Mars 5 Quaker Valley 2

CRANBERRY –

        Mars (6-0-0) is off to a quick start under first year Varsity coach Tim Coleman, who has been with the program for a few years. The Planets dispatched Serra Catholic 3-0 last week and are holding down a # 1 ranking in the Post Gazette / Pa Hockey Poll for week 5 and as we know that really doesn’t mean much at this point of the season, but for Mars who hasn’t been ranked # 1 a whole lot in the history of their program, I am sure the eyebrows are raised when anyone mentions it. The Class A schedule is filled with lot’s of yawners, but when you say Quaker Valley, it gets even more attention. 

        Quaker Valley (6-1-0) is off to another nice start and after being ranked # 1 for the entire 2006-07 campaign, they are testimony that rankings don’t mean a whole lot. After the Quakers were dispatched in last year’s Penguins Cup Class A final by Freeport after being everyone’s consensus choice to repeat as State Champions, I am sure Kevin Quinn will tell you that they still have a little sting. Back to work for a program, that year in and year out for the last nine years has been a part of the Class A chase, QV now is taking a little different role in 2007-08 and I am sure they are not telling anyone. You see sometimes just being a part of the process of contending is something that the Quakers are used to and Mars is just beginning to be a part of with last years Semi-Final appearance and don’t be surprise if these two teams meet again in March, when the playoff bell rings.

          After some nice crisp play in the opening period and no score at 4:44 of the opening period Colin South found an opening and took a nice centering feed from George Jackson and buried a shot shot past Greg Lewis to give QV a 1-0 lead. Mars went on the power play at 4:10, Zack Taylor made some solid stops and his defense contributed some very nice blocks in front of him as the Quakers held a 1-0 lead after one period.

          Mars rebounded early in the 2^nd and Mike Mazzota forced a turnover and Ian Finney made it count beating Zach Taylor over the glove side to tie the game at one apiece at 13:28.  Quaker Valley turned up the heat and had a very good chance to go ahead as Rob Balotsky’s shot from the slot fluttered and Greg Lewis made the save with 8:06 to go. Great hustle by John Chilcots drew a penalty and put the Quakers on the power play at 5:31. Mars played opportunist at 4:59 as Mike Heltman won the puck out of the corner and beat Taylor on the backhand for a shorthanded goal and a 2-1 Mars lead. Then after the Planets killed the penalty, they scored again at 3:14 as Tyler Whiteford scored on a wrist shot that handcuffed Zach Taylor to make it a 3-1 count.

         On to the third period and Quaker Valley got a break with 12:06 to go as Lee Drake’s long shot on the ice found it’s way through traffic and past the stoick side inside the post to cut the Mars advantage to 3-2. Lewis made a real nice stop on QV’s George Jackson from on the doorstep at 11:19. Mars answered as Ryan Magdenic’s shot from the left point down on the ice at 9:58 beat Zach Taylor through the 5-hole and crushed all of the momentum built by the Quakers in the first five minutes of the period to give the Planets a 4-2 lead. Colin South beat the Mars defense on the power play, but could not beat Greg Lewis on the backhand at 7:47. The Quakers would get a golden opportunity at 7:33 with a 5 on 3 for a minute and five seconds. Mars dug in and killed off the penalties led by some great work by Mike Heltman to limit the high-powered Quaker chances. Mars put another dagger in the Quaker chances as MattWingert re-directed a Brady Sipe  shot from the left  point with 3:58 to go to make it 5-2 in give Mars a firm grip on this hockey game. Mars went on to hold off QV over the final minutes of the contest and took a stranglehold on the # 1 spot in Class A by defeating its two main foes who will challenge the Planets for the 2008 Penguins Cup. 

Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey Report

Class AAA

          Pine Richland moved to Class AAA after two consecutive Pennsylvania State Class AA Championships and have not missed a beat in Class AAA with a perfect 5-0-0 mark. The Rams have gone unchallenged in regular season play including an impressive 4-0 win over # 4 Mt Lebanon. Seneca Valley is undefeated as well and has been impressive beating Bethel Park in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off 4-2. Bethel Park is also undefeated at 4-0-0 and heads into a tough stretch of the schedule after losing a dozen seniors from last year’s team. Mt Lebanon looks to be a team in the mix with very good defense and goaltending and Upper St Clair has been perfect thus far, although they will begin their tests with division rival Bethel Park, which will begin a tough stretch for the Panthers. Defending Class AAA champions North Allegheny stumbled early losing to Meadville and Mt Lebanon after winning the St Margaret Fall Face-Off tournament, but seem to be heading in the right direction with a couple of wins after a 1-2-0 start.

Latrobe 4 Canevin 2

MT LEBANON –

        Latrobe (5-0-0) has started quickly after being ranked # 1 in the Pa Hockey Pre-Season coaches poll. Wildcat head coach Ron Makoski knows that his team is as individually as any team in Western Pennsylvania at the Class AA level and the Wildcats are coming off an excellent campaign that included a Division title a year ago. Latrobe advanced to round two of the Penguins Cup and is thirsty for more than that in 2007-2008. A veteran team that is very capable of being one of the players come March in the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships. Coach Makoski has a philosophy to allow his players to play at the highest level possible as many of the Wildcats play on two teams and has echoed to his playes his wish for them to concentrate as a group to bring Latrobe an elusive State Title. 

        Canevin (2-0-1) has a rich history of State Championships dating back to the early 80’s when the Crusaders captured the Class AA crown in 1982 and 1983 and then again in 1989. A program that has not challenged for that title since 2000, when the Crusaders fell one game short of the Pennsylvania Title game losing to 3-time State Champions Thomas Jefferson in Erie in the final seconds. Enter Kevin Zielmanski, who after 8 seasons at Central Catholic and many near misses returns to coaching after a year sabbatical. The nice luxury for coach Z will be a captive audience of 11 Freshman and Sophomores to work with and one of Class AA’s top returning players in Josh Daley. Canevin will be an interesting team to watch come March and for a couple of years to come. A 2-2 tie with Franklin Regional last Friday has opened the eyes of many as the Crusaders a now ranked # 3.

          So before an intimate gathering including some ‘Concerned Citizens of Franklin’ at the Mt Lebanon Rec Center, the Wildcats and Crusaders took to the ice in a back and forth opening five minutes with no score. At 9:26 of the opening period, Michael McCurdy slipped past the Canevin defense and beat Dylan Lutz low to the stick side inside the post to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Latrobe had a chance to extend their lead at 6:50 of the period on the power play, which was killed by Canevin. The Crusaders got their opening opportunity on the man advantage and almost tied it as Jacob Betzner’s low shot was redirected by Vince Nicolella, but Latrobe goaltender Nick Loyacona made a better save. With 35 to go in the period Dylan Lutz made a bang bang stop on Wildcat sniper JeffJoe Regula. Canevin outshot Latrobe 9-6.

         On to the second went and while coach Makoski’s troops rested during the intermission, Professor Zielmanski was drawing up plans on the white board. At 13:41 of the 2^nd period, the Crusaders went back on the power play and could not converted. Then at 10:41 of the period, Latrobe scored on a pretty passing exchange Ryan LaDuke and Michael McCurdy and resulted in a rebound that JeffJoe Regula slapped out of the air for a 2-0 Wildcat lead. Latrobe lost their composure a little after a 3^rd goal was waived off and took a 10 minute misconduct and another undisciplined penalty at 9:01. At 8:32 of the period, Canevin batted a puck out of the air with a high stick and no goal. At 8:04 Loyacona stopped Cam Zappi twice with two very nice saves and made another fine save on Josh Daley at 7:35.  At 4:03 Loyacona stoned Vince Nicolella on a 2 on 1. Latrobe started to find openings in the Canevin defense and with 1:08 to go Ryan LaDuke nearly scored but Dylan Lutz made the save. Despite outshooting Latrobe 27-13, Canevin headed to the locker room down 2-0.

        With 1316 to go after the opening four shots of the period and after a big scramble in front, Cam Zappi deposited a wrist shot over the glove of a defenseless Nick Loyacona for a 2-1 lead for the Wildcats. At 12:23 Canevin went back on the power play PP  11:34 rebound Frankie Vance slid one on the ice and under Loyacona for a power play goal and a tie hockey game 2-2. Latrobe responded at 10:39 as Jeff Joe Regula pounced on a Ryan LaDuke rebound for a 3-2 Wildcat advantage. At 9:51 Canevin went back on the power play, but Latrobe had a great chance as Alex Stahl and Mike McCurdy made some tick tac passes and Dylan Lutz made a sprawling save on the shorthanded attempt. The Wildcats Jeff Rossi nearly extended the lead with 5:35 to go, but Lutz made an alert stop to keep the count 3-2. With 3:30 to go Latrobe captilized a couple of strong minutes of hard work in the Canevin end as Zack LaDuke tipped home an Andrew Onge shot to make it 4-2 and give the Wildcats insurance. An untimely penalty at 1:40 put the Crusaders in a little bigger hole and actually sealed Canevin’s fate as time was on the Wildcats side. Shots on goal for the contest were Canevin 37 and Latrobe 18, but Latrobe escaped with a 4-2 victory and held on to the top spot in Class AA.

Pine Richland 4 Mt Lebanon 0

VALENCIA

       Pine Richland has won two consecutive Pennsylvania State Class AA championships in the previous two seasons and without a game being played people are already putting their name on the 2008 Penguins Cup and Pennsylvania Cup. A dangerous proposition for some, but with the wall to wall talent of this team from player # 1 to # 20, the Rams are a very solid hockey team. The greatest team of all time, well time and history will tell that story and you have to win the State Championship at the Class AAA level and with the group of schools and traditions that Pine Richland will have to beat, not to mention some pretty good coaches, who are well prepared, let’s just say March could get pretty interesting around these parts. The wild card in all of this may be Dan Szymanski, a goaltender who was playing hockey in Arizona last year and looks to be a pretty capable replacement for Stoney Hildreth. The Rams big line of Dylan Trombetta, George Saad and monster freshman Brandon Saad are just the start of what teams will have to face when combating Pine Richland, who is ranked # 1 in the latest Pittsburgh Post Gazette poll.  

      Mt Lebanon’s Paul Taibi doesn’t like to lose in a game of marbles and I am sure he was a little worried after Team Pittsburgh goaltender Robbie Behling went down to injury in last Friday night’s heartstopping win over defending Class AAA champions North Allegheny 4-3, where the Blue Devils scored with just two ticks remaining. The Blue Devils have built some depth with their team for this season and hopefully that will make up for some scoring needed to thrust Lebo into the Penguins Cup hunt in March. The concern of course will be for Mt Lebanon is to develop a big time scoring attack necessary to carry the team in big games, such as Pine Richland, and maybe the win over North Allegheny will be a confidence boaster to provide clutch goals at key times as the # 2 ranked Blue Devils face # 1 Rams at the Infection Connection or Ice Connection or the place with the new scoreboard and home of the Rams.

        A limited Who’s Who night of Mt Lebanon and Pine Richland notables on hand including King Tut, Dr Denton, Bags, Mr X Y Axis Cummings, King Arthur of the Hilltoppers, whose Westmont team beat Hampton in the preliminary game and the infamous Bob the Bus Driver from Westmont, who was looking for a big grudge type match in the parking lot below the rink.          

           Pine Richland came out and took control in the  first period outshooting Mt Lebanon 11-1 and Robbie Behling looked sharp for the Blue Devils and almost pitched a shutout until with 1:35 to go Dylan Trombetta pounced on a rebound to make it 1-0 for the Rams.

           Mt Lebanon closed the gap in the second period and actually mounted some good pressure in the PR end but could not beat Dan Szymanski as the Rams outshot Lebo 7-5 in a pretty evenly played period. With 8:23 to go in the period, Bryan Watt chipped a rebound over Behling’s shoulder to make it 2-0.

           The third period was a little show of frustration by the Blue Devils as the shot total ended up 30-11, but the real story of the period was some bad penalties called and bad penalties taken by the Blue Devils including some unusual undiscipline from some of the players, who should know better. Good teams take advantage and have killer instinct and Pine Richland served the knockout with 11:04 to go as underrated defenseman Evan Goetz whistled a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Robbie Behling to make it 3-0 and then the cherry came with 8:22 to play as Dylan Trombetta buried a cross ice feed from Brandon Saad to close out the scoring as the Rams served notice to all of Class AAA that they are for real and will have to be dealt with in March with an impressive 4-0 win over previously undefeated Mt Lebanon.  

  The 18th Annual Central Catholic Invitational will be held November 9-11th at the BladeRunners in Harmarville. The Tournament features some of the top High School programs from Western Pennsylvania and programs from Philadelphia and Ontario, Canada.