Baldwin Highlanders - 1975 & 1988 AAA

ROSTRAVER ~ West Allegheny coach Sean Hart knows his teams future rests in the hands of some pretty capable players in Marek Polidor and Ryne Sivitsky, who are a couple of real nice looking young players for the Indians. The combination of this youthful influx and a couple of veterans make West Allegheny a very interesting team to pull of a playoff upset or two, especially if Dan Kuzio continues to solidify his play between the pipes. Thomas Jefferson is ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Elite 8 poll in Western Pennsylvania and the state of Pennsylvania. The Jaguars are a team blessed with scoring and solid defense in front of arguably the best goaltender in Western Pennsylvania Danny Hartman, who is one of the finest competitors of any player at any level. Long Time professor coach Don Powell, was not in attendance due to work commitments, but was on the cell phone monitoring his teams progress from Detroit. The Jaguars are hoping to get their lineup to full strength for the upcoming playoffs and a speedy recovery to Grant Heinauer and Brandon School. TJ went on the power play ion the opening minutes of the game, but West Allegheny had the games first big chance on a breakaway as Ian Skacan was stopped by Hartman at 11:37. The Jaguars struck first as Gary Bucci scored on the rebound at 10:21. The Indians responded on the power play as Justin Hoppe fired a shot front the left point, which hit something in front and found its way over the glove hand of Hartman to tie the game at one apiece with 8:41 to go in the 1st. TJ was buzzing the WA net at 4:39, as Bucci and Luke Wawrzeniak were stopped by Kuzio. Ryne Sivitsky found himself in alone on Hartman but could not beat him at 3:50. On to the second and West Allegheny had a golden opportunity on the power play at 6:03 in a very evenly played hockey game, but Luke Wawrzeniak stripped the Indian defense and beat Kuzio on the glove side at 4:56 to give the Jaguars the lead 2-1. Eric Holzer scored a huge goal on a one-timer at 2:58 to give TJ a two-goal cushion. The third period saw West Allegheny keep on coming, but could only beat Danny Hartman once in 27 shots. Bobby Maliszewski [11:16] and Ryne Sivitsky [9:19], both had excellent chances to cut the TJ lead but could not find the net. Thomas Jefferson was looking for the knockout punch and got it as Zach Hanbury outraced the WA defense to the puck and beat Kuzio on the stick side at 4:56. Holzer closed it out with exactly one minute left beating Kuzio high to the glove side for a 5-1 Thomas Jefferson victory and a perfect 12-0-0 record.

MOON TWP ~ Thank you to the Ambridge Hockey Club for providing this report Goals for Ambridge were Chris Bajek, Chas Cvitkovic, Cory Bajek, Jeremy Elser and Terry Maitz. Carrick's goals were scored by Gary Delahanty and Chris Larkin. Cvitkovic's goal was short-handed, Cory Bajek's was a Power Play. Both Carrick goals were Power Play goals.

Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by the Butler Hockey Club ~ It may have taken the Butler Tornados until the end of the 1st period to get started, but they pulled a 5-4 win over Upper St. Clair (ranked #1 in their division) on Monday night @ 7:00 p.m. at the Ice Castle in Castle Shannon. Only 1 minute 6 seconds into the 1st period, USC was on the board with a goal by John Markwell. USC fired its second goal into Butler's net with 2:51 left, with Brian Gorder scoring. Butler began to pressure USC less than a minute later as Greg Rogerson shot in Butler's first goal at 2:03, getting them on the board with an assist from Tyler Druschel. With the score at 2-1, USC got one more up on Butler in period 2 at 11:41 with a goal from Kris McDonough. A little over two minutes later, at 9:34, Butler brought the score to 3-2 with a goal by Jared White, assisted by Tyler Druschel. That same line seemed to catch on fire as White tied the game up at 8:26, with assists from Greg Rogerson and Tyler Druschel (his 3rd assist of the night). Then it was Rogerson's turn, again, to score on a breakaway, getting Butler its first lead of the game (4-3), with assists from Myke Guentner and Goalie Bucky Holt. USC came back immediately in the 3rd period with a goal at 13:28 from Mike Penkrot, tying the game up again at 4-4. The 2 teams battled against each other until 2:14 when Spencer Crouse, amidst much confusion in front of USC's net, got Butler's 5th goal. USC pulled goalie Kevin Gorder with 1:23 left in the game. But Butler stood its ground and came out victorious! Butler's next game is this Thurday, Jan, 15, 2004 vs. Fox Chapel at 9:30 p.m. at the Belmont Ice Complex in Kittanning. Fox Chapel is rated #1 in their division so its should be another great game!

ROSTRAVER ~ 1/12/04 ~ EF gets a big win over Forest Hills in wild finish ! Elizabeth Forward coach Chuck Beckinger knows his team can play with the best teams in the league as they almost upended highly ranked Serra and Blackhawk, but have fallen to teams under .500 like Wheeling Central Catholic and Deer Lakes. This inconsistency has Warrior fans scratching their heads, but a look at the lineup will give many clues as a balance of veterans and youth are very evident for EF. The Warriors came into the game at 7-6-0 and were looking to make ground in the race for home ice advantage in the playoffs. Forest Hills coach Bob Salata would like to steal a page out of Beckinger’s playbook as the Rangers have lost only to Serra and Bishop McCort, but neither game was much of a contest 1-10 and 0-4, respectively. The Rangers have had a great season though at 7-2-1 and ranked # 6 in the latest Pa Hockey Elite 8 poll. Maybe that is a reflection of a week Class A field, but coach Salata knows there are teams the Rangers must beat if they hope to become a contender in the playoffs and Elizabeth Forward and FH could meet when the playoff bell rings in less than two months. The first period was back and forth and the shots were pretty even at 10-9 in favor of Elizabeth Forward. Since it took me almost two years to cover either of these two teams, I was scrambling to familiarize myself with each team and noticed some players that I have never witnessed play before if you can believe that, which frankly is the beauty of Pa Hockey…..seeing some fresh talent and new players ! Dustin Siplivy got things started for the Rangers as he weaved his way down the slot and took a wrist shot on EF freshman goalie Mike Cole, who made the save, but kicked out the rebound where Siplivy gathered it and buried a shot on the stick side to give Forest Hills a 1-0 lead early in the 2nd period. Then at 9:34, the Warriors struck as Brian Doak beat the Forest Hills defense and fed Jeremy Delmaster, who beat FH’s Kyle Single on the backhand to tie the game at 9:34. Forest Hills tried to intimidate EF with its size but that seemed to inspire the Warriors as Delmaster hit the post at 2:02 and Brian Doak almost put his team ahead with 52 seconds remaining in the middle frame as EF took a 22-19 advantage to the locker room. On to the third and both teams had chances to go ahead but Kyle Single stopped Matt Mitchko and Jeremy Delmaster on great chances at 10:19 and Mike Cole turned back the Rnager’s Bryan Parkinson at 7:47. The big break came at 3:13, when Delmaster beat the Forest Hills defense and was in on the breakaway and the beaten FH defenseman threw his stick, which referee whistled for a penalty shot after Delmaster fell off his feet. The most exciting play in hockey and the sparse crowd on its feet, Delmaster moved in on Kyle Single and went to the forehand through the 5-hole, giving Elizabeth Forward its first lead 2-1. EF would hold on as FH pulled the goalie with under a minute to play and Billy Repass added an empty netter to give the Warriors a 3-1 win in a thriller at Rostraver.

~ Ice Line Extravaganza Class AAA Monday 12/29 Loyola Academy __4___ Archbishop Ryan __1___ Malvern Prep __7__ West Chester East ___4__ St Mary's ___4__ Loyola Academy ___3__ Malvern Prep _10____ Archbishop Ryan __3___ St. Mary's ___6__ West Chester East __4___ Tuesday 12/30 Malvern Prep _5___Loyola Academy __3__ West Chester East __10___Archbishop Ryan __2__ St. Mary's __11___ Archbishop Ryan __3___ Loyola Academy __3___ West Chester East __0___ St. Mary's __3__ Malvern Prep __2__ Wednesday 12/31 St Mary's __5____ Malvern Prep __4__ [OT] Class AA Monday 12/29 Springfield __5___ Haverford High __3___ Archbishop Wood __7___Downingtown __1___ Kittanning __5___ Calvert Hall Prep __0___ Monsignor Farrell __7___ vs. Neshaminy __1___ Kittanning __5___Haverford High ___2__ Archbishop Wood ___7__ vs. Neshaminy __1___ Springfield ___6__ vs. Calvert Hall Prep __2___ Downingtown __3___ vs. Monsignor Farrell __2___ Tuesday 12/30 Kittanning __2___ vs. Springfield __0___ 11:00 AM 1 Neshaminy __4__ vs. Downingtown __4__ 11:00 AM 4 Haverford High __7__ vs. Calvert Hall Prep __0__ 11:15 AM 3 Archbishop Wood __3__ vs. Monsignor Farrell __1__ Semi-Finals Downingtown 4 Kittanning 3 Archbishop Wood 4 Springfield 2 Wednesday 12/31 Championship Archbishop Wood 6 Downingtown 1 Class A Monday 12/29 Great Valley __2___ Malvern Prep II ___1__ Coatesville ___7__ Conestoga ___5__ West Chester East II __5___ Anville Cleona __2___ LaSalle II __9___ Dematha ___2__ Shanahan __2___ St. Mary's ___2__ Conestoga __7___ DeMatha ___1__ Malvern Prep II ___4__ West Chester East II ___3__ LaSalle II ___3__ Coatesville __1___ Great Valley ___6__St. Mary's ___2__ Shanahan ___5__ Anville Cleona ___0__ Tuesday 12/30 West Chester East II 7 St. Mary's 1 Great Valley 7 Anville Cleona 1 Shanahan 5 Malvern Prep II 1 Coatesville 7 DeMatha 0 LaSalle II 3 Conestoga 1 Tuesday 12/30 Semi-Finals West Chester East II 2 LaSalle 1 Shanahan 2 Great Valley 1 [OT] Wednesday 12/31 Championship West Chester II 4 Bishop Shanahan 1