Butler Toronadoes

Serra Catholic 4 Quaker Valley 2

ROSTRAVER –

         Serra Catholic and Quaker Valley represent the past two victims of the Penguins Cup Class A Championship, as Serra lost to the Quakers in the 2006 Penguins Cup and Quaker Valley fell in what I consider one of the biggest upsets in Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship history to Freeport in the 2007 Penguins Cup final. For both programs a little something to prove in 2008 as both schools are expected to be in the mix to challenge for the 2008 Penguins Cup for Class A. The two teams would face off for a pretty important seeding match-up before an intimate gathering at the Rostraver Ice Garden. 

          For the Eagles Head Coach Brian Boehm, this year represents a season where a lot of players who came in under his regime will now control the destiny of a proud program that produced State Championships in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Serra has gone through a dry spell since then, but for the first time in a long time has a very healthy bench and considerable depth in the program, especially for a Class A school. Serra has many returning players and this could be a year that the Eagles will return to prominence established previously.

         Head Coach Kevin Quinn’s Quakers captured the 2006 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship and in 2007 was everyone’s odds-on favorite to repeat and after dismantling Bishop McCort in the Penguins Cup Semis, no one would have predicted anything other than a 2^nd straight Quaker title. Freeport’s Tim Zahumensky played one of the better games in a Penguin Cup in recent memory as the Yellow Jackets stole the Penguins Cup before bowing to West Chester Henderson in the State Final. Another loss for the Quakers in the off season with the moving of Mik Lemieux to Juniors and loss of mainstay Zac Zinger to graduation.

      The first period was owned by Quaker Valley with a 10-6 shot advantage, but the game was scoreless after the opening period. Serra could not capitalize early in the 2^nd period on the man advantage but almost struck first at 9:05 as Jake Adams shot rung off the far post. Another power play for the Eagles and this time it would be Patrick Boehm who walked off the near boards from the point and buried a wrist shot high over the stick side of Zach Taylor to give Serra a 1-0 lead. QV made a mental mistake with 5 minutes to go in the 2^nd with a too many men on the ice penalty and Serra made them pay as Josh Werner tapped in a perfect cross ice feed from Jacob Allen and it was 2-0 Eagles with 3:45 to go. Quaker Valley went on the power play and Stephen Derewonko made diving stop at 1:44 and Serra killed off the penalty, but just two ticks after the penalty with :48 to play, Colin South buried a wide open chance to cut the Serra lead to 2-1. South almost tied it just 12 seconds later, but Derewonko stopped him with a terrific extended glove save and  Serra took a 2-1 lead to the ice cut.          

      The tone of the 3^rd Period would be dictated by the importance of the next goal of the contest. Partial Breakaway for Erik Manetta with 11:37 to go in the 3^rd but the effort was thwarted by a good backcheck by the Quakers and a better pokecheck by goaltender Zachery Taylor. The Eagles went on the power play with 10:52 to play and appeared to gain a two-goal cushion at 9:44, but the goal was waived off. With 8:49 to play, QV was whistled for a penalty much to the dismay of the Quaker bench, giving the Eagles another golden opportunity with a 5 on 3 advantage for a full two minutes with Noah Zamaigas in the box and Colin South off to Hornets practice to gain a two-goal advantage. QV killed it and went on a power play themselves with after killing off the Serra power play but could not tie it. With 4:09 to play, the Eagles scored the clincher as Josh Werner scored on a rebound to give Serra a 3-1 lead. The Eagles kept up the pressure as Quaker Valley looked tired and beaten after the big goal. Erik Manetta added an empty netter with 1:11 to play to make the count 4-1 in favor of Serra. Quaker Valley did add a goal with :22 to play from Ross Watko, but this game belonged to Serra with a 4-2 victory on the scoreboard and a 29-24 shot advantage for the evening.