Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

HARMARVILLE ~ Special Report provided by Fox Chapel Hockey Club ~ After a rough 4-0 defeat against Mt. Lebanon on Thursday last week, Fox Chapel found themselves at the bottom of the Elite 8 through the weekend. Fox Chapel head coach Keith Kearney looked to keep his squad together and positive coming into their last game of their tough three game stretch, starting with a win over Erie Prep 6-1 last week and the loss to Mt. Lebanon. The game against Plum scheduled for Monday night was clearly the most important of the three, being that the winner would take over the lead of the East Division. However, the Plum Mustangs, with a 7-0-0 record, were ranked #1 in the Elite 8, with just Upper St. Clair remaining with an undefeated record (6-0-1). Plum's schedule hadn't been the toughest in the league so far, with no wins over any teams in the Elite 8, but 7-0-0 is still 7-0-0. At the start of the game you wouldn't doubt that Plum's preseason win over Fox Chapel, 4-2, in the St. Margarets Fall Face-Off was lingering in the back of the Foxes minds. Although power forward Ryan McDonald is still in the stands for Fox Chapel, struck with illness, it still did not take any wind out of the scoring power of the Fox Chapel. Matt Quigley struck first with 5:17 remaining in the first period from a rebound off of Plum's net minder J.P. Balson. PIHL's Penguin Player of the Month for November, Joey Budz got an assist, along with Dan Thiessen. Just four minutes later, Captain Jason Kreps fired a slap shot from the blue line that deflected off of a Plum defenseman and past Balson right in front of the Plum-dominated crowd. Thiessen again got an assist on the goal. Fox Chapel led after the first period, 2-0, but was out shot by the Mustangs, 6-5. The second period began with Plum again becoming relentless with shot after shot, but when Fox Chapel went on the power play, a loose puck at the blue line was picked up by a Plum penalty killer and brought it down on a breakaway for a prime scoring opportunity. Salvation for Fox Chapel would again come in the likely form of senior goaltender Todd Hendry, who snagged the shot headed for the top shelf with his glove. Hendry continued to shut down Plum's offensive strike, and Plum broke again with another Jason Kreps goal with 7:06 remaining in the second period. The Foxes seemed to be content with their 3-0 lead, but Plum was not ranked #1 for no reason, hot scorer John Kalichuk took a shot from the blue line that deflected off of FC defenseman Brad Sullivan, faking Hendry out and going into the far side of the net for Plum's first goal. The second period would end with a FC 3-1 lead, with Plum again out shooting the Foxes 13-8 in the period, with an overall 19-13 lead in shots. Fox Chapel seemed to have the game sealed at 10:09, when PIHL's leading goal scorer Joe Budz put another one past Balson with a Matt Quigley assist. The Mustangs still would not give in to the Foxes 3 goal lead. Plum's Travis Senchur then took center stage on the Power Play and walked between 2 FC defensemen and put one top shelf on Hendry to cut the lead to 2 goals with 5:10 remaining. Conceivable? It didn't seem so as another breakaway was shut down by Hendry late in the third period. But then, with Balson on the bench and the extra attacker on, Senchur again lit the light behind Hendry as he rang one off the crossbar and down into the net on a sniper shot from the point with just 35 ticks remaining. Plum would get 2 more good scoring chances before the final buzzer rang and the Fox Chapel victory was official. Plum again out shot FC in the third period 10-9. Overall shots were 29-22 in favor of Plum, but it’s the score that matters, and with a 4-3 victory over the formerly undefeated Mustangs, the Foxes move into first place in the division with their next three games against Woodland Hills, Penn Hills, and Gateway before the holiday break. Plum will face Gateway, Woodland Hills, and an improving Baldwin squad before the holiday break.