Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

Quaker Valley 3 Bishop McCort 2 CORAOPOLIS – Quaker Valley (18-0-1) and Bishop McCort (13-4-1) is a rematch of a game, which was played earlier in the season won by QV 4-2 in which the Crushers held a 2-0 lead and the game turned around on a shorthanded goal by Mikhail Lemieux in the second period. Since that game, the Quakers have been unstoppable with 15 straight victories in league play and appear to be headed for the Penguins Cup for Class A and beyond. McCort on the other hand has been red hot themselves winning 13 of 14 games and appears to be the main challenger of the Quakers despite any rankings or records. In a game of the past two Penguins Cup Champions, this match-up will be a very good indication of what to expect in March from both teams. Opening minute pressure by QV resulted in a power play at 14:22 and the Crimson Crushers came alive with excellent neutral zone play to keep the Quakers out of the zone and kill off the penalty. With 12:01 to go Zac Seidel woujnd up a big slapshot and Zac Zinger snagged it out of the air. McCort got their first chance on the power play at 11:08 and the Quakers were the agressors as Greg Dyer intercepted a pass in the slot and whipped it to the net past Danny Mock for a 1-0 QV lead with 10:20 to go. With 4:19 to go in the opening period the Crushers got a great opportunity on the 5 on 3, but the Quakers stood tall and killed it off. Mock made a real nice save on a Greg Dyer re-direction with 1:37 left and Zac Zinger returned the favor on Dane Domonkos with :29 to go. At 9:54 McCort went back on the power play and could not score. QV got the next chance with 5:16 to go and a great individual effort by David Champe to break up a pass resulted in a QV penalty at 3:48. Dane Domonkos beat the Quaker defense and drew another penalty ten seconds later putting McCort on a 4 on 3 power play and 5 on 3, which Bishop McCort failed to mount a sustain attack and really killed the penalty for QV with lack of patience in a key turning point of the second period. Jordan Jaco just missed tying the game with under a minute to go and the Quakers headed to the locker room with a slim 1-0 advantage. On to the third and the Crimson Crushers would have to be make something happen early on to entertain an upset of QV. With 11:02 remaining in the third Breton McNamara beat two Crusher defensemen and chipped the puck past Mock to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead. Bishop came right back at 7:17 as Zac Seidel scored on a rebound past Zac Zinger to cut the lead to 2-1. The Quakers went on the power play at 7:02 and Danny Mock made a real big save on Colin South from the slot at 5:17 to keep the Crushers in the game. With 2:21 remaining on a delayed penalty Josh Herdman took a lead pass from the McCort defense and beat Zinger on a fluttering shot on the stick side to tie the hockey game 2-2. Then deliverance came for Quaker Valley as Colin South found a loose puck in the slot with 1:48 to go and buried a snapshot waist high to the glove side to give the Quakers a 3-2 lead. McCort Head coach John Brdaley, reminiscent of Steve Carlson’s infamous maneuver in the 1997 WPIHL Championship against Pine Richland was ejected and walked all the way around the boards and getting a bench minor with just 1:48 to go. The strategy almost worked as McCort responded and although shorthanded McCort’s Dane Domonkos nearly tied the game with 1:28 to go, just missing the shortside. McCort continued to be aggressive and Domonkos drew another penalty with 49 seconds to go creating a 5on 4 with goaltender Mock pulled. Quaker Valley held on for a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Crimson Crushers, sending the QV faithful into a frenzy and could be a preview of the 2007 Class A Penguin Cup next month.