Butler Toronadoes

ROSTRAVER ~ West Allegheny coach Sean Hart knows his teams future rests in the hands of some pretty capable players in Marek Polidor and Ryne Sivitsky, who are a couple of real nice looking young players for the Indians. The combination of this youthful influx and a couple of veterans make West Allegheny a very interesting team to pull of a playoff upset or two, especially if Dan Kuzio continues to solidify his play between the pipes. Thomas Jefferson is ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 poll in Western Pennsylvania and the state of Pennsylvania. The Jaguars are a team blessed with scoring and solid defense in front of arguably the best goaltender in Western Pennsylvania Danny Hartman, who is one of the finest competitors of any player at any level. Long Time professor coach Don Powell, was not in attendance due to work commitments, but was on the cell phone monitoring his teams progress from Detroit. The Jaguars are hoping to get their lineup to full strength for the upcoming playoffs and a speedy recovery to Grant Heinauer and Brandon School. TJ went on the power play ion the opening minutes of the game, but West Allegheny had the games first big chance on a breakaway as Ian Skacan was stopped by Hartman at 11:37. The Jaguars struck first as Gary Bucci scored on the rebound at 10:21. The Indians responded on the power play as Justin Hoppe fired a shot front the left point, which hit something in front and found its way over the glove hand of Hartman to tie the game at one apiece with 8:41 to go in the 1st. TJ was buzzing the WA net at 4:39, as Bucci and Luke Wawrzeniak were stopped by Kuzio. Ryne Sivitsky found himself in alone on Hartman but could not beat him at 3:50. On to the second and West Allegheny had a golden opportunity on the power play at 6:03 in a very evenly played hockey game, but Luke Wawrzeniak stripped the Indian defense and beat Kuzio on the glove side at 4:56 to give the Jaguars the lead 2-1. Eric Holzer scored a huge goal on a one-timer at 2:58 to give TJ a two-goal cushion. The third period saw West Allegheny keep on coming, but could only beat Danny Hartman once in 27 shots. Bobby Maliszewski [11:16] and Ryne Sivitsky [9:19], both had excellent chances to cut the TJ lead but could not find the net. Thomas Jefferson was looking for the knockout punch and got it as Zach Hanbury outraced the WA defense to the puck and beat Kuzio on the stick side at 4:56. Holzer closed it out with exactly one minute left beating Kuzio high to the glove side for a 5-1 Thomas Jefferson victory and a perfect 12-0-0 record.