Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

Knights Pull Stunner By JOSH STROPE Riding a wave of momentum, Wheeling Central went into WesBanco Arena and won its first West Virginia State Hockey Championship with a 6-3 victory against Morgantown on Wednesday. G.T. Blass finished as the game’s Most Valuable Player, scoring a hat trick to lead the Maroon Knights to the title. Fourth-seeded Wheeling Central took the hard route to claim the title, beating John Marshall in the opening game, followed by upsetting top-seeded Wheeling Park, before defeating the second-seed Mohawks. It was Tuesday’s victory against the Patriots that gave Wheeling Central the confidence it needed. ‘‘Beating Park was a big help, and there’s nothing more you can ask for than beating Park,’’ Blass said. “That’s our city rival, a great team the whole year. ‘‘We just worked hard, played our best, and came out with a W.’’ Much like the game against Park, Wheeling Central wasted no time getting on the scoreboard and letting Morgantown know it was there to win. After a pass across the goalmouth was deflected by a Mohawks defender, Blass found himself all alone and backhanded the puck through the legs of Morgantown goalkeeper Parker Lawrence a little more than two minutes in. Later in the first, with Morgantown on a power play, Shane Garan stuck out his stick and raced down the ice. Teammate Ryan Herron was beside him as the Maroon Knights found themselves on a two-on-none breakaway. Morgantown defenders caught up with Garan, but he was able to get the puck to Herron who finished for the shorthanded goal and a 2-0 Wheeling Central advantage. Morgantown was able to cut the lead in half on its next power play chance as Ryan David picked up a rebound and scored past Wheeling Central netminder Tommy Pie. But much like the first period, Wheeling Central scored early in the second to regain its two-goal advantage as Geno Catalano beat Lawrence gloveside for a 3-1 lead. The Mohawks responded two minutes later with a goal by Alexander Theeke. Theeke took a shot from the blue line that Pie couldn’t see, and the puck trickled past. ‘‘The second goal was rolling on the end, and I didn’t get a good look at it,’’ Pie said. But before Pie could let the goal get into his head, Blass scored his second goal of the game. Wheeling Central immediately went on the power play and Blass backhanded another goal as Wheeling Central went up 4-2 just 48 seconds after Morgantown once again closed the gap. ‘‘They picked me up right away and that was great. I thanked them,’’ Pie said. And in what became a familiar pattern, Wheeling Central scored 31 seconds into the final period as Blass netted his third goal and seemingly the Maroon Knights’ first title. ‘‘After every period, it’s tough coming off and having the zamboni come out,’’ Blass said. ‘‘You get kind of stiff, but you just got to come out with the same intensity every period, and it’s really important to get that first goal in the beginning of every period to set the tone.’’ Morgantown’s best chance to get back in the game came midway through the third period as the Mohawks had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:30. But Pie came up big, and the Maroon Knights defenders laid some big hits to kill off both penalties. Pie, whose nerves were at a high the day before, was more calm and collected and it showed, stopping 30 shots. ‘‘After beating Park, everything went down,’’ Pie said. ‘‘I was able to play my best out there.’’ Herron scored an empty-net goal, and Morgantown’s Ryan Wise scored a late tally to conclude the scoring. “It feels great. I can’t even explain it,’’ Blass said. Added Pie: “It’s the best feeling ever.’’ W.Va. State Hockey Championships Final (at WesBanco Arena) Wheeling Central 6, Morgantown 3 W — Goals: Blass 3, Herron 2, Catalano; Assists: Garan 3, Grubler 2, Herron, Taylor, Stahl. Goalkeeper: Pie (30 saves); M — Goals: David, Theeke, Wise; Assists: Adams, Arthurs, David, Taylor; Goalkeeper: Lawrence (22 saves).

Beginning next week, Pa Hockey will begin coverage of the 2007 Penguins Cup Playoffs that will culminate in the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships on April 7th at the Ice Works in Aston, Pa. Since 1975, the State of Pennsylvania has competed for State Championships and this year there will be great battles in Class A, AA and AAA for the crown. Pa Hockey will bring wire to wire coverage of the playoffs with Highlights, Game Summaries and of course of much anticipated previews. In addition, we have the complete history of Penguins Cup, Flyers Cup and Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships. Only on Pa Hockey ! **** THE PENGUIN CUP PREVIEWS ARE NOW AVAILABLE**** Please check out all of the action at the bottom of the Pa Hockey Main Page for ***GAME SUMMARIES*** and Highlights [H] Penguins Cup Finals ~ Mellon Arena Saturday March 24th Class A Penguins Cup - Freeport 4 Quaker Valley 1 *Please see the Game Summary Attached to the score at the bottom of the page* Class AA Penguins Cup - Pine Richland 6 Thomas Jefferson 3 *Please see the Game Summary Attached to the score at the bottom of the page* Sunday March 25th Class AAA Penguins Cup - North Allegheny 2 Bethel Park 1 (2 OT)

Mt Lebanon 1 Meadville 1 (OT) Mt Lebanon - This was a who’s who night at the Mt Lebanon Rec Center, but with playoff implications soaring and the bat phone ringing every 30 seconds, we’ll save it for another time. Meadville (15-4-1) and Mt Lebanon (16-3-1) are part of a tiebreaker of tiebreakers of the century, but the Blue Devils really would like not like to even be a part of it since they are in control of their own destiny, with a full game lead on the Bulldogs, North Allegheny (16-4-1), McDowell (15-4-1), and Upper St Clair (14-4-1), who could all end up tied if the aforementioned schools take care of business AND Meadville is able to defeat the defending Pennsylvania State Class AAA champions. Mt Lebanon has not lost in the regular season since January 4th to Bethel Park 2-0 and rebounded from that game to tie the Hawks less than a week later 2-2. The Blue Devils have kept up their non-league slate to prepare themselves for the stretch run and it was in Meadville that coach Paul Taibi got the attention of his team with a midnight madness practice immediately after a sub-par performance against Sylvania Northview. Lebo has playing with fire ever since January in defense of their title. The great statement at center ice of the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center reads ‘Lebo State Champs 1976 and 2006’ which shows the history of a great program and building built in 1977. Meadville and Head Coach Jamie Plunkett are no stranger to these situations and the Bulldogs having been fighting inconsistencies throughout the season, that resulted in a loss to Upper St Clair and surrendering a 2-1 lead late to North Allegheny. The Bulldogs have been on both ends of the spectrum as exemplified by a 4-2 victory over # 1 Bethel Park last week in the annual Blackdog Cup. Desperation is a pretty good adjective to use As home ice advantage, a bye and a lot of tiebreaker situations are on the line as a result of this season ending game between the Bulldogs and Blue Devils and could have a huge impact on the Class AAA playoff landscape. Meadville came out flying in the first five minutes and had a couple of good chances on Robbie Behling, but could not find the net as the ice tilted to the Black and Red before a packed house at the Mt Lebanon Rec Center. The Bulldogs are a very good team when they get their half ice rotation going and they smother opponents with tenacious forechecking, which was on display in the opening period of this contest. With 4:23 remaining in the opening period, the Dawgs were whistled to put Mt Lebanon on the power play, which was unsuccessful. Mt Lebo’s shot blocking was on display late in the period as Meadville attempted to mount an attack late in the period, which ended scoreless. Shots were Mt Lebanon 7 Meadville 5 in the first 15 minutes. Mt Lebanon had its first real good scoring opportunity of the game as Jon Wilen was alone in the slot, but Meadville’s Aaron Nye blocked the shot at 10:42. 730 noonan backhand Meadville pp 622 behling nice save on tip by fedorka 417 jon wilen breakaway 408 mt lebo pp and increased to a 5 on 3 power play at 2:39 as Brooks Behling was hauled down on a breakaway. This was nullified just 6 seconds later when Lebo was whistled for an interference call, which could be a very big turning point of this hockey game. Lebo was whistled for another call creating a 4 on 3 for Meadville and a 30 second advantage to end the period as Mt Lebanon held the advantage in play and shots 10-5 in the second, but the Bulldogs held the lead going to the ice cut 1-0. Just 17 seconds into the 3rd period, Meadville took a penalty putting the Blue Devils on the power play. The Mt Lebanon power play, which looked close to scoring was a little out of sync as the Bulldogs penned them up in their own end and killed it off. Robbie Behling made a nice stop of a Luke Killmeyer backhand at 11:02 and the Dawgs went on the power play after the whistled, with a golden opportunity to extend their lead, but to no avail. An interference call on Meadville at 8:49, put the Blue Devils on the man advantage and then a scary moment as Mike Noonan and Scott Millhouse collided and the Blue Devils were accessed to even things up. Behling made a sprawling save on Pat Leone with 5:53 to play to keep the score 1-0. Meadville has struggled to hold leads late in games this season and Lebo stepped up their efforts as the game headed into the final five minutes. With 2:48 to play, the Blue Devils tied the hockey game as Mike Wagner pounced on a rebound and slid it through the 5-hole of Mike Licinski of a Taylor Phillips shot from the left point. Moments later, Lebo’s Scott Millhouse made a sliding stop of a Morgan Nickerson chance at 1:59. The game headed into overtime with a ton on the line. During the overtime period, both teams battled and limited one another’s scoring opportunities, which prompted Jamie Plunkett to pull goaltender Mike Licinski. Robbie Behling and Lebo 46 would hold off the Meadville attack and when the final buzzer rang, Mt Lebanon was elated, while Meadville was disappointed. The impact culminated with a Central Catholic victory over Upper St Clair 7-5, a McDowell victory over Canon McMillan 9-3, with a result of Mt Lebanon finishing 16-3-2 with the 2nd seed, North Allegheny 16-4-1 with the 3rd seed (winning tiebreaker over McDowell with 7-2 victory head to head), McDowell 16-4-1 (winning their first division title in over 20 years) edging out the Bulldogs for the 4th seed, Meadville 16-4-2 taking the 5th seed and Central Catholic 15-6-0 and Upper St Clair 14-5-1 will get the # 6 and # 7 seeds pending the outcome of the USC – Bethel Park finale. On this night, there is one thing that is very clear and that is that we should have some pretty interesting Class AAA games in two weeks barring no upsets. The matchups in round two with no upsets in round one will shake out with the Blackhawks taking on Seneca Valley (who narrowly lost to BP 4-2 last week with an ENG), Mt Lebanon and North Allegheny will take on either USC or Central Catholic and Meadville will travel to Erie to play McDowell. Round one will feature Meadville – Penn Trafford, Seneca Valley –Fox Chapel and Upper St Clair and Central Catholic will face Plum and North Hills, pending the outcome of the USC – Bethel finale. Let the games begin and make sure to check out the Pa Hockey previews of the 2007 Penguins Cup later this week!

VALENCIA – Pine Richland (20-0-1) has been on a joy ride in Class AA since January 5th of 2006, which is when the Rams the last time PR dropped a regular season contest to Thomas Jefferson at Rostraver. Coach Bob Kennedy inherited a pretty confident group that captured the 2006 Pennsylvania Class AA title with a win over Haverford 4-0 earlier in the spring and the 2006 – 2007 version has swept through the regular season with relative ease with convincing wins over # 2 seed Latrobe and # 3 seed Thomas Jefferson, so excuse the casual and loyal fan from Pine Richland, if they feel no one can walk on the same pavement as their team or more importantly share the same ice. The one consistent factor this season is that when the Rams face a decent goaltender, namely Ryan Homanics of Greensburg CC, Shane Bickar of South Park, Michael Cole of Elizabeth Forward or Matt Skoff of Montour, or Matt Wynn of Moon they have struggled a little to bury their respective teams and in the playoffs as they say sometimes you will run in the ‘hot goaltender’, which sends you home for the playoffs. Mike Mastracci of Peters Twp is long forgotten by most people, but almost pulled it off in the Class AA Penguins Cup Semi-Finals until the Rams rallied in edge out Peters in the turning point of the 2006 playoffs and Haverford’s Jim Hazleton almost did it to them in the State Finals. Confidence is a great thing, but overconfidence can spell disaster. Franklin Regional (14-6-1) is one of the teams in Class AA, along with Thomas Jefferson, Latrobe, West Allegheny, Montour and Elizabeth Forward has been playing some great hockey in the season’s second half. These teams have vaulted themselves into interesting playoff positions in the seeds and ALL are considered darkhorses at best due to Pine Richland’s domination. The Panthers, after a 1-4-0 start, have gone 13-2-0 since and look to be a team coming together, which could create problems similar to what the Moon Tigers did falling to the Rams 3-2 in overtime. As it turns out Franklin and Moon will end up with the 4th and 5th seeds pending the outcome of this game and the Moon-Latrobe finale on Tuesday. If you ask FR Head Coach Jim Daugherty, he is pretty excited with the fact that finally after 21 games, his whole team is healthy and seems to have worked out the travel commitments for March, so that Franklin Regional can compete with a full squad in the upcoming Penguins Cup playoffs. When the Panthers are all together, they can do some pretty good things as they took Class A State Champions Quaker Valley to double overtime in the PA Hockey Scholastic Showcase semi-finals before losing to a Mikhail Lemieux goal in the 2nd overtime, which doesn’t mean much to some people, but Pine Richland, who was in the same tournament, didn’t advance that far, probably because some of their players were missing and really could care less. One thing is for sure, when the playoff bell rings next week, all of the teams will be playing for one goal and that is to go all the way, which is why Latrobe, Thomas Jefferson and Moon coaches and reps were in attendance last night! The opening period was kind of uneventful as both teams played tennis volleying the puck in each other’s end with limited scoring opportunities. Franklin Regional awoke the intimate gathering of Panther and Ram fans as Pa Hockey top 5 freshman choice Steven Shirk picked up a loose puck in the slot and buried a snapshot high over the glove side of Stoney Hildreth to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Pine Richland has the ability to strike quickly and often and they displayed that explosiveness in the second period as Kyle Adams scored on a rebound of a Reed Loney shot with 8:30 to go to tie the game at one apiece. The Rams seized the lead in the hockey game as Dylan Trombetta streaked toward the net and brother Phil threaded a perfect back door pass for a goal and a 2-1 Pine Richland lead with 6:16 to go in the middle frame. Franklin goaltender James ‘Bobby’ Orr stood tall in goal for the Panthers keeping Pine Richland at bay and keeping the score 2-1 at ice cut. Franklin was still in this game and looked to be pretty fresh using three lines and five defensemen to counter the Ram attack and really from a standpoint of territorial play skated with Richland stride for stride. The other interesting thing that happen was that Panther defensive unit Turner Andritz and Timmy McDonough along with excellent backchecking by the forward lines, were able to keep the line of Trombetta-Trombetta-Saad limited in scoring chances and zone time for a better part of 45 minutes, which in my opinion is the key to beating Pine Richland and will certainly be a strategy of whoever faces them, and as I write this as Moon, Latrobe,Thomas Jefferson, and let’s not forget Franklin, the interested ‘Concerned Citizens’ in attendance scratched on their note pads a few thoughts for the upcoming playoffs. While all of this was going on, ‘Here’s Johnny’ Cecere walked down the slot with 11:03 to play and roofed a wrist hot to tie the hockey game at 2-2, which really got a lot of people interested in the outcome of this game, who were in attendance. Before Pine Richland could even think about mounting a response Brian Buckley stole the puck from the Ram defense and raced 80 feet to the net and beat Stoney Hildreth to give Franklin Regional a 3-2 lead with 8:59 to go. Moments later at 7:49 James ‘Bobby’ Orr toned Phil Trombetta on the backhander and ended up with a power play. The Panthers dug in and killed it off. Pine Richland stepped up their play over the final five minutes and Franklin took the jabs like a heavyweight contender, Tyler Deal’s backhand rung off the crossbar with 2:30 and FR held the 3-2 lead. The Panthers, to their credit did not sit back and ‘Here’s Johnny’ Cecere almost put the nail in the coffin as his backhand hit the crossbar behind Stoney Hildreth and the score remained 3-2. The puck headed down into the Franklin end and Tim McDonough gave chase with Phil Trombetta, and with the puck behind him McDonough rattled Trombetta to the boards, impeding his progress to the puck, which is obstruction and McDonough was whistled to the box by referee Jim Koch, who made the right call for interference. Emotions got were running high and FR sensed the upset and Pine Richland was now on the power play with 1:02 to go. Franklin, who took an untimely unsportsmanlike penalty in the Director’s Cup semi-final, had arguably their best defenseman in the box (who also got a 10-minute misconduct penalty) and a minute to kill with the # 4 seed, home ice and a bye on the line. Turner Andritz, Carl Richter, Eugene Mack, Johnny Cecere and Brian Buckley, along with goaltender James ‘Bobby’ Orr and the rest of the Panthers, who are not household names, nor illustrious travel players, completed their tasks, made their checks, cleared the loose pucks and got one more than the other team as they clock ran out. This game was familiar territory for the Panthers, in their dressed rehearsal against Quaker Valley in December. The opponent is the # 1 ranked in the State of Pennsylvania, # 1 in the Post Gazette in Western Pennsylvania, previously undefeated this season and for a season and a half, and a prohibited favorite to defend and win the 2007 Pennsylvania Cup, but this was the Pine Richland Rams, and this time they who were beaten by the ‘not under the radar anymore’ Franklin Regional Panthers 3-2 in a thriller at the Infection Connection and it counts. Maybe a squirrel finding an acorn? Well the snow is melting and for the Panthers and the rest of Class AA, they’ll be looking to gather more and Pine Richland will have to earn it now!

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.