first period. Just 52 seconds later, Prep opened up a 2-0 lead as Chris Campanale took a Curran feed and beat Danny O’Sharuk at 11:06. Meadville cut the lead in half as D.J. Durkee scored upstairs past Mark Cetola at 7:12 of 1st period. In the second period, the Bulldogs looked to tie the game, but Campanale had other ideas as he blistered a slapshot past O’Sharuk at 12:33 sending the Friar faithful into a tizzy in the end zone. If there was a turning point of the hockey game it may have been at 9:33of the middle period as stud defenseman and Pa Hockey top 25 selection for Malvern Prep Andreas Wochtl was whistled for a two minute crosscheck, but was also given a 10 minute misconduct, which is a questionable call in a State Championship final, but nonetheless gave Meadville new life, which is a dangerous proposition. Christian Nickerson took an outstanding pass from Phill Siverd on the back door for a power play goal and more importantly cut the Malvern lead to 3-2 with 8:20 remaining in the 2nd. Justin Martin recaptured the two goal lead as he took a long lead pass from Tim Horn and beat the Bulldog defense and O’Sharuk on the breakaway at 8:20 and a 4-2 lead for the Friars. Meadville was now in trouble as the Malvern was pressing for the 3-goal lead, but O’Sharuk stood tall and the Dawgs got a huge break as the Malvern defense committed a huge sin by throwing the puck up the middle of the ice, which was intercepted by Justin Wehrle who in one motion bombed a wrist shot past Cetola on the stick side and cut the lead to 4-3 with 2:09 left in the second period. Meadville has been in this situation before and coach Plunkett inspired his team by telling them to ‘If Malvern is going to win it, lets make them earn their State Championship and not hand it to them’. The Bulldogs played inspired defensive and fundamental hockey in the third period, but the Friars matched them shift for shift. Malvern snipers Mike Curran and Chris Campanale both had good chaces in the third but could beat O’Sharuk, who faced only 8 shots but several good scoring chances for the Friars. Meadville gained the Prep zone with under five minutes left and a collision ensued between Phil Siverd and the Malvern defenseman and entangled goaltender Cetola, who was out of the crease. Meadville took advantage as Wehrle found Chris Claspy at the left point, who slammed a snapshot into the half empty net with just 4:41 left and the game was tied at 4-4. Meadville seized the moment just a little over a minute later as Brian Bahurinsky threw the puck to the net and Malvern just could stand and watch as the speedy Christian Nickerson beat the Malvern defense and Cetola to the loose puck and poked it home giving the Bulldogs its first lead 5-4 with exactly 3:00 remaining in regulation. Now the Friars backs where to the wall and they pulled Cetola for the extra attacker and had several chances, the best with under a minute to play as Curran beat the Bulldog defense, but the puck trickled off his stick in an attempted backhand. Meadville would hold on for a 5-4 victory and the Dawgs would capture Pennsylvania Cup # 8 in dramatic fashion. Coach Plunkett said it best when he said “you don’t appreciate something until its gone for seven years” and that that “this State Championship may be appreciated the most !”. The soft spoken Bulldog forward Brian Bahurinsky shared “that of all of the goals you can score in your career combined couldn’t compare with the big ‘W’ that the Bulldogs had achieved in 2003” and that really encompasses what the Meadville Hockey program is all about………winning their last game in the season and doing it as a team ! For coach Graves and Malvern, another disappointing finish to another great season falling one goal short for a third straight season, but the coach vowed to be back and capture that elusive State crown, sometimes the process takes a while and for coach Plunkett it was seven years since 1996 and the last one and for coach Graves, he will get that championship and when he does there will not be a more gracious winner than him.

Peters Twp puts an exclamation point on second straight Class AA State Championship! ICELINE ~ Holy Ghost Prep has been ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey elite 8 poll for most of the 2002-2003 season. Coach Tibbels team went 19-1-4 during the regular season and then defeated Neshaminy in the LBCSHL Championship for their first ever title. The Firebirds then carved through the Flyers Cup defeating Freedom [LVIHL], Archbishop Wood [SHSHL] and Abington [SHSHL] by a margin of 20-4 to reach the Flyers Cup final against West Chester Henderson. HGP ran into a hot goaltender in WC Henderson’s O’Neill and fell behind 3-1 late into the Flyers Cup final. The Firebirds fought back to tie the game with under five minutes to go and then got a goal from Steve Biasini in overtime to capture their first ever Flyers Cup. So now Pa Hockey’s # 1 ranked Class AA team would move onto the PA Final against the # 2 ranked team and defending State Champ Peters Twp. Peters Twp went through the regular season in an almost disinterested state and looked to be vulnerable position, but maybe they were just lulling their foes into believing that they were beatable. After capturing the # 1 seed in the Penguins Cup, the Indians smashed Hampton 9-2 and Greensburg CC 8-0 to reach the Penguins Cup against Kittanning. In the finals, Peters struck early and often to defeat the Wildcats 6-3 to capture their 2nd straight Penguins Cup and move on to play # 1 ranked Holy Ghost in the finals. Head Coach Mark Cooper used the battle cry of no respect for the defending State Champions and funnel it toward Holy Ghost. More importantly the Indians had an opportunity to establish themselves as one of the most dominant Class AA teams in State History. The game would be played in front of a partisan Holy Ghost Prep crowd and a huge student section, which filled the end zone and showed their patriotism by joining in a stirring rendition of ‘God Bless America’ which would have made Kate Smith proud. The first period turned into a penalty fest as the teams took a total of 14 penalties as Peters established a physical presence, particularly on super the scoring tandem of Paul Worthington and Ryan Gunderson. The second order of business was to test the Firebirds goaltending, who have not faced an onslaught like Peters all season. The Indians pounded Holy Ghost for a 14-4 shot advantage on goaltender Dave Monteith in the 1st with a balanced attack and broke open the game early with four goals from Matt Clackson [8:02], Mike Papciak [7:23], Matt Schwartz [2:56] and Brandon Rubeo [2:22] for a 4-0 lead at the end of one. Peters Twp displayed their penalty killing by killing two 5 on 3’s late in the first period. On to the second and Peters continued its onslaught with the penalty box filled again with 15 more penalties. Matt Schwartz added his second goal at 12:56 and Mike Sherer beat Andrew Golin on the slapshot at 3:51 to spur Peters Twp to a 6-0 lead. Holy Ghost finally took advantage as Ryan Gunderson [2:54] and Paul Worthington [1:02] took advantage of the Firebirds power plays and cut the lead to 6-2. If their was any chance for HGP, the Peters line of Christian Minella, Matt Schwartz [who finished the game with 2 goals & 4 assists totaling six points] and Matt Clackson would put an end to it with one of the prettiest passing sequences and a great backdoor finish by Minella with 33 seconds left in the 2nd period to put the Indians on top 7-2 at the end of two periods. The third period was pretty much academic as Peters added two more goals by Minella and Kevin Kustron, who took a great pass from Mike Papciak [who had a goal & three assists for four points] and HGP’s Worthington added a tally at 11:21 to make the final outcome 9-3 and a second straight Pennsylvania Class AA Championship. Kyle Kittleberger stopped several Firebird chances with some spectacular goaltending throughout stooping 23 shots. The win by Peters Twp put this team in the company of the best Class AA teams who have ever captured the Pennsylvania State Class AA Championship and opened a debate that this may be the best team in the state at any level. HGP Head Coach Brian Tibbels called Peters “better than any AAA teams in the state”. Holy Ghost had a great year, but may have just picked the wrong year to make it to the State Finals as Peters showed why many consider them the top team in the state at any level. Senior captain Matt Schwartz was very pleased that his line along with Minella and Matt Clackson accounted for five goals in his post game remarks “Early in the game it was our job to pick up our game and seize the moment” for the Indians. Kyle Kittleberger was thrilled on the defensive end admitting that the defense was looking forward to the challenge of stopping the high scoring tandem Gunderson and Worthington, he added “we really wanted to limit the time and space of Gunderson and Worthington” and was very proud of the play of his defensive unit. Coach Mark Cooper summed it up best by claiming his team had really molded through “personalities which make our team a loose bunch of guys and a very tight-knit group, which was the key to the team’s success”.

2003 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships Ice Line – West Chester, Pennsylvania March 30, 2003 Radnor overcomes a hot goaltender & scores their first State Championship! ICELINE ~ If Westmont Hilltop head coach Art McQuillan had scripted the perfect season for the Hilltoppers, he could not have imagined that his plan would go as well as the road to West Chester, which had brought Westmont to the Pennsylvania Cup Class A final in 2003. As the second half of the Western Pa season wound down, many were anticipating the match-up between three-time defending champion # 1 ranked Serra Catholic and the upstart # 3 ranked Mars Planets, winners of 18 straight victories to start the season. The ultimate match-up that never happened was foiled by Westmont, who upset Mars in the Penguins Cup semi-finals 3-2 and then upended Serra Catholic 4-3 in the Penguins Cup to capture their 1st ever berth in the State Finals after 16 straight Penguins Cup playoff appearances which ended in disappointment. The leaders for the Mighty Hilltoppers have been unquestionably Patrick Krumenacher, whose goaltending was unbelievable against Mars and Serra and Justin McCloskey, who scored the game winning goals in both games. Westmont is the first public school to win the Penguins Cup in Class A since 1992, when State College won it. Radnor started the 2002-2003 season with one goal in mind and that was to avenge their 5-4 loss to Serra in the 2002 Pennsylvania Cup final. So if coach Ed Ritti III was looking forward to playing Serra again after learning that the Eagles were in the Penguins Cup final, however pre-mature that may sound, he was probably getting a little ahead of himself. The Raiders ripped through the regular season and Inter-County play-down with an 19-1-0 record and ousting Springfield, who handed Radnor its only loss of the season. In the Flyers Cup playoffs, coach Ritti’s # 2 ranked team demolished the competition in four games outscoring everything in front of them 31-4 to put themselves in position to reach their goal of a 1st State Championship. The Raiders improved their overall team with balance across three lines, a stronger defensive unit and a measured improvement between the pipes with Joni Ek. The question remained if Radnor could complete the process by learning from a year ago and win their 1st Pennsylvania Class A Championship. Radnor came out in the first period much like they did against Serra a year ago by outshooting the Hilltoppers 14-4 in the opening period, but were held off the board by Krumenacher, who was very solid in not giving Radnor a lot of rebound chances. Westmont was whistled for two consecutive penalties at 2:47 and 2:08 to put Radnor on a 5 on 3 power play. The Hilltoppers killed off the first part of the penalties, but a great length of the ice rush by Chris Brennan, finished off by a great move on the forehand beating Krumenacher at 1:20 put the Raiders on top 1-0. Westmont killed off the remainder of the second period as Krumenacher robbed Eddie Devine from point blank range and kept the Hilltoppers within one. The second period was a little more even as Westmont began to get some opportunities as they picked up the physical play on Radnor. After Brennan was whistled for a retaliation penalty at 11:00 of the 2nd period, the Hilltoppers Brian Willet blasted a slapshot past Ek on the short side from the top of the circle and tied the game at 1-1 with 10:34 remaining. Ek and Krumenacher held their own for the remainder of the period as the 2003 Class A final headed for the final period at one apiece. Radnor could not score on the power play at 10:43 of the third, but used the momentum to gain a territorial advantage and the edge in shots for the final period of regulation of 18-5 in the 3rd. Krumenacher made several great saves and afforded his club a chance to pull off a third straight upset and a first ever State Title. The Raiders went on the power play at 7:48 and Brennan won the puck in the corner and moved it to Nick Ryder, who founded Ed Devine, who buried a wrist shot past a sprawling Krumenacher to give Radnor the lead 2-1 with 6:58 remaining. Radnor kept up the pressure and then turned to excellent fundamental hockey as the kept the puck deep in the Westmont zone in an effort to hang on. Some excellent work by forwards Lee Sinkow and Austin Cohen and the unheralded Raider defense with under 5 minutes remaining, moved the puck out of danger and helped the Radnor to hold on for a 2-1 victory and give Eastern Pennsylvania its first State Championship since Conwell Egan [AAA] in 1999 and first Class A Title since 1992, when Haverford defeated State College.

Breakaway Hockey Network will bring you all the action of the State Finals with Eastern Pa's Jeff Nolan .................make sure you tune in Sunday starting at 11:00 AM Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships Sunday March 30, 2003 Live from IceLine in West Chester, Pennsylvania 11:00 AM ~ Westmont Hilltop vs Radnor 1:15 PM ~ Peters Twp vs Holy Ghost Prep 3:30 PM ~ Meadville vs Malvern Prep Listen to the Flyers Cup Finals on Breakaway and NSN Monday - Radnor vs Cherokee Tuesday - West Chester Henderson vs Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday - LaSalle vs Malvern Prep