Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

CORAOPOLIS -- Special Report to Pa Hockey by Joe Carson of the Shady Rest Chronicle With word of Ralph and Alf finally coming through on their contract to construct division championship trophies and news of a West Allegheny loss earlier in the evening spreading throughout the Island Sports Center, Montour sought to schedule the Cannonball for a stop in Robinson Township in Monday night’s game against Bishop Canevin. A Spartan victory would earn them the West Division crown, but the Crusaders weren’t about to lay down as they’re in a late-season fight for playoff positioning. Fate could put these two teams on the same ice again in the first round of the playoffs, so there was a lot riding on this contest. After Aaron Williams posted the win in net for Montour over West Allegheny last week, Nick Gialloreto was back in goal for the Spartans tonight. At the other end was fellow PIHL All-Star Joe Ziemanski of the Crusaders. Ralph and Alf were not on hand at this one, but the lively pair of Chet Steen and Barry Woznichiak provided an experienced and highly respected pair of referees for the contest. Mario Panucci appeared to have injured his hand on the first shift of the hockey game, but he was back out there for his next shift, making a nice clearing pass to start a rush up ice. The Spartans would not convert on that rush, but it set up a face-off in the Canevin end. After the puck was dropped, Panucci slid a pass to Zack Perry in the corner, who then found Danny Shiwarski in scoring position. Shiwarski would fire the puck off the post and in at 11:44 for the game’s first goal. Montour kept coming as Ross Polk just barely missed on a backhander at 10:14 and Panucci was stoned by Ziemanski at 8:36. Polk also set up a streaking Chad Talotta with a nice one-touch pass in the neutral zone, but Talotta couldn’t complete the play as Ziemanski again made a nice save at 7:07. Ziemanski had accumulated several nice saves before Gialloreto had to make his first save of the night at the other end, which came on a backhand shot by Jason Rogerio at 5:40. A slow, methodical first period picked up its pace late as Panucci came out on a tear. Panuci’s grit yielded him a few good scoring chances, but it was his backdoor pass that found Zack Perry, who tipped the pass towards the net and it just barely crossed the goal line. The first period ended 2-0 in favor of the Spartans, but the home team had dictated the play for the entire 15 minutes. Canevin used a strong forecheck to control the play at the start of the second, and it almost resulted in a goal by Scott Christopher off a Montour skate. The puck stopped harmlessly in the crease, however, and Montour rallied right back by springing Panucci on a breakaway. A shot to the 5-hole was stopped but as Zack Perry hunted the rebound, a Canevin defender forced Ziemanski and the puck behind the goal line. The goal came just 42 seconds in to the period and gave the Spartans a 3-0 lead. Montour kept coming with a 3-on-1 moments later but couldn’t manage to get off a shot. Canevin regrouped and threw a barrage of shots on Gialloreto, who made some key saves to keep the Crusaders off the board. Panucci again created a spark when he picked off a clearing pass at 7:10, danced behind the net, then found Perry coming to the net. Ziemanski stood his ground to make the save, and then the game opened up as the teams exchanged odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances over the next few minutes. By the time Panucci touched the ice again, the game had reached the speed he thrives on. After Danny Shiwarski was checked off the puck driving to the slot, Panucci came streaking through to corral the puck and quickly dish a blind behind-the-back pass to Perry, who pushed home a backhander in to an open net at 3:03. Montour used a flurry of shots on the Crusader net to extend their suddenly immense lead to 5-0 on a rebound goal by Kevin Bishop from Perry and Panucci with only 1.1 seconds left in the period, putting Canevin on the ropes after 2 periods of play. On to the final period, and strong work by Jeff Peters on the forecheck led to a goal by Adam Rizza on a redirection in tight. Peters and Brian Dugan assisted on the goal, which came at 13:13 of the third. It seemed like Panucci made something happen every time he touched the puck, and he nearly picked up another assist on a nice pass to Perry on a 3-on-2 at the 12-minute mark. Ziemanski again stood tall to make the stop, keeping the score 6-0. Montour got their second power play of the night at 8:10 of the third, but it was Canevin’s Dennis Zeh with the best scoring chance with a slap shot from the high slot at 7:31. Canevin’s penalty killing looked strong again, and the Crusaders got their chance on the power play just after going back to even strength. Montour boasts one of the top penalty killing units in the league, but a miscue in their own ended needed a nice glove save by Gialoretto at 4:58 to keep the zero on Canevin’s side of the scoreboard. As the seconds ticked down on the man advantage, Chad Talotta was hauled down heading in to the Crusader zone. After 12 seconds of 4-on-4 play, the Spartan power play took the ice. Panucci again created the spark, and the resulting action around the net gave Montour a 5-on-3 advantage with 3:15 to play. The Canevin kill couldn’t continue its dominance when down by two men, as Polk took a pass from Joey Clarke behind the net and set up Talotta for a quick snap shot goal from the slot at 2:29. The running clock kicked in, but Ziemanski still had to make a few great saves in the closing seconds. As the final buzzer sounded, Montour had won the game, 7-0, and had won their second straight division championship. Top 5 Fan Justin Panucci presented the Spartans with their West Division championship banner (purchased at Drucker’s General Store) in an ad hoc, post-game ceremony.