Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

*****Game Summary provided exclusively to PA Hockey by Canon-McMillan Hockey***** CANONSBURG, PA -- Thomas Jefferson Coach Don Powell knows what its like to wear the target. His Jaguar teams have been so good over the past several years, every other team in the league circles the date they play TJ on the calendar. Powell and company have put together one of the strongest hockey programs in the area, but on this night, they'd be the team that was taking aim at the target. Unbeaten and top-ranked Canon-McMillan was the team in their scopes, and a win would be a big boost for the unranked Jaguars. The Big Macs, meanwhile, wouldn't feel complete if they didn't end their spectacular first-half with a perfect record. They had put together a string of impressive victories to claim the #1 ranking, and a win over Thomas Jefferson would put an exclamation point on an unblemished record. The game opened with TJ drawing first blood. Dan LaBarbera wristed a shot from the right point through a screen that tucked inside the left post, and the Jaguars were ahead 1-0 less than 3 minutes in to the contest. Gary Bucci and Brock Heinauer combined for the assists on the goal, which was LaBarbera's second on the season. Doug Stanton has been fire on ice for the Big Macs of late, and he responded to LaBarbera's goal by slamming home a rebound off a Jesse Patnesky backhander to tie the game at 1. Kyle Harnen added the second assist on the play, and the intensity was building. Canon Mac was able to grab the lead when Nate Bohn threw a lead pass to Justin Cormack, who made a nifty move around a defender before deking to his forehand for the goal. The first period ended with the home team leading, 2-1. The second period started with more fluid play than the first period, but the physical play increased, as well. A quick transition by TJ in the neutral zone led to a break down the left wing by Zack Hanbury, who fired a wrist shot off the tip of the outstretch glove of Drew Stanton and in to the net. Bucci picked up the lone assist on the goal, which tied the game at 2. Doug Stanton and the Big Macs took control from there, however. Stanton put Canon-McMillan back in to the lead with a power play goal off a pass from Justin Cormack, and the period closed with the score 3-2 in favor of Canon Mac. The score was close to start the third, but the momentum was on the side of the Big Macs. Just over a minute in to the final period, that momentum helped Canon Mac build on their lead. It was Doug Stanton who found the back of the net again with a blistering shot from the right wing to complete the hat trick and record his 23rd goal of the year. Cormack and Eric Lang picked up assists on the play, and the hats came flying to honor Stanton's feat. Cormack kept the momentum going after he took an outlet pass from Stanton and fought through a stick check at the red line to score off the rush. Patnesky notched his second assist of the night on the play, while Stanton and Cormack both pushed their point totals to 4 in the game. Thomas Jefferson wasn't about to give up, though, and Heinauer closed the gap with 6:10 remaining off an assist by Hanbury. Canon-McMillan looked to have restored their 3-goal lead a short time later when Cormack raised his stick after a wrist shot from the slot, but the puck neither referee saw the puck go in the net. That gave the Jaguars a chance to put out an extra attacker in an effort to pull within 1, but CM goaltender Drew Stanton kept them from doing so. The game ended with a 5-3 win for the Big Macs, who continue to conquer opponents in the third period. Drew Stanton made 21 saves to notch his league-leading 9th win of the year, while Mike Patterson and Craig Markovitz combined to make 25 saves for the Jaguars. The win improves Canon-McMillan's record to 11-0, and the loss gives TJ a 6-5-1 record heading in to the holiday break. The Big Macs open the second half of the season on January 3rd at home against Ambridge, and the Jaguars return home the same night to face Kittanning.

CORAOPOLIS - Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by Chartiers Valley It was the biggest game in the open division this year as these 2 undefeated teams met at the Airport Ice arena in front of the biggest crowd of the year for Chartiers Valley. Chartiers Valley came out flying in the first period and their enthusiasm paid off just :34 seconds into the game as Ryan Woodall took a pass from Tom Miller and slid it behind Penn Hills goalie Zack Cullen for a quick 1-0 lead. Just 4 minutes later, the same duo combined to make it 2-0, as Miller connected on a cross-ice pass to Woodall in front, who buried a one-timer behind Cullen. Just when it looked like the Colts would run away, Penn Hills got right back in the game as Brad Zafris scored on a long-range slap shot after a turnover in the Colts zone to make it 2-1. With 2 minutes left in the first, Penn Hills got even on a goal from Anthony Battista who was set up beautifully by Ryan Jones and Matt Sawhill and the first period ended 2-2. Char Val came out strong again in the second, and Tom Miller made it 3-2 just 2 minutes into the period. The turning point of the game came only minutes later when Char Val forward Drew Paolocelli made an outstanding individual play and scored shorthanded to put the Colts up 4-2. The backbreaker for Penn Hills came with only 6 seconds left in the second period when defenseman Anthony Sabilla took a pass from Miller off the face-off and scored on a screen shot to sent the Colts to the locker room ahead 5-2. Char Val played a defensive game in the third, and netted their 6th goal of the night as Miller took a pass from Paolocelli in the slot and buried a one-timer behind Batista to close out the scoring. Dan Padgelek stopped 19 of 21 shots for the Colts who improved to 10-0, as Penn Hills falls to 9-1

CASTLE SHANNON - *****Game Summary provided exclusively to PA Hockey by Canon-McMillan Hockey***** Four times in their first nine games this season, Canon-McMillan has been tied or behind in the third period, but they've rallied to win each of those games en route to a 9-0 record. In seeking their 10th win on the year Friday night, the Big Macs were once again in that familiar position when they trailed 2-1 to South Park after 2 periods. And for the fifth time this season -- and fourth time in their last five games -- the Big Macs used a strong third period to pull ahead for the victory. South Park trailed first in this one, though, after Nick Cusolito gave CM the 1-0 lead with 7:02 to play in the opening frame. Justin Cormack picked up the assist on the play after he appeared to have scored on a backhander from the slot. The puck was ruled to have not crossed the line until Cusolito buried the loose puck in to the back of the SP net. South Park didn't trail for long, however. Larry Locante jammed home a loose puck of his own from the edge of the Canon-McMillan crease 1:06 later to tie the score at 1. Eric Narolesky and Danny Remlinger got the assists on the goal. The Eagles then claimed the lead when Matt Nichol fired a wrist shot past CM goaltender Drew Stanton for an unassisted shorthanded goal at the 12:50 mark. The first period ended with South Park leading, 2-1. So did the second period. Canon Mac tightened up defensively to hold the home team to just 7 shots in the period, and Stanton turned away each of them. Eagle netminder Shane Bicker was just as good in the period, especially during a span of CM power play time that lasted 3:13, including 47 seconds of 5-on-3. Canon-McMillan knew they'd need some of their same third period magic to win this one, while South Park sought to play smart defensively and slow the pace with icing calls to keep the 2-1 lead. The Big Macs just had too much up their sleeve, and 4:17 in to the third period, they tied the game. Cormack battled for the puck behind the South Park net, and Corey Griffith was able to back him up and come away with the puck. Cusolito freed himself in front of the net and took a pass from Griffith to convert his second goal of the night. Cormack, who had returned to the game after an early injury, then gave Canon Mac their first lead of the game just under 3 minutes later. Erik McKown crossed the SP blue line in a 2-on-1 with Cormack and drew the attention of the defender. Cormack then made a quick move to the backhand to beat Bickar on the short side. A strong performance on the night by the Canon-McMillan power play finally saw some fruits for its labor on its last opportunity of the game. Doug Stanton scored what would prove to the eventual game-winning goal on the man advantage with 2:51 to play, putting the visitors ahead, 4-2. With a little over a minute left to play, the game looked to be safely in hand for the Big Macs. But South Park pulled the goalie for an extra attacker and immediately created chances around the CM net. Drew Stanton was able to keep the puck out of the net, but South Park went on the power play with 1:03 to go. During what was 6 skaters against 4, Narolesky and Remlinger again created more Eagle offense, and Nichol finished the job. The rebound off of Narolesky's shot came to an open Nichol, who wasted no time in depositing the puck in to the net. There was still 50 seconds to play, and after gaining possession of the puck again, South Park put on the extra man. They weren't able to get the equalizer, however, after a few key defensive zone face-off wins by CM forward Jesse Patnesky. Drew Stanton made 19 saves as Canon-McMillan came away with their 10th win of the year. The undefeated Big Macs close out the first half of their season on Monday night when they face Thomas Jefferson at home. South Park got a strong game from Bickar, who made 29 saves on the night. The Eagles, whose record fell to 4-5 with the loss, travel up the road to play Peters Township on Monday before ending their first half at Canevin on Thursday.

A Special Report provided to Pa Hockey by Montour RMU ISLAND SPORTS CENTER Montour and West Allegheny's highly anticipated match up lived up to the hype with the Spartans 4-3 victory. A closely played, scoreless first period, was followed by 2 periods of momentum-sustained hockey. Mario Panucci scored 2 shorthanded goals, while Chad Talotta played an excellent game and started the scoring for the Spartans. Ed Elbel had a nice slap shot from the point for the Spartans 3rd goal and helped give them some room to work with. Montour took a 1-0 lead in the second period when Chad Talotta found a loose puck and got behind the defense on a clearing attempt by West Allegheny. Talotta stole the puck and put it into an empty net for the first goal of the game. Talotta continued to create several scoring chances and made some great plays in the offensive zone. Marek Polidor would later answer for West Allegheny when he found a loose puck in front of Montour goalie Nick Gialloreto and tied the game at one apiece. Montour's Mario Panucci and West Allegheny's Ian Skacan played physically with some great hits along the boards and came out firing early. Panucci also scored on a quick snap shot from the right side that found its way over WA goalie Dan Kuzio's shoulder. The first of his two shorthanded goals gave the Spartans a spark and Ed Elbel soon scored on a slap shot from the point to give the Spartans a 3-1 cushion. Panucci would later add another shorthanded goal when he hopped on a loose puck at the blue line, beat a defenseman, and scored on his own rebound, top shelf for the 4-1 lead. Montour's Ross Polk played solid two-way hockey and grinded his way to two key assists and played excellent on the penalty kills. Joe Clarke, Brian Dugan, Ed Elbel, & Paul Ciotti all had crucial playing time and came through in crunch time with key assists in what seemed like a playoff game atmosphere. However, West Allegheny would would not waiver and nearly made a great comeback. With under 10 minutes to play, West A answered on the power play when Ryan Kumpfmiller scored on a low slap shot glove side, following a nice pass from Ian Skacan, glove side to bring the Indians within 2 goals. West Allegheny's Ryne Savisky then scored less than two minutes later off a draw deep in the Spartans zone to make the score 4-3 in favor of Montour. Montour, however, was able to weather the storm behind the great defensive efforts of Brian Dugan, Josh York, Ed Elbel, Aaron Siegel, Kevin Bishop, all of whom played spectacular games. Montour goalie Nick Gialloreto played admirably in net and made nearly every save he was asked to. With its 8th straight win, Montour improves to 8-2 and has taken sole position of first place in the West Division. Montour will next play at Blackhawk while West Allegheny faces a crucial match up against Pine Richland.

War Memorial - Johnstown, PA. - Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by Quigley Hockey Club Quigley came out flying in the first period tonight, out shooting the Hilltoppers 15 to 4. The Spartan's Nate Dobson started off the scoring with a wrist shot past Pat Krumenacker, the Hilltopper net minder, off a nifty feed from Michael Conti from behind the net. Conti then broke in alone on Krumenacker, after receiving a great pass from Sean Wormald to score on a backhander making the score 2-0. Dobson closed out the scoring in the first period with a goal that caromed off a Westmont defender, 3-0 Spartans after one period. Westmont would answer midway through the second period with Westmont's Kevin Gleason setting up team mate Anthony Demarco for a beautiful one timer from just below the right face-off circle. The third period started right where the Hilltoppers left off in the second with unrelenting pressure. Quigley, with only eight skaters, was just hanging on. Kyle Harnish scored late in the period with an assist from Gleason to close the gap to one. Westmont out shot Quigley over the final two periods 29 - 17, but were denied by Quigley's goalie Kyle Milbert, making terrific saves from point blank range. Dobson recorded a hat trick by scoring the final goal of the game, an empty netter, with one second remaining.