Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

CRANDALEBERRY ~ North Allegheny coach Tom Pandolfo is committed to bringing North Allegheny a state championship banner to hang at CRANBERRY BladeRunner’s and right the ship of a program which has had 31 years of talent and 31 seasons, which ended in a loss. For some of us historian’s, maybe just maybe one could remember 1977 [none of these current players where born yet so maybe some of the parents like Jimmy Pekins [Shaler] or Dennis Sheran [Central Catholic] might but probably not ? After winning the WPIHL Championship NA headed off to the Round Robin State Championships in Philadelphia. After splitting the first two games, NA scored a huge win over defending 1976 Pennsylvania AA Champions Abington 6-4, and needed a little help from Cardinal O’Hara to defeat Erie McDowell, who where locked in a 1-1 tie going to the 3rd period. If my memory serves me correctly [I was there to watch Churchill-Richland], the NA coaches, players and parents watched at the old Lafayette rink, Erie McDowell score a late goal in that game dashing NA’s hopes of a shot at a State Title. Ladies and Gentleman, that was 27 years ago, but the closest opportunity the Tigers have come to the promised land. Now as I walked into CRANBERRY BladeRunner’s, I see the Championship Banners with 1977- 1995 – 1999 for the WPIHL Champions [which was a championship in 1977 similar to the Penguin Cup] and can’t help notice the JV Championship Banners, which get equal time and frankly are an eyesore in my opinion and need to be but at Wexford Middle School or somewhere else in the scheme of trying to overcome 31 years of frustration. Oh those opportunities to win it all and Central Catholic coach Kevin Zielmanski, knows as well because in 1998, coach Z led the Viking program to the State Final only to see it slip away 3-2 to LaSalle, a team who had pasted CC 14-0 early in the season. Discipline in the form of two game misconducts cost the Vikings that title opportunity and I guess you don’t appreciate it until you don’t see it for a while. If there was ever an opportunity to be a part of the process of winning a State Championship, this may be the best opportunity since 1998 to do it, so when Central defeated Meadville in the opener, maybe the kids thought this would be their year…..and in game two against Shaler, the players could be seen with open cockiness and almost arrogance prior to that game….which they ESCAPED and probably should have lost with a 2-1 victory over a team they should quite frankly beat by 4-5 goals. While many people want to know why Central Catholic is so up and down, the proof is in the pudding and the Vikings got a little reminder in the form of nemesis Bethel Park, who defeated the Vikings 3-0 on Monday. If they didn’t learn from the Shaler game…….here it is and Coach Z should not have to tell this group of mostly seniors so I will, YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO PLAY EVERY SHIFT OF EVERY GAME AND PUT YOUR INDIVIDUAL GOALS ASIDE FOR THE TEAM GOAL….A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP……and maybe just maybe come March your team will get on a roll and jell to make a run. Franklin almost did it but ran into the master of doing it Meadville, who has a great coach but had players who fully understood the magnitude of the moment and captured it. Central Catholic has the horses but needs the commitment and North Allegheny has the comittment, but needs some of its 2nd line players to step to the forefront and become horses….this makes both of these teams somewhat contenders at this point in the season, but they better find the intangibles aforementioned come January – March if either hope to make a run. Coach Zielmanski, who a my last reckoning, is the coach of the Vikings and is a great coach, decided it was time for a change and he could not have picked a better game to do it…North Allegheny, who defeated the Vikings 4-2 a couple of weeks ago in the Central Catholic Invitational. CC was looking for a spark so it change its lines and maybe needed to play more aggressively and a little on the edge, an edge that was displayed in Meadville in the opener and hasn’t been seen since. Conor [got it!] Hickton opened the scoring as Central displayed balance across three lines, a luxury only available to 3 Class AAA teams including Mt Lebanon [who was off to play LaSalle and Malvern Prep this weekend] and Meadville, at 8:54 to give CC a 1-0 lead. Michael McGurk, one of the silent leaders of CC, caught NA napping on the power play and scored a critical shorthanded goal at 4:05 and all the sudden the Vikings held a 2-0 lead at the end of one period. North Allegheny came back in the second as Ryan Sheran scored on the power play to cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:18. The game was in the balance and the game breaker made it happen as Eddie Martin gave the Vikings a big two goal cushion at 11:31 with a goal on the power play. Bryan Adamczyk, who has been confined to limited action this season, stepped to the forefront and showed why Central has two quality goaltenders, who can play in big games by stopping 33 of 34 NA shots. The third period was a titantic battle with some good physical play as Central had the lead and looked to wear NA down with 3-4 lines of playing on the edge and nobody can do it like Central can. The Vikings went on the power play and almost put the game out of reach but Jeff Kristan stopped Matt Capalongo at 10:34. Cappy returned the favor and showed why he is maybe Central’s best all-around forward as he gave up the body to block a slap shot from the right point by Jon Bishop at 7:17. Adamczyk continued to stop NA as he robbed Bill Weiler with 2:06 putting Central on their way to a huge win. Joe Kerr capped it off scoring on an empty netter with :39 left and the Vikings may have begun to turn the corner with a big 4-1 win over a very good North Allegheny team.