Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

2006 Nailers Cup Semi-Finals WHEELING - Story provide by the Carrick Hockey Club Abbott, Hennon, Kelly lead way The Carrick Cougars travelled to Wheeling, West Virginia to face the Wheeling Central Catholic Knights in the Nailer Cup Semi-Finals last night. It is the first step of three that the Cougars must travel to become the Open Class Champions. But this step would not be an easy one. The Cougars barely escaped their first encounter with the Knights in early February, and were outshot and outworked in stretches when they defeated WCC on Feb 20th at Rostraver. It would be the first game Coach Chuisano's boys would play in nearly two weeks and they would have to do it without Senior forward TJ Gault who was serving the final game of his suspension. But the Cougars have faced and defeated nearly every challenge placed in front of them this season, and they would get an opportunity to do it again on Wheeling Central's home ice. The first period saw over ten minutes of the Cougars dominating the puck in the WCC defensive zone, but they were unable to beat Knight goalie Tommy Pie. Then, with 4:53 left in the period defenseman Nick Kelly jumped on a loose puck in the slot and blasted a slap shot over Pie's right should to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. But Wheeling Central was not about to lay down for Carrick and with just under a minute remaining, the Knights would fire a series of shots at Cougar goalie JT Kohnen. Kohnen was up to the task making several tough saves and keeping his team ahead as the period ended. When the second period opened up the Cougars were looking to create some breathing room. It took Justin Hennon only 1:10 to bounce on a Mitchell Faust rebound and ram it through Pie. Sophomore Jay Kass earned an assist on the play and Carrick was on it's way with a 2-0 lead. After a series of penalty kills the Cougars' captain Matt Abbott scored to make it 3-0. The assists went to junior Aaron Hahne and Kass. Just :46 later Kelly would get his second of the night. This one was a power play goal and was assisted by senior Justin Deery. The Cougars appeared to be going into the third period with an impressive 4-0 lead, but took a late penalty leading to an unassisted goal by the Knight's Cory Palmer. Carrick had the 4-1 lead, but managed to lose momentum late in the period by taking several penalties and giving up the late goal. WCC had outshot the Cougars 11-9 in the period and were only down by three because Kohnen managed to stop two break aways and a number of point blank shots. The momentum carried into the third period period for WCC was quickly negated when Abbott scored on a breakaway just 23 seconds into the final frame. What made the Abbott goal even more deflating to the Knights was that it occurred on a 5 on 3 WCC power play. As Abbott has done all year, he managed to bail his team out of a tough spot. The Cougars, with Kohnen being very sharp, now had commanding lead. Just When WCC thought it could not get worse, the Cougars managed to kill the penalties, and Hennon netted his second goal just :53 after the sides were even to make it 6-1. Junior center Chris Larkin was then set up with a nice pass from Hahne with just over three minutes remaining to make it 7-1. Then, with only :14 left, Abbott would complete his first Nailer Cup hat trick with a breakaway goal to put Carrick on top 8-1 and send the Knights home for the season. The first step was complete. The Cougars have made it to the Nailer Cup finals. Wednesday at 7pm at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, the Cougars will face the winner of the Wheeling Park/Morgantown game. They will be at full strength for the first time in weeks, and Coach Chuisano's boys will be looking for the Nailer Cup tropy. It will be the second step toward the Open Class Championship. NOTES--Both Carrick and Wheeling Central were called for 13 penalties a piece. It is the second highest total for the Cougars this season (Linsley was 14). Aaron Hahne had 3 assists for the Cougars while Faust and Kass had two each. Coach Chuisano got at least one goal from each of the top three lines. Kohnen stopped 21 of 22 shots as the Cougars outshot the Knights 27-22. The defense gave up only 5 shots in the third period. Although the game was played in Wheeling, Cougar fans outnumber WCC fans by at least 2-1 giving Carrick the true home ice advantage. Carrick's only loss this season came to Wheeling Park. The Patriots scored 4 goals in two minutes of the second period and won despite being outplayed by Carrick for most of the game. The Cougars managed to beat Wheeling Park in the final seconds earlier in the season at Ice Castle, but did so without Hahne and Kelly. Carrick defeated Morgantown twice in two close games (6-4 and 4-3) and were outshot in Morgantown. GAME INFO--The player and family bus will leave the Carrick shopping plaza at 4:30 sharp on Wednesday. Anyone wishing to take the bus should call Terry Delehenty or contact an Executive Board member. We will consider ordering a second bus, but the demand must make it feasible. Game prices are $7 for adults and $5 for students. The bus will cost $13 per seat. The ride to Wheeling (even at 4:30 rush hour) is just about one hour. Anyone wishing to follow the bus is welcome.