Butler Toronadoes

1/17/04 ~ Meadville defeats undermanned TJ, win proves costly ! Meadville ~ BULLDOG INVITATIONAL Meadville, the # 3 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania met Thomas Jefferson, the # 1 AA team in Pennsylvania. Meadville was looking to advance into the semi-final round to defend its 2003 Bulldog Invitational title, while the Jaguars were trying to survive without leading scorers Luke Wawrzeniak, Brandon School and Derek Kelly. Although TJ put up a valiant effort through 2 ½ periods, Meadville took control of this one as Phil Siverd registered the hat trick and Evan Wisinski score twice in a 7-1 win for the Bulldogs. The win proved costly as Meadville’s leading scorer Christian Nickerson was ejected from tournament play late in the third period of a 6-1 game. 1/17/04 ~ Meadville peaks a little and soundly defeats LaSalle Meadville ~ BULLDOG INVITATIONAL Meadville, the # 3 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania and 2-0 in the Invitational met LaSalle, the # 4 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania and also 2-0 in the Bulldog. Both teams were looking to advance and claim the # 1 seed in their bracket into the semi-final round of the 2004 Bulldog Invitational. Meadville, playing without Christian Nickerson, played an inspired game as Rick Thomas scored two goals and David Moyer, Anthony Scarpino and Phil Siverd scored singles. L.G Gatson and John Williams scored for the Explorers, who had plenty of chances but were denied by Danny O’Sharuk, who made several key saves in the second and third periods to preserve the victory. 1/18/04 ~ Malvern shows why they are # 1 in Pennsylvania Meadville ~ BULLDOG INVITATIONAL Malvern Prep, the # 1 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania met archrival LaSalle, the # 4 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania in the Bulldog Invitational. The Friars entered the playoff round with impressive wins over Sylvania Northview 8-3, Cleveland St Ignatius 3-2 and a 6-1 drumming of Central Catholic. LaSalle defeated Thomas Jefferson 5-0 and Toledo St Francis before bowing to Meadville 5-2. Malvern flexed their muscles in this one with a 4-0 victory over the Explorers as freshman Bryan Mountain picked up the shutout stopping all 19 shots he faced. The Friar scoring machine for coach John Graves of Justin Martin, Chris Campanale, Tim Gehring and Warren Byrne scored and Malvern, the 2002 Bulldog champion, claimed a spot in the Bulldog Invitational finals waiting for the winner of 2003 champion Meadville and three-time Bulldog champion [1999,2000 & 2001] Cleveland St Ignatius. 1/18/04 ~ St Ignatius has the magic in Bulldog & beats Meadville Meadville ~ BULLDOG INVITATIONAL Meadville, the # 3 Class AAA team in Pennsylvania met Cleveland St Ignatius for the right to face Malvern Prep in the Bulldog Invitational final. Meadville may have been caught looking ahead a little, while the Wildcats were looking forward to a rematch of an outstanding preliminary round 3-2 contest with Malvern Prep. St Ignatius was impressive in this semi-final as Nick Anderson scored twice for the Wildcats with single scores from Jack Ubbing, Kevin Colleran and Chris Schmoldt. The Wildcats Ted Riolo faced only 12 Meadville shots as Anthony Scarpino’s second period tally was the only highlight for the Bulldogs. The Wildcats advanced to their 5th Bulldog Invitational final in 8 years to face Malvern Prep.