Butler Toronadoes

2006 Open Division Championship State College 5 Carrick 3 PITTSBURGH – The after thought …………..the Open Division………………and the end of the road. A game that was promised and then told it wasn’t going to happen to the Carrick and State College folks by the Villans. Through lots of phone calls by the members of both organizations, the Open Championship is now a reality. So how did these teams get here? State College left the CPIHL three years ago with promises of the Penguins Cup and after a year in Class A and a memorable year in Class AAA of a zillion miles in travel and two wins, the Little Lions opted for the Open Division. So 50 odd people from State College traveled here for an 8:00 game and another promise that they will get back to University Park before 1:00 AM. The Little Lions program is in a very tough situation on the far Eastern Part of Western Pa or conversely on the far Western Part of Eastern Pa. It is also the biggest school enrollment wise in Western Pa and obviously cannot compete at Class AAA. Putting State College in Class A with no opportunity for a Penguins Cup, the reason they joined the PIHL, is not a solution either. So by deduction, I concluded that State College should play Class AA. Before we finish our thought let’s bring the Carrick COUGARS into the discussion, who had a stint with NO Penguins Cup eligibility in Class A for several years and then took a beating in Class AA needed a place to play so they opted for the Open Division a year ago and had a nice season of rebuilding their program under Chris Chusiano and another one this season. So it came down to State College, Carrick and Kiski for the spot in the Class AAA playdown to play Baldwin and after all three teams went through an entire season with only one loss apiece, Kiski was awarded the Class AAA spot. And Carrick and State College worked their way through the Open Playoffs to meet at Mellon Arena. People………….the Open Division needs to go away and ALL teams need to have an opportunity to play for a Penguins Cup/State Championship and not for an Open Championship. In no other Scholastic sport that I know of does the final game of a season end without a State Championship, except Western Pennsylvania Hockey, the land of billing teams just to have a pseudo league to pay for their mis-administration and purging Varsity hockey. Its great that Carrick and State College get to play at Mellon Arena and thankfully some ‘Concerned Citizens’ of both clubs pleaded with the Penguins to allow them to play for something they earned during this season, but my question is what is the purpose of it? So Mr Freeze and the Joker and their mis-guided administration can give another ‘gut-wrenching’ Save the Penguins speech? Because after tonight, the season is over for the winner and the loser. Even Class A with only 12 schools in Western Pa is sending a representative to play on April 8th at RMU Island Sports Center. Don’t tell that to the throng of faithful Carrick fans who shelled out $ 7 to join the intimate gathering of State College faithful to watch this game. At 10:32 of the opening period, the Carrick faithful rose to their feet as one as Mitchell Faust scored on a Aaron Hahne rebound to give the COUGARS, not Rams a 1-0 lead. State College scored on the power play with 3:07 remaining as Taylor Haney roofed a wrist shot from in tight past the Carrick goaltender to tie the game at 1-1. Just 18 seconds later Brian James scored to give the Little Lions. Matt Abbott of Carrick scored on a great individual effort just 7 seconds later to tie the game at 2-2. At 10:40 of the 2nd period, Daniel Petrick stole the puck from the Carrick defenseman and fired a slapshot through the 5-hole to give the Little Lions a 3-2 lead. The Cougars got the spark they needed with 3:08 left in the second period as Aaron Hahne broke around the State College defense and scored on the the stick side to tie the score at 3-3. With 10:55 remaining in regulation, Kirk Collins buried a wrist shot high over the glove side of the Carrick goaltender to give the Little Lions a 4-3 lead. With 5:46 to play, the COUGARS went on the power play with a chance to tie the game but failed. Down under a minute to go and Carrick earned a power play with a chance to tie with 35 ticks left and pulled the goalie and with 10 seconds left Nick Petrick scored into an empty net to give State College a 5-3 victory and the Open Division Championship.