Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

Franklin Regional 4 Kittanning 3 [OT] Kittanning advanced to the 2006 Penguins Cup before losing to Pine Richland in the Final in March of last year. With much of the team returning and the continuity in the coaching, Head Coach Jon Yackmack had to have optimism coming into this season given those factors. The Wildcats were a TEAM in every sense as a frenzy grew at the Belmont enough to get long-time Kittanning faithful Max Pozzuto and Tim Lane to die the hair gold. Oh how a couple of months can change a lot if not everything and if the Cats had no luck, it may be better than the bad stretch of misfortune hitting the program. The latest setback was an injury to Nick Troup, who now has his arm in a cast, which is the latest snafu for Kittanning. Kittanning assistant coach Jamie King cited Franklin Regional as a very good reason, as he reminded yours truly of the 2-1 double overtime win in the 1997 WPIHL playoffs over FR as the ignition of Kittanning’s fortunes and the ten year run since then that has resulted in a handful of Penguins Cup finals and the annual run the Wildcats seem to put together to compete for the top spot in Class AA. Franklin Regional has been back in Class AA for the 2006-2007 season and has found life in this classification to be up and down depending on the mood of coach Jim Daugherty’s club. A 1-4 start followed by an 8 game run to vault the Panthers to near the top of the rankings and recently two disappointing performances losing to Indiana and Greensburg CC has FR at 10-6-0 and in the hunt for a bye and home playoff berth for the team, but will have to be a result of another winning run over the final month of the season. Talented sophomore Patrick Coyne is now back in the lineup, which gives the Panthers depth a boost, but the question remains will the Panthers play one game this season with their entire roster in the lineup as distractions of all important amateur practices may become the cancer leading to playoff elimination in March. If you don’t believe me just look back at the 2003 Penguins Cup finals, when the side show cost this program a very rare opportunity to advance to the Pennsylvania State Finals and an emabrassing beating at the hands of eventual State Champions Meadville. The Franklin Regional program has been in existence for 26 years and never gotten to the promised land and with limited numbers remaining maybe never be afforded an opportunity again. Kittanning looked like a much different team than we have seen this season in the opening minutes working over the Panthers with good play at both ends of the ice and took the lead on a goal by Zach Avi at 11:25 of the first. Lucas Sasala gave the Kittanning more reason for optimism with 9:42 remaining in the opening period making it 2-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Franklin Regional freshman defenseman Michael Adams lit the lamp with 8:21 to go in the period to get the Panthers back in the game 2-1. FR started to find its legs late in the period and scored the equalizer as hardworking forward Brian Buckley scored on a rebound on the power play with just 2:32 remaining and the score was tied at two apiece. On to the second and Franklin started to open up the Kittanning defense pouring the shots on Joey Mecurio, who was standing tall between the pipes. A great pass from Carl Richter to a streaking Eugene Mack on the power play gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead early in the period at 12:52. Mecurio made several nice stops as the shots were 31-14 in favor of Franklin, but Kittanning was still very much in this hockey game and the Wildcats put together a very nice stretch of hard work and 12-1 shot advantage over the last half of the second period and would tie the game as Zach Avi got the equalizer on a pretty passing play with 3:32 remaining in the second. The play came after a Kittanning shot wrang off the pipe and fell harmlessly under Panther goaltender Anthony Livecchi, who made several stops himself. The Panthers and Wildcats battled through the third period with Kittanning holding an advantage in shots 10-6 in the final period of regulation. Both Liveechi and Mecurio were equal to the task pitching a shutout in the final period. Kittanning had a golden opportunity late in the period on the power play with 2 ½ left, but the FR goaltender and defense stiffened to send the game to overtime. Kittanning was whistled for a penalty behind the play with 8 ticks left, giving FR the power play in overtime. Joey Mecurio was on fire in net for Kittanning robbing Eugene Mack on the back door with a sliding save in the opening minute of the overtime period. The Panthers kept on the pressure and Brian Buckley’s shot wandered out in front where Ryan Kramer got loose and he banged home the rebound to give the Panthers a hard fought 4-3 overtime victory with 3:25 left in OT and only 17 seconds left on the power play.

Morgantown, Wheeling Park, Wheeling Central Catholic ,Linsly & John Marshall will compete for the 3rd West Virginia State Hockey Championships at the WestBanco Arena in Wheeling Monday February 28 Wheeling CC 5 John Marshall 1 Tuesday February 29 Wheeling CC 2 Wheeling Park 1 Morgantown 6 Linsly 1 Wednesday March 1st ~ 3rd West Virginia State Hockey Championship Wheeling CC 6 Morgantown 3 ***Congratulation to the Maroon Knights of Wheeling CC***

2007 Chicago Showcase April 18-22, 2007 The Edge ~ Bensenville, Illinois Team Pittsburgh Schedule Michigan 4 Pittsburgh 1 HIGHLIGHTS: Michigan builds a 3-0 lead until Chris Urso scored on a rebound. Pittsburgh 3 North Dakota 2 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Pittsburgh 4 Illinois 1 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Saturday April 21st ~ Quarter-Finals Michigan 4 Ohio 7 Minnesota 2 New York 3 Pittsburgh 2 Missouri 1 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Northern New England 1 Wisconsin 6 Sunday - Semi-Finals Pittsburgh 5 New York 4 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Wisconsin 7 Ohio 0 Championship Pittsburgh 5 Wisconsin 4 [Shootout Pittsburgh 5 Wisconsin 4] ***GAME SUMMARIES**** 2007 Team Pittsburgh KENNY LEHMANN BETHEL PARK F DAVID SPADACENE BETHEL PARK F LOGAN BANNON BETHEL PARK F BRYAN BROWN BETHEL PARK F CHRIS URSO CENTRAL CATHOLIC F TIM MCDONOUGH FRANKLIN REGIONAL D ZACH HEPLER FREEPORT D NICK VUKMAROVICH GREENSBURG CC F LUKE KILLMEYER MEADVILLE F MORGAN NICKERSON MEADVILLE F KEVIN BISHOP MONTOUR D MICHAEL ROMAN MT LEBANON D ROB BEHLING MT LEBANON G MAX RICHARDS NORTH ALLEGHENY G PHIL TROMBETTA PINE RICHLAND F NICK JONES SENECA VALLEY D MATT JARRETT SENECA VALLEY F TYLER URDA SERRA CATHOLIC D JONO LOHMAN UPPER ST CLAIR F RYAN KUMPFMILLER WEST ALLEGHENY F JIM MCVAY BETHEL PARK HEAD COACH DAVE FRYER ASSISTANT GINA COLLIGAN TEAM MANAGER DAVID KLASNICK TEAM MANAGER Last year's teams was coached by Mt Lebanon's Paul Taibi and with wins over Minnesota, New York and Tri-State advanced to the Semi-Finals in the A Bracket before losing a tough contest to North Dakota. The Schedule for Team Pittsburgh in the 2007 Chicago Showcase is as follows: Team Philadelphia Schedule Philadelphia 3 Texas / Oklahoma 3 HIGHLIGHTS: Wissahickon's Jayson Richey, CB West's Eric DeFelice and Justin Krute of the Hill School score for Philly who rallies for the tie Philadelphia 11 Kentucky/West Virginia 0 HIGHLIGHTS: Cardinal O'Hara's Jim Murray earns the shutout as Philadelphia pounds KY-WV. HIll School's Justin Krute picks up a hat trick and gets a pair of from North Penn's Robby Mcdyre Wisconsin White 4 Philadelphia 2 ***GAME SUMMARIES*** Philadelphia 14 Florida 4 HIGHLIGHTS: Ryan Seifert of Liberty scores the hat trick and Justin Krute of the Hill School scores twice as Philadelphia pounds Florida Team Philadelphia 2007 Wes Bonnell Salesianum Forward 5/18/90 Jr 6' 0" 170 Kevin Burke Cardinal OHara Forward 2/4/89 Sr 6' 0" 165 Alex Cottle West Chester Henderson Forward 12/27/89 Jr 5' 8" 155 Eric Defelice Central Bucks West Forward 7/2/90 Jr 6' 1" 165 Andrew Dornblaser Central Bucks West Defense 6/29/89 Sr 5' 9" 170 Andrew Gregoire Haverford High Forward 3/4/89 Sr 5' 11" 165 Justin Krute The Hill School Forward 9/30/89 Jr 5' 10" 165 Andrew Lengyel North Penn Forward 1/13/90 Jr 5' 6" 155 Robby McDyre North Penn Forward 2/2/90 Jr 6' 2" 175 A.J. Moyer Pennridge Forward 12/13/89 Jr 5' 10" 170 Jimmy Murray Cardinal OHara Goal 9/14/89 Jr 5' 9" 155 Mike Noce Upper Dublin Defense 8/13/89 Jr 5' 11" 145 Jayson Ritchey Wissahickon Forward 2/12/90 Jr 6' 0" 190 Ricky Rodriguez Notre Dame Defense 10/19/89 Jr 6' 0" 160 Ryan Seifert Liberty Forward 9/16/89 Jr 6' 0" 176 Joshua Shoffstall Manheim Township Goal 5/29/89 Sr 6' 1" 168 Kevin Struempfler Avon Grove Defense 3/4/90 Jr 6' 0" 180 Kevin Weller Archbishop Ryan Defense 9/15/90 Jr 5' 6" 150 Mac Winchester Cardinal OHara Defense 4/3/88 Sr 6' 2" 205 Kyle Zoldy La Salle College Forward 2/18/90 Jr 5' 10" 165 Pa Hockey will be on hand to provide all of the coverage from the Edge in Bensenville, Illinois of the 2007 Chicago Showcase.

Latrobe 4 Montour 3 (OT) Neville Island - Montour (8-6-3) has been on a roller coaster season under Danny Siegel with a recent tie to South Park in a game the Spartans relinquished the lead in the final minutes of the contest. Currently seeded 8th, Montour can ill afford to squander points at this point of the season as the Spartans are only a couple of defeats from missing the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons and has been on the brink of smelling the Penguins Cup over the past handful of seasons only to lose some close games to Kittanning 5-4 a year ago, to Chartiers Valley 5-4 in 2005, Kittanning 5-2 in 2004 and 4-0 in 2003. Latrobe (11-4-0) has been holding down the bridesmaid 2nd seed behind defending State Class AA Champions Pine Richland for most of the season and leading the East Division as well. Head Coach Ron Makoski knows that if the Wildcats are going to secure a home ice position in round two of the playoffs, they will have to fare well against Moon, Thomas Jefferson, rival Greensburg CC and tonight’s opponent Montour to gear the Wildcats into the playoffs and hopefully a Penguins Cup Semi-Final 4 berth and maybe more. Montour struck first at 14:11 as Paul Ciotti’s passing attempt in front deflected of the stick of a Latrobe defender behind Nick Loyacona to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Latrobe killed a couple of penalties and then gain the equalizer with 6:08 remaining as Pa Hockey top 25 selection JeffJoe Regula scored on a breakaway beating Matt Skoff cleanly to tie the score at one apiece. On to the 2nd Period and the Spartans regained the lead on another fortunate bounce as Keith Kurelis found a loose puck in the slot on a Kevin Bishop attempted pass at 12:52 and deposited it by Nick Loyacona to give Montour a 2-1 lead. The Wildcats were able to tie the game again with 3:29 to go as JeffJoe Regula took lead pass and was in on the breakaway and beat Matt Skoff on the backhand to tie the score at 2-2. Latrobe took their first lead with 13:35 to go in the third period as Michael McCurdy buried a snap shot up under the crossbar on a give and go with Jeff Rossi to make it 3-2. The game was mucked up by several marginal calls in the middle of the third period, which ended up putting Latrobe on the power play with 6 minutes remaining and a chance to extend their lead. Matt Skoff stopped McCurdy from point blank range later in the power play and the Spartans survived. Adam Rizza would get the equalizer with 4:03 to play on a real nice effort Michael Harrington to dive a shove the puck ahead where Rizza beat Nick Loyacona high to the glove side for the game tying goal. Latrobe had a great chance to win it as Regula beat the Montour defense with terrific speed, but Matt Skoff made a terrific save with just 6 seconds to go and the game went to overtime. In the overtime period, Jeff Joe Regula never left the ice and it paid off as he gathered the puck from the neutral zone and came over the blue line and unleashed a wicked wrist shot that beat Matt Skoff high to the blocker side and give Latrobe a 4-3 overtime victory before an intimate gathering at RMU Island Sports Center.

The St Margarets Fall Face Off is held annually at the Blade Runner in Harmarville. The event is and invitational and sponsored by the UPMC St Margarets Memorial Hospital Foundation located in Aspinwall. The tournament features local teams from North and East of Pittsburgh and is played in Mid-October. The Champions of the St Margarets Fall Face Off 2007 - 2006 - Bethel Park Blackhawks [defeated North Allegheny 5-4] 2005 - Fox Chapel Foxes [defeated North Allegheny 4-1] 2004 - North Allegheny Tigers [defeated Plum 4-2 ] 2003 - North Allegheny Tigers [defeated Plum 2-1 (4 OT)] 2002 - Franklin Regional Panthers [defeated North Allegheny 6-3] 2001 - North Allegheny Tigers [defeated Hampton 6-2] 2000 - Shaler Titans [defeated Mt Lebanon 8-2] 1999 - Seneca Valley Raiders [defeated North Allegheny ] 1998 - North Allegheny [defeated Pine Richland ] 1997 - Fox Chapel Foxes [defeated Franklin Regional 4-3] 1996 - Fox Chapel Foxes [defeated Franklin Regional 7-4] 1995 - Penn Hills Indians [defeated Shaler 8-2] 1994 - Shaler Titans 1993 -