Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

Upper St Clair 3 McDowell 3 (OT) ERIE - Upper St Clair coach John Harford does his homework on opponents and when he looked at the McDowell lineup, he saw a lot of experience staring his Panther squad right in the face. The fact is that if USC expects to be in the top 4 or 5 in class AAA at years end it will have to edge out teams in the top 8 like McDowell or possibly a Plum or Penn Trafford. The Panthers have a lot of ingredients returning this season including some real solid players promoted from their developmental ranks. With the strong goaltending duo of Max Daurora and Kenny Feldmann, St Clair could be a real interesting team come February and March, who may surprise even the coveted top 4. McDowell is in the process of still learning the ways of new Head Coach Nels White, who has taken the helm of an organization with some numbers and some solid returning talent. The Trojans have underachieved the past few seasons and while Rom wasn’t built in a day, with a dozen or so seniors, this year needs to end on a more positive note than the past few winners. Nels White knows how to win and how to elevate a hockey program as he did with Cathedral Prep many times. He also knows that in order to run with the big dogs of Class AAA, his best players must expand their comfort level and perform above expectations. After tonight’s contest, the Trojans will face New Trier Green, one of the best HS teams in the USA, Midwest Prep power Buffalo St Francis and Holy Ghost Prep, arguably Eastern Pa’s top AAA [a 5-3 winner over Flyers Cup champ Cardinal O’Hara] in the National Invitational Scholastic Showcase this weekend in Jamestown, New York. Maybe not games against pushovers, but playing the kind of teams necessary to compete at the level of Bethel Park or North Allegheny or Central Catholic or Meadville. This is a part of the process familiar to Bethel and Meadville, which has brought 13 combined State Championships to those respective programs in the past 20 years. The Panthers had the game’s first power play, but it was McDowell who scored first at 11:25 as Ryan Presnar tallied a shorthanded goal to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead. Upper St Clair tied the game at 1-1 at 7:26 when Jono Lohman scored on a breakaway beating Drew Ericson to the glove side on the ice. At 3:48 Upper St Clair went on the power play with an opportunity to take the lead. Ericsson made a nice stop on Lohman from in between the circles. Miles Gates had a golden opportunity at the other end, but Max Daurora made a real nice sliding save at the buzzer. Shots in the opening period were McDowell with 15 and USC with only 5. On to the 2nd period and the Trojans struck at 12:53 as Matt Stahon scored an unassisted goal. Moments later McDowell went on the power play again and Andy Kohler cashed in 12:15 as his shot from the right circle handcuffed the USC goaltender and trickled behind him giving the Trojans a 3-1 lead. Daurora made a terrific stop at 7:47 on a Chris Michalak backhand of a Nick Disanti rebound to keep the Panthers within two. McDowell made a mental mistake at 5:34, caught with too many men on the ice, but was able to kill off the penalty, but may have awaken St Clair, who built a little momentum. The Panthers edged closer as Mike Bagdy scored a huge goal at 2:41 to draw USC to within one at 3-2. Daurora came up with some nice saves late in the period to keep the game a one goal margin as the teams headed to the ice cut. McDowell added 15 more shots in the middle period USC had a chance to tie the game with a power play with 11:10, but the Trojans killed it off. McDowell’s Matt Stahon had a breakaway with 9:00 to go but was turned aside by Max Daurora. Moments later, USC’s Adam Bogert was in on a breakaway but was hooked putting the Panthers back on the man advantage with 8:41 to go and McDowell killed it off to preserve their slim 3-2 lead. With 6:41 to go, the Panthers received power play #3 of the 3rd period, prompting a timeout for the Panthers John Harford. This time USC was able to capitalize as Jono Lohman scored with 6:28 With a quick wrist shot low to the glove side knotting the score at three apiece. With 2:11 to go the Trojans got their chance on the power play prompting a Nels White timeout. Then a gift as the puck took a weird carom off the boards and bounced onto the stick of Nick Disanti who deposited it behind Max Daurora and an apparent winning goal at the buzzer and after a conference, it was decided that the puck crossed the line after time expired sending the game to OT. Shots 35 17 With 1:25 to play in the extra seesion, Erik Frits blocked a shot heading for a =wide open net to stop a golden opportunity for the Panthers. Ericson stopped Jono Lohman from right in front and then the puck banged off the post and the game ended in a 3-3 tie in a very entertaining hockey game at the Erie Civic Center.

A vision on paper has now become reality as the Inaugural National Invitational Scholastic Showcase will take place November 10-12 in Jamestown New York. The Bat Crew will be on hand to bring you LIVE coverage on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Please join the crew from Bx Video, Heck Video Productions with the Pa Hockey Network from the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena. Friday November 10th - 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM The National Invitational Scholastic Showcase Pre Tournament Show including Coaches, Players and Guests from the participating teams. Saturday November 11th - 1:00 - 3:00 PM National Invitational Scholastic Showcase Skills Competition Jeff Mauro and Dave 'The Boy Wonder' Fryer will be on hand as 40 of the NISS top players engage in skills competition SEMI-FINALS 12-Nov-06 10:30 AM RINK 1 - New Trier Green vs Meadville *****LIVE ON PA HOCKEY**** 12-Nov-06 10:45 AM RINK 2 - Bethel Park vs Buffalo St Francis National Invitational Scholastic Showcase Governor's Cup Finals 12-Nov-06 3:30 PM RINK 1 [Note: Time subject to change]

VALENCIA – Hampton 5 Kittanning 3 Kittanning advanced to the 2006 Penguins Cup before bowing to Pine Richland in the final at the Mellon Arena in March. The Wildcats opened up their quest for the 2007 Penguins Cup with a 4-3 victory over Peters Township. Coach Jon Yackmack will realize soon enough that Class AA is full of many hopefuls with aspirations to unseat Pine Richland this season and has tooled his team with plenty of depth as Kittanning has nearly 25 players who could see action this season as he welcomed back Colin McKelvey and Lucas Sasala back to action from Football that ended just last Friday. The Cats have stiffened their schedule to include a trip to Jamestown, New York this weekend to compete in the Inaugural National Invitational Scholastic Showcase against the top teams from Texas, Illinois, New York, Indiana, Florida, Eastern Pennsylvania and Western Pennsylvania to seek tougher competition and experience. Hampton has struggled over the past few seasons with players who left the program to seek Midget AAA glory leaving the program almost depleted of enough players to field a competitive Varsity team that has not had a winning campaign wince 2003. Allen ‘Whitey’ Walsh enters the 06-07 season with more hope as Hampton has a core group of personnel that looks a like a Hampton team ready to compete with Pine Richland and Kittanning for the North Division crown. A 3-3 tie against the defending AA State Champions Rams in the St Margaret’s Fall Face Off was a start and an opening win over 2006 Penguins Cup semi-finalists Canevin was another bright spot for the Talbots. After a 3-18-0 season in 2005-2006, any positives for the Talbots is a plus. Hampton opened the scoring at 14:18 of the opening period as Bryan Relihan picked up a loose rebound and beat Joey Mecurio on the backhand for a 1-0 lead. Kittannning battled to tie the game in the 1st and the best chance came as Nick Troup was stopped by Lance Hutton from point blank range with 3:17 left. With 11:53 to play in the 2nd period, Kittanning’s Joey Ford tied the game from right in front of Hutton and then the Wildcats took the lead as Jergen Koster scored on a rebound of brother Deiter Koster to make it 2-1 at the 11:05 mark. Hampton came right back at 9:36 of the middle period as Jordan Del Torre blasted a slapshot high over the glove hand side of Joey Mecurio from the left point to knot the score at two apiece. With 7:10 to play in the 2nd period, Lance Hutton stopped Lucas Sasala on the breakaway to keep the game tied. With twelve minutes remaining in regulation, the Wildcats went on a 5 on 3 power play, but the Talbots turned the tide as Chase Evans stole the puck and race in on a breakaway and beat Mecurio with 10:30 to play and :12 seconds left in the Kittanning man advantage. The Cats came back as Nick Troup beat Hutton on a slapshot low to the glove side to tie the score 3-3 with 8:21 left in the 3rd period. Hampton would score the big goal as Jason Bateman scored from the doorstep with 4:16 to play to give the Talbots a 4-3 lead. Chase Evans salted the victory with an empty netter with 37 ticks left and Hampton moved to 2-0 for the first time in a long time and tied with Pine Richland for 1st place in the North Division, which may not be a big deal at this point of the season, but is a great accomplishment for the Talbots program.

Each year for the past eleven seasons, Pa Hockey has compiled the Standings, Scores and Rankings for the Post Gazette. The complete results for 17 weeks os the season and final rankings for Western Pennsylvania teams for Class A, AA, AAA and Open Division for the Pa Hockey Elite 8 and Pittsburgh Post Gazette Top 5 teams at Class A, AA, AAA are included. In addition, the final 2007 Penguins Cup seedings and the complete Master Schedule. WEEK 17 STANDINGS AND RANKINGS - As of March 2, 2007 ***NOW AVALABLE*** FINAL REGULAR SEASON # 1 RANKED TEAMS - Class AAA ~ Bethel Park Class AA ~ Pine Richland Class A ~ Quaker Valley Class Open ~ Hempfield

Bethel Park 7 North Allegheny 0 BETHEL PARK – Semi Who’s Who night with Batman, Robin ‘the Boy Wonder’ and Alfred headlining the featured guest list including Central’s Tom Pandolfo, Cal’s Jan Battista and Justin Berger, Bobby and Bonnie Black from Pine Allegheny, NA’s Denny Sheran, the Bethel Park tailgaters before a sparse but vocal crowd at the Bethel Park BladeRunners on the campus of the University of Bethel Park. Bethel Park and North Allegheny played in the St Margaret’s Fall Face Off and held on to defeat the Tigers 5-4 after building a 5-1 lead. These teams and programs are so familiar with one another that former NA coach Pandolfo was scouting North Allegheny just as much as BP. The Blackhawks are widely regarding as one of the favorites to capture the Penguins Cup and were ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Pre-Season Coaches poll.The Tigers of NA were ranked a close 3rd behind Meadville, who was upended by Central Catholic in the opener 6-3 on Monday night. There is no question that when the playoff bell rings in March that both of these teams will represent the top teams in Class AAA. Home ice advantage is always worth a goal advantage or perhaps a penalty call for the home team and BP received the first power play in the opening period. At At 10:14 Graham Cohen found Matt Seifert on the back door who deposited the puck past Max Richards to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. At 8:28 of the first Wes Waldschmidt had a couple of Hawks draped on him and just miss and it resulted in an NA power play. At 5:20 of the first period a big scramble the occurred in the front of the NA net and the Hawks kept banging away and the puck squirted past Richards and the whistle blew and the goal counted and it was 2-0 Bethel Park. On to the second and at 11:07, the Hawks struck again as Tommy Whetsel found Kenny Lehman to cap off a 2 on 1 to give BP a 3-0 lead. Bethel made it 4-0 when David Spadacene blistered a wrist shot down on the ice to the stick side with a little over 9 minutes to play to make it a 4-0 hockey game and chasing Max Richards in favor of Adam Lutty. Graham Cohen cashed in with 7:04 remaining in the 2nd period to turn this into a 5-0 hockey game. Bethel cruised to a running clock in the third period as Graham Cohen scored on a backhand with 10:08 remaining and capitalized on a Tiger defensive lapse at 8:20 of the final period to create a running clock and a 7-0 whitewash of North Allegheny by the Hawks. Bethel, many of whose players play on a split season amateur team looked like a team in the middle of their season and North Allegheny didn’t. Although it is only March, the Hawks made a statement and it will be up to the rest of AAA to answer over the next five months.