Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

2006 Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships – Class A Quaker Valley 9 Penncrest 2 NEVILLE ISLAND – The Penncrest Lions have been on a joy ride since last March as the Lions started their journey to their first ever Flyers Cup A Championship defeating Central Bucks West and then continued their voyage at the Hersheypark Arena with a heartstopping 5-3 victory over Bishop McCort to capture the Pennnsylvania Class A title. For head coach Steve Mescanti, the thrill of being champions and the honor to defend their title has even been more enjoyable. The Lions were not the favorites to repeat as Springfield and Hershey move ahead in the Flyers Cup A seedings as the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League playoffs saw Penncrest get bounced as Springfield capture a title, which has been a prelude to State Championships the past three years as Penncrest and before the Radnor for two years have gone on to win the Pennsylvania State Title. So when the Lions and Cougars of Springfield matched up in the 2006 Flyers Cup, conventional wisdom and momentum was against Penncrest, but Mescanti’s boys edged their rivals from the ICSHL 1-0 and captured a date in this State final. Quaker Valley’s journey has been a lot longer than most but the trip has been enjoyable for those close to the program as their only Head Coach from the program’s inception in 1997 has been Kevin Quinn. The Quaker’s built their program the right way through developmental programs and bringing players up through the ranks of Freshman hockey to the Varsity level. QV can be proud that ALL of its players are home grown, with no advantage of bringing already developed players in from another team. Quaker Valley defeated long time nemesis Serra Catholic 6-0 top capture the Penguins Cup in their first ever trip and gain a spot next to the defending State Champions Penncrest Lions. The Quakers will be trying to do something for Western Pennsylvania tat has not happened since 2002 when Serra defeated Radnor to win the Pennsylvania Class A crown. After a run of ten in a row from 1993 to 2003, Western Pa holds 11 Class A State Championships and Eastern Pa has captured 6 Class titles. So before a packed house at the RMU Neville Island Sport Center and after a nervous opening sequence for QV at 14:04, red hot Furman South walked off the near boards a rifled a rocket over the stick side of Ryan McElhenny to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead. After the whistle at 12:50, Penncrest lost its composure with a retaliation penalty putting QV on the power play. But it would be Dave Bixler, who would draw a penalty just 41 seconds later to even it up in a very important turning point in the hockey game. With 7:46 remaining in the opening period, the Lions were a little overzealous on the physical play and put the Quakers on the power play with another chance to go up two goals. With 6:06 remaining, McElhenney made a point blank save on Cody Scott and the Lions were able to kill off the QV man advatantage. With 3:21 remaining in the first period, Penncrest earned an opportunity on the power play and gain a tie score and after some sustained pressure, the Lions took another aggressive penalty to even it up. With 1:02 left another penalty created a 4 on 4 situation and moments later after brother Furman went to the box, freshman Colin South showed tremendous patience on a 2 on 1 and buried a wrist shot low to the glove side with 47 seconds for a 2-0 Quaker Valley lead and then just 19 seconds later, it was Colin South beat McElhenney on a long shot that handcuffed the Penncrest goaltender and gave the Quakers a 3-0 lead as they outshoot Penncrest 14-7 in the opening period turning a tight one goal contest into a 3 goal QV cushion. On to the second and QV goaltender Zac Zinger got into the act stopping Bixler from the side of the net. Penncrest showed some frustration and put the Quakers on the power play again. Then the South’s struck again as Furman found a loose puck along the boards and fired a shot at 6:55, which Ryan McElhenney saved but like a truck Colin South crashed the net and beat the Penncrest defenseman to the puck and the Quakers now had a 4-0 lead, prompting a timeout by the Lions. With 5:53 to play nothing was going right for the Lions as they were whistled again and just 7 seconds after the face-off, Furman South buried a slapshot from the middle of the circle and the score read Quaker Valley South 5 Penncrest heading East 0. Then with 3:12 remaining in the 2nd, a QV miscue ended up on the stick of Nick Kusturriss, who beat Zac Zinger low to the stick side to get the Lions on the board 5-1, but the Quaker Valley team would be just 15 minutes from a State Championship. Although Penncrest outshot QV in the period 14-11, the Quakers dominated the first 30 minutes and it was reflected on the scoreboard. The Penncrest chances ended up safely in the capable hands of QV goaltender Zac Zinger early in the third period. And then the icing on the cake came with 10:21 remaining as Furman South intercepted a Penncrest clearing pass and then deked the Lion’s defense and lofted a wrist shot low to the stick side to give QV a 6-1 lead on a great goal for the hat trick. With 8 ½ to go and a two man advantage, the puck found Furman South’s stick again like a magnet and he buried a wrist shot to the stick side for his 4th goal of the game and a demanding 7-1 plastering of the defending State Champions. Then with 7:14 remaining, little used 4th liner John Chicots scored on his own rebound for an exclamation point and a 8-1 QV runaway. Then another goal as Mikail Lemieux unleashed a wicked slapshot that beat McElhenney with 6:33 to play to make it 9-1. Penncrest’s Dave Bixler scored a consolation goal with 4:43 to play to make the final count 9-2. Final shots were 40-36 in favor of QV. For Quaker Valley, a tremendous finish to a magical season in bringing back the State Class A Championship to Western Pennsylvania.