Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

MEADVILLE ~ It is amazing that Bethel Park and Meadville even played last evening as I-79 was a little dicey on the driving end. Maybe Wheeling Park should play their games in Meadville because the roads to Wheeling could not have been nearly that bad or is it the five games in one week or that their games are meaningless since they are ineligible for the playoffs? Anyway………..after arriving at the ‘House of Chills’ it was time to quickly focus on the game at hand………one of Western Pennsylvania’s greatest rivalries Bethel Park and Meadville before a packed house at the MARC. Meadville has struggled as of late and coach Jamie Plunkett had to be concerned since his club has gone on a scoring drought in February. The Bulldogs were still in control of their division and the number one seed if it could defeat Bethel. Bethel Park on the other hand took one on the chin Friday night against a red hot Franklin team and the vibs were starting already throughout Western Pa that this could be the year for a new champion. Head Coach Jim McVay prides his club on discipline and knows that the Hawks have a big target on their back, so dropping the game against the Panthers may have been just what the doctor ordered. The sign of a championship team is how they respond through adversity and Bethel Park has shined over the past three years when their backs were to the wall with three Class AAA Pennsylvania State Titles. In the opening minutes, Bethel Park owned the territorial advantage and the pressure resulted in an interference call in the games opening minutes. Brandon Hanley put the Hawks on top collecting a loose puck and beating Danny O’Sharuk for a 1-0 lead. Bethel Park continued a disciplined 1-2-2 forecheck with bottled up the Bulldogs and another interference call putting the Hawks on the power play at 8:13. Bethel continued its onslaught on O’Sharuk and Grady Clingan found that loose puck again and calmly deposited the rebound through the 5-hole for a 2-0 BP lead, which silenced the ‘House of Chills’. Chris Wehrle got Meadville on the board with a big blast which just trickled past Matt Feige and the crowd was now back in the game and so were the Dawgs 2-1 with 4:49 left in the opening frame. Meadville received its first power play opportunity less than a minute later, but Bethel Park played simple hockey and cleared their crease and the puck to kill it. On to the second and Meadville was coming in waves and this would turn out to be the turning point of the hockey game early on. With the Dawgs buzzing at 11:05, the puck was centered to the front of the net and Feige lost his balance…with a puck in front and a wide open net in front of him D.J. Craven’s looked to be in a prime position to tie the game, but out of no where came Johnathon Glock, who knocked the puck out of the way to safety and preserved the Bethel Park 2-1 lead. The Hawks seemed to feed off of the momentum created by that play as Conner McLean chance was thwarted by O’Sharuk at 10:41, but the Hawks would not be denied as Mike Diethorn simply outworked Meadville in front of their own net with tenacious effort and banged home a second chance and gave Bethel Park a 3-1 lead at 10:21. Meadville almost pulled within one as Brian Bahurinsky’s tip just went wide at 8:09. With a 3-1 lead, Bethel Park now settled into a simple game of getting the puck out of their zone and forcing the Bulldogs to bring it 180 feet to the Blackhawk net. O’Sharuk tried to move the play along but Diethorn intercepted a clearing attempt at 4:56 and deposited it past the sliding goaltender with 4:56 remaining in the second for a 4-1 Bethel Park lead and you could hear a pin drop in Meadville except for the contingent of Hawk faithful who brave the roads on their trip to Meadville. In the third period, Bethel Park shut down Meadville killing off Bulldog power plays and holding the Dawgs to 13 shots on the night and only a handful in the final frame. Matt Feige rebounded from a sub-par performance against Franklin to shut out Meadville the rest of the way for a huge 4-1 Blackhawk victory, which puts BP in control of their own destiny for the # 1 seed in the upcoming Penguins Cup playoffs.