News and Announcements
hideYou must login to access that area.
Franklin end Shaler’s opening day streak at 17!
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Nov 1, 2004 4:00PM PST
( 0 Comments
)
HARMARVILLE –
Franklin Regional lost a ton of seniors from last year’s squad, many of whom competed in the 2002 Penguins Cup AAA final loss to Meadville and head coach Jim Damp departed to take the Fox Chapel post, many in Pa Hockeyland felt the Panthers would be in for a down season. Maybe to some people, but not this person!
Head Coach Jim Daugherty is a hockey person and he is a builder and after watching FR in the pre-season, one could notice the balance, the unselfish play and the work ethic would make this a team which if it finds timely scoring and goaltending would challenge division champ Penn Trafford for the top spot in the East.
Shaler head coach Ron Steedle is the dean of coaches in Western Pennsylvania and has coaches over 20 seasons of High School Hockey and is trying to rebuild the Shaler program, which has competed for 34 consecutive seasons, who along with Mt Lebanon and Upper St Clair, are the only programs who can make that claim. The Titans have been successful on 17 consecutive opening nights dating back to 1987 and their streak would receive a severe test in Franklin. Shaler lost 12 players to graduation and those who chose to take up other activities resulting in 7 freshman in the opening day lineup and the remaining players are holdovers from last years playoff team.
In a scoreless first period, Franklin Regional held the territorial advantage as Shaler killed of four penalties yielding just seven shots to the Panthers. A 5th penalty at the end of the first period would put FR on another power play to start the second.
Brian Dunford would open up the scoring on the power play just 33 seconds into the middle period for a 1-0 lead at 14:27. The Panthers would extend the lead at 8:51 as Tom Abraham scored from close range and beat Ben Burns. Franklin would go on another power play a little over two minutes later, but a great effort by Shaler’s P.J Domski to beat the Franklin defense to the puck resulted in a goal and a slim 2-1 lead for FR with 4:34 left in the 2nd. Shaler began to carry the play late in the middle frame and the Titans went on the power play at 2:14 and had a golden opportunity to tie the game, but it was the Panthers who struck as Joe Ferriero made a super play to gain the zone and thread a perfect pass to Joel Sirianni behind the Shaler defender, who beat Ben Burns to give FR a huge insurance goal with 1:32 remaining in the 2nd period and a 3-1 lead.
The same two players combined early in the 3rd period to extend the lead as Sirianni pinballed an odd angle shot through the pads of Ben Burns for a 4-1 lead at 13:53 of the 3rd. Shaler could not take advantage of several power plays over the final minutes of play as Adam Treml stopped several good opportunities for the Titans to secure a 4-1 opening night victory for the Panthers.
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/449aecc1-3393-4a00-a294-462d3d14bfff.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e2201e8f-b163-4e99-9b7c-f1022fbb006f.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/449aecc1-3393-4a00-a294-462d3d14bfff.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e2201e8f-b163-4e99-9b7c-f1022fbb006f.gif)
2004 Kittanning Invitational ~ Semi-Finals
Downingtown 7 Kittanning 3
Downingtown East and Kittanning would hook up in the finals of the 2004 Steve Bryan Memorial Invitational with perfect 3-0-0 records in the round robin tournament.
Kittanning was the 2002 champions, while Downingtown is making their first trip to Western Pennsylvania for an event now in its 9th year featuring the top Interscholastic teams in Pennsylvania. Former champions include Central Catholic [2003], Kittanning [2002], Indiana [2001], McDowell [2000 & 1997], South Park [1999], Canevin [1998] and Conestoga [1996].
The Cougars grabbed the first lead of the game as Sean Crowley converted a nice pass from Dustin Malandra at 5:32 of the first period.
Kittanning would respond in the 2nd period as Justin Kovatch took a Joel Shriver pass and beat Andrew Miller on the backhand to tie the game at 14:37. Ben Souders gave the Cougars the lead again blasting a big slapshot past Joey Mecurio at 9:32 for a 2-1 Downingtown lead. The Wildcats came right back at 8:42 as Adam Fiscus outreached the defense and goaltender Miller to the puck and whipped a backhand low on the ice and a tie game at two apiece. Kittanning got their first lead as Tyler Adams scored on a bang – bang play as Joel Shriver fed the puck to the front of the net and Adams crashed and scored at 8:34.
A key turning point of this game came a little under a minute later as Shriver hit the crossbar and then Kittanning got sloppy on a line change and was whistled for too many men on the ice at 6:58. Ben Souders would make them pay, as the tournament MVP beat the Kittanning defense and Mecurio to tie the game at 3-3 with 5:14 remaining. Sean Crowley gave East the lead at 4:58 burying a shot up under the crossbar for a 4-3 advantage for D-Town. Dustin Malandra would add to a five goal outburst for the Cougars in the 2nd period with goals at 4:18 on the backhand and 1:08 from out of the corner to give Downingtown East a commanding 6-3 lead after two.
The Cougars would ice the game on a five minute power play as Pete Psyriss scored on a rebound at 5:19 of the final period to give Downingtown East an impressive 7-3 victory and the 2004 Steve Bryan Memorial Kittanning Invitational championship.
2004 Kittanning Invitational ~ Semi-Finals
Kittanning 6 Butler 2
Kittanning and Butler met for the 2nd time in the Kittanning Invitational as the Wildcats defeated the Golden Toronadoes in preliminary round action 5-3 on Friday evening. Butler would face an even more daunting task in this semi-final playing without defensive stalwart Mike Guetner and leading scorers forwards Spencer Crouse and Greg Rogerson. Kittanning and Butler also start this campaign as Leo Cancilla has taken the reigns from Bob Hoehn at Butler and the Jon Yackmack era has now begun at Kittanning with very capable assistants Lee Grafton and Jamie King.
Kittanning wasted no time jumping on Butler in the first period with a pair of power play goals by Joey Ford [12:28] and Nick Troup [10:09] gave the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage. Butler’s Jerome Hensel scored with 5 ½ minutes left to cut the lead to 2-1 after the first period.
Kittanning came out smoking again in the second period as Colin McKelvey [14:38] and Lee Heilman [13:39] opened up a 4-1 lead. Butler pulled back within two as Bryan Rodgers scored with just 49 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
This game would belong to the Wildcats as Joel Shriver and Jake Greenbaum closed out a penalty marred final period for a 6-2 Kittanning victory and a trip back to the finals for the first time since 2002, when Kittanning defeated South Park to win the championship.
Downingtown East 4 Serra Catholic 3 [OT-Shootout]
Downingtown East made the trip from Eastern Pennsylvania out to test its squad against some pretty stiff Western Pa. Competition, but had passed the test nicely in games against 2004 Penguins Cup AA finalist Indiana and 2004 Penguins Cup champion Serra Catholic. A rematch with Serra Catholic would provide another opportunity for the Cougars warm up for a tough Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League schedule, which awaits them when they return next week for the 2004-2005 season.
Serra Catholic has some pretty tough shoes to fill as the Eagles have won 4 of the past Class A Penguins Cups, including three Class A Pennsylvania Cups preceding the 2004-2005 season. Head Coach Tom Mooney begins his first full season as the boss, but has been aboard for the championship ride over the past five seasons. Interestingly, Serra has the most players on their roster in recent memory with a few old faces and a few new one, who should make them a favorite to repeat and possibly get back to the State Finals.
Downingtown controlled the early play of this semi-final match up as Steve Regester opened the scoring at 7:45 for a 1-0 lead. Speedy Sean Crowley gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead as he beat Nick Koroly on a wrist shot at 3:12 to extend the lead to 2-0. Those ‘never say die’ Eagles cut the lead late in the opening period as Joey Manning banged home a rebound to make the game 2-1 at the end of one.
On to the 2nd and Manning tied the game just six seconds in and our score was knotted a two apiece. The Eagles seized the lead on a very pretty goal as Manning spotted a streaking Aaron Nolte, who re-directed a perfect pass from Manning at 5:10 to give Serra Catholic its first lead at 3-2.
The Eagles looked like they were on their way to the finals, but Serra was whistled for a penalty with just under two minutes remaining in regulation time and put Downingtown on the power play. The Cougars would tie the game as Justin Miller’s wrist shot from the center point had eyes on it and beat Koroly through a screen to deadlock the score at 3-3 with 1:54 left.
The teams would battle through overtime scoreless with the shots almost dead even at 31-30 in favor of Downingtown. The Cougars would march onto the finals as Ben Souders and Steve Regester would score in the five man shootout, while Downingtown goaltender Chris Ryan would shut the door on Serra Catholic’s first 4 shooters resulting in a Kittanning – Downingtown final.
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/ab0c9c8a-db6c-4550-b01b-9c2e5957cc91.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e324dc8d-186a-4a82-bc99-d4c52917b387.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/ab0c9c8a-db6c-4550-b01b-9c2e5957cc91.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e324dc8d-186a-4a82-bc99-d4c52917b387.jpg)
2004 Kittanning Invitational ~ Semi-Finals
Downingtown 7 Kittanning 3
Downingtown East and Kittanning would hook up in the finals of the 2004 Steve Bryan Memorial Invitational with perfect 3-0-0 records in the round robin tournament.
Kittanning was the 2002 champions, while Downingtown is making their first trip to Western Pennsylvania for an event now in its 9th year featuring the top Interscholastic teams in Pennsylvania. Former champions include Central Catholic [2003], Kittanning [2002], Indiana [2001], McDowell [2000 & 1997], South Park [1999], Canevin [1998] and Conestoga [1996].
The Cougars grabbed the first lead of the game as Sean Crowley converted a nice pass from Dustin Malandra at 5:32 of the first period.
Kittanning would respond in the 2nd period as Justin Kovatch took a Joel Shriver pass and beat Andrew Miller on the backhand to tie the game at 14:37. Ben Souders gave the Cougars the lead again blasting a big slapshot past Joey Mecurio at 9:32 for a 2-1 Downingtown lead. The Wildcats came right back at 8:42 as Adam Fiscus outreached the defense and goaltender Miller to the puck and whipped a backhand low on the ice and a tie game at two apiece. Kittanning got their first lead as Tyler Adams scored on a bang – bang play as Joel Shriver fed the puck to the front of the net and Adams crashed and scored at 8:34.
A key turning point of this game came a little under a minute later as Shriver hit the crossbar and then Kittanning got sloppy on a line change and was whistled for too many men on the ice at 6:58. Ben Souders would make them pay, as the tournament MVP beat the Kittanning defense and Mecurio to tie the game at 3-3 with 5:14 remaining. Sean Crowley gave East the lead at 4:58 burying a shot up under the crossbar for a 4-3 advantage for D-Town. Dustin Malandra would add to a five goal outburst for the Cougars in the 2nd period with goals at 4:18 on the backhand and 1:08 from out of the corner to give Downingtown East a commanding 6-3 lead after two.
The Cougars would ice the game on a five minute power play as Pete Psyriss scored on a rebound at 5:19 of the final period to give Downingtown East an impressive 7-3 victory and the 2004 Steve Bryan Memorial Kittanning Invitational championship.
2004 Kittanning Invitational ~ Semi-Finals
Kittanning 6 Butler 2
Kittanning and Butler met for the 2nd time in the Kittanning Invitational as the Wildcats defeated the Golden Toronadoes in preliminary round action 5-3 on Friday evening. Butler would face an even more daunting task in this semi-final playing without defensive stalwart Mike Guetner and leading scorers forwards Spencer Crouse and Greg Rogerson. Kittanning and Butler also start this campaign as Leo Cancilla has taken the reigns from Bob Hoehn at Butler and the Jon Yackmack era has now begun at Kittanning with very capable assistants Lee Grafton and Jamie King.
Kittanning wasted no time jumping on Butler in the first period with a pair of power play goals by Joey Ford [12:28] and Nick Troup [10:09] gave the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage. Butler’s Jerome Hensel scored with 5 ½ minutes left to cut the lead to 2-1 after the first period.
Kittanning came out smoking again in the second period as Colin McKelvey [14:38] and Lee Heilman [13:39] opened up a 4-1 lead. Butler pulled back within two as Bryan Rodgers scored with just 49 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
This game would belong to the Wildcats as Joel Shriver and Jake Greenbaum closed out a penalty marred final period for a 6-2 Kittanning victory and a trip back to the finals for the first time since 2002, when Kittanning defeated South Park to win the championship.
Downingtown East 4 Serra Catholic 3 [OT-Shootout]
Downingtown East made the trip from Eastern Pennsylvania out to test its squad against some pretty stiff Western Pa. Competition, but had passed the test nicely in games against 2004 Penguins Cup AA finalist Indiana and 2004 Penguins Cup champion Serra Catholic. A rematch with Serra Catholic would provide another opportunity for the Cougars warm up for a tough Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League schedule, which awaits them when they return next week for the 2004-2005 season.
Serra Catholic has some pretty tough shoes to fill as the Eagles have won 4 of the past Class A Penguins Cups, including three Class A Pennsylvania Cups preceding the 2004-2005 season. Head Coach Tom Mooney begins his first full season as the boss, but has been aboard for the championship ride over the past five seasons. Interestingly, Serra has the most players on their roster in recent memory with a few old faces and a few new one, who should make them a favorite to repeat and possibly get back to the State Finals.
Downingtown controlled the early play of this semi-final match up as Steve Regester opened the scoring at 7:45 for a 1-0 lead. Speedy Sean Crowley gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead as he beat Nick Koroly on a wrist shot at 3:12 to extend the lead to 2-0. Those ‘never say die’ Eagles cut the lead late in the opening period as Joey Manning banged home a rebound to make the game 2-1 at the end of one.
On to the 2nd and Manning tied the game just six seconds in and our score was knotted a two apiece. The Eagles seized the lead on a very pretty goal as Manning spotted a streaking Aaron Nolte, who re-directed a perfect pass from Manning at 5:10 to give Serra Catholic its first lead at 3-2.
The Eagles looked like they were on their way to the finals, but Serra was whistled for a penalty with just under two minutes remaining in regulation time and put Downingtown on the power play. The Cougars would tie the game as Justin Miller’s wrist shot from the center point had eyes on it and beat Koroly through a screen to deadlock the score at 3-3 with 1:54 left.
The teams would battle through overtime scoreless with the shots almost dead even at 31-30 in favor of Downingtown. The Cougars would march onto the finals as Ben Souders and Steve Regester would score in the five man shootout, while Downingtown goaltender Chris Ryan would shut the door on Serra Catholic’s first 4 shooters resulting in a Kittanning – Downingtown final.
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/ab0c9c8a-db6c-4550-b01b-9c2e5957cc91.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e324dc8d-186a-4a82-bc99-d4c52917b387.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/ab0c9c8a-db6c-4550-b01b-9c2e5957cc91.jpg)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/e324dc8d-186a-4a82-bc99-d4c52917b387.jpg)
2004 Greensburg CC Invitational Final ~ PT / FR
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Oct 25, 2004 5:00PM PDT
( 0 Comments
)
Greensburg –
Penn Trafford and Franklin Regional is not yet hockey a rivalry which is the stature of a Meadville – Cathedral Prep or Fox Chapel – Central Catholic or Bethel Park – Mt Lebanon or Bishop McCort – Westmont Hilltop, but given the recent rise in the PT program via their first ever division championship in 2004 and overtaking FR to do it, I think things could heat up quickly for the two Center Ice Arena tenants.
The Panthers and Warriors both navigated nicely through the preliminary rounds of the Greensburg CC Invitational with 5-0 records and both gained the final with 5-0 victories over Fox Chapel and Plum, respectively. Penn Trafford has been very impressive over the past few years offensively, but it is the defensive effort that has Western Pa buzzing about the Warriors, who shut down Fox Chapel and Plum in recent games. Franklin Regional, on the other hand, has been a pleasant surprise under Jim Daugherty, and looks to be a very hard working and well balanced team.
The first period was Penn Trafford on the attack outshooting Franklin 12-6 in the opening period. Franklin looked to build some momentum late in a the period by killing off a 5 on 3 as Adam Treml made several good saves to keep the game scoreless.
The Panthers went on the power play early in the 2nd period, but their advantage was killed by an ill-advised interference call in the offensive end of the rink. Penn Trafford wasted no time taking advantage of this sudden turn of events as Chris Cerutti re-directed a Kyle Sidle feed high over the glove side of Treml for a 1-0 Warrior lead with 11:20 left. A little over two minutes later, Sidle found Nick Whaley open in the slot and all of the sudden Penn Trafford had built a 2-0 advantage with 9:11 left. The Warriors were not done as Whaley won a faceoff to the left of Treml, beat his man and slipped a backhand just inside the post at 8:26 for a 3 goal outburst in less than three minutes. Franklin threw 15 shots at Joel Sterniak, but could not capitalize and PT held a 3-0 lead at the end of two.
On to the third period and the game took on a chippy flavor as both teams engaged in some chatting and a little extra stick work. Chris Cerutti would put an exclamation point on this game as he scored on a backhand in traffic from between the circles on the power plat at 8:36 of the third period making the final 4-0 in favor of the Warriors. PT’s Joel Sterniak shut the door frustrating the Panthers by stopping all 31 shots and posting a shutout for the 2004 Greensburg CC Invitational champion Penn Trafford Warriors.
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/4a32347a-186a-4536-8fe3-1b8b2df009db.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/84a8fc8c-2ba1-412d-8fc3-fd325687dc90.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/4a32347a-186a-4536-8fe3-1b8b2df009db.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/84a8fc8c-2ba1-412d-8fc3-fd325687dc90.gif)
2004 Greensburg CC Invitational Final ~ PT / FR
Posted by Jeff Mauro at Oct 25, 2004 5:00PM PDT
( 0 Comments
)
Greensburg –
Penn Trafford and Franklin Regional is not yet hockey a rivalry which is the stature of a Meadville – Cathedral Prep or Fox Chapel – Central Catholic or Bethel Park – Mt Lebanon or Bishop McCort – Westmont Hilltop, but given the recent rise in the PT program via their first ever division championship in 2004 and overtaking FR to do it, I think things could heat up quickly for the two Center Ice Arena tenants.
The Panthers and Warriors both navigated nicely through the preliminary rounds of the Greensburg CC Invitational with 5-0 records and both gained the final with 5-0 victories over Fox Chapel and Plum, respectively. Penn Trafford has been very impressive over the past few years offensively, but it is the defensive effort that has Western Pa buzzing about the Warriors, who shut down Fox Chapel and Plum in recent games. Franklin Regional, on the other hand, has been a pleasant surprise under Jim Daugherty, and looks to be a very hard working and well balanced team.
The first period was Penn Trafford on the attack outshooting Franklin 12-6 in the opening period. Franklin looked to build some momentum late in a the period by killing off a 5 on 3 as Adam Treml made several good saves to keep the game scoreless.
The Panthers went on the power play early in the 2nd period, but their advantage was killed by an ill-advised interference call in the offensive end of the rink. Penn Trafford wasted no time taking advantage of this sudden turn of events as Chris Cerutti re-directed a Kyle Sidle feed high over the glove side of Treml for a 1-0 Warrior lead with 11:20 left. A little over two minutes later, Sidle found Nick Whaley open in the slot and all of the sudden Penn Trafford had built a 2-0 advantage with 9:11 left. The Warriors were not done as Whaley won a faceoff to the left of Treml, beat his man and slipped a backhand just inside the post at 8:26 for a 3 goal outburst in less than three minutes. Franklin threw 15 shots at Joel Sterniak, but could not capitalize and PT held a 3-0 lead at the end of two.
On to the third period and the game took on a chippy flavor as both teams engaged in some chatting and a little extra stick work. Chris Cerutti would put an exclamation point on this game as he scored on a backhand in traffic from between the circles on the power plat at 8:36 of the third period making the final 4-0 in favor of the Warriors. PT’s Joel Sterniak shut the door frustrating the Panthers by stopping all 31 shots and posting a shutout for the 2004 Greensburg CC Invitational champion Penn Trafford Warriors.
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/4a32347a-186a-4536-8fe3-1b8b2df009db.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/84a8fc8c-2ba1-412d-8fc3-fd325687dc90.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/4a32347a-186a-4536-8fe3-1b8b2df009db.gif)
![image](https://photos-images.active.com/file/1/60/604905/original/84a8fc8c-2ba1-412d-8fc3-fd325687dc90.gif)