Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

CASTLE SHANNON - South Park coach Bob Juha was looking to set the record straight for a late season loss in 2003 to Thomas Jefferson, which was a turning point in the Eagles season. SP opened up with an impressive win over two time State Champion Peters Twp and a pasting of Carrick for a 2-0-0 start. The Eagles would need an extraordinary effort as it faced the # 1 ranked team in Class AA Thomas Jefferson, The Jaguars took to the ice with a perfect record coming off a hard fought win over Indiana on Monday night. Tenured Head Coach Don Powell knows he has some horses and is looking forward to March this year, but also has enough saavy and experience to keep his group focused on the task at hand which would be long time rival South Park before a festive packed house at the Ice Castle. TJ’s Billy Barrett got things started for the Jags as he found a loose puck down low and walked to the net and beat SP’s netminder Ian Artim on the backhand at 11:03 for a 1-0 lead. South Park went on the power play at 10:20, but Barrett had the best scoring chance but was stopped by Artim on the breakaway at 9:10. Thomas Jefferson really picked up the pace in the middle of the opening period but Artim made several nice saves to keep it a one goal game. Eric Holzer picked up a rebound of a shot by Zach Hanbury and deposited into an empty net with just :12 remaining for a huge goal and a 2-0 Jaguar lead after some excellent puck movement by the black and gold. On to the 2nd and after TJ’s Danny Hartman made a nice stop on Tim Ryan a minute and a half earlier, the Eagles turned up the heat on TJ and made it count as Jared Miley found a loose puck and beat Hartman at 11:15 to cut the lead to 2-1. South Park thought they had tied the game at 10:59, but the whistle blew the play dead and the score remained 2-1 in favor of Thomas Jefferson. Billy Barrett extended the TJ lead at 6:37 converted a Brandon School pass from in front to make it 3-1. The Jaguars weren’t done as Zach Hanbury avoided a SP defender and fed Rob Heinhauer, who beat Artim on the far side for a 4-1 Jaguar lead at 5:44. Then TJ turned to their money man between the pipes as Danny Hartman made a great stop on Dennis Fleming and robbed Donny Remlinger on the rebound with a sprawling save with 2:02 left in the 2nd. SP came right back with another chance but Hartman stopped a backhand attempt by Tim Ryan and then calmly gloved the rebound shot by the towering Eagle Matt Slogan with just :36 remaining in the middle period. South Park needed to score on the power play at 11:19 to hold hope of any comeback but TJ killed the advantage to keep the score 4-1. The Jaguars effectively worked the puck down low in the Eagle zone and killed the clock and Hartman shut the door for a 4-1 Thomas Jefferson victory and a stronghold on the # 1 ranking in Class AA