Upper St. Clair Panthers - 1980 - 1987 - 2011 AAA

Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by Meadville Tribune High School Hockey: Bulldogs hand USC first PIHL loss of season By Bob Heist ~ Meadville Tribune If the game of hockey is an art form, than Rick Thomas and Christian Nickerson can double as Piccaso and da Vinci. Upper St. Clair can't disagree after Monday night's game at DeArment Arena, because the goal that ended the Panthers' unbeaten streak in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League was certainly a work of art. Tied after one period, Thomas made a brilliant move between defenders toward the crease and stuck a pass right on the tape of Nickerson's stick. The senior captain then beat USC goalie Kevin Gorder with a backhanded shot. Game, set, match. Meadville 3, USC 2. "We've just been playing together since we learned how to skate and everything's starting to click," said Thomas. "We just know where everyone's going to be on the ice. It's a chemistry we've grown up with, I guess." And it's a chemistry that's becoming irreplaceable for the Bulldogs, who improved to 7-1-0 in the PIHL and ran their current unbeaten streak to 11 games. The loss was the first for the Panthers (9-1-1) in the league. "I looked at (assistant coach) Scott (Phillis) after that goal and we said that was as nice of a play as we've seen in a long while," Meadville coach Jamie Plunkett said. "But that line has been playing great and they did again tonight." And they had to. Trailing 2-1 after USC scored 23 seconds apart midway through the first period, the Bulldogs' top line - which accounted for all three goals - took over as Phil Siverd tied the game with 1:12 left to play, beating Gorder off a rebound. Assists went to Thomas and David Moyer. Then came the play, just 25 seconds into the second period. Breaking into the zone and knifing between a pair of defenders, Thomas made a nifty touch pass to Nickerson, who was sliding unattended through the crease. The backhander was never in question, beating Gorder to the stick side. "You search all season for lines that work and I think (Plunkett) is still looking for lines, but that one's clicking and we can always fall back on it," said Nickerson, who leads the Bulldogs (16-2-4) with 49 points and is tied with Thomas with four game-winners. While all the scoring came in a stretch of just over nine minutes, the final 29-plus minutes of the game boiled down to some incredible goaltending by Gorder and the Bulldogs killing off a late power play. With Moyer in the penalty box for interference, Meadville weathered a furious final 30 seconds of regulation as USC pulled its goalie for an extra attacker with the puck in the 'Dogs' zone. The Panthers -outshot 33-14 in the game - never created a good chance and couldn't convert. "We had a chance. Two minutes left, power play, pull the goalie ...," said USC coach Kip Guenther. "But that's a game where they should be sitting there feeling as if they should have won because they did outplay us. "They're a good team. They win the races; they win a lot of races and that's the key to controlling the play." But this game did have a strange beginning. Gorder (6-1-1) allowed the first goal - which was credited to Thomas at the 8:56 mark of the first period - when teammate Matt McGinnis won a faceoff deep in the Panthers' zone and the puck knuckled into the net. It got even more bizzare when USC scored twice in a 23-second span. Anthony Sirabella deflected a shot by Ian Joyce in mid-air inside the post past Meadville goalie Dan O'Shurak for the equalizer at the 4:53 mark while Michael Michalek was given the go-ahead score at 4:30 on a puck that was re-directed off the stick of Bulldog forward Shawn Harbaugh. "Those were two fluke goals," O'Shurak said. "They were tips from far out and one was off our own player ... they're hard to stop. Those are frustrating, but there isn't much you can do." O'Shurak, now 10-2-3, didn't allow another goal and finished with 12 saves. Gorder was under pressure the entire game and finished with 30 saves. "I give credit to Danny for keeping his head in the game because that's hard to do after two goals like that go in," Thomas said. "It was no one's fault, just bad luck." And bad luck hasn't made a visit to Meadville's bench lately. The win drew the club within two points of Butler (8-2) - a 4-2 loser to Mount Lebanon last night - in the PIHL's North Division. It also extended the team's current streak to 9-0-2. In fact, Meadville has not lost since Nov. 13 against Padua, Ohio (3-0). The Bulldogs have not dropped a PIHL game since the opener on Nov. 3 against Central Catholic (4-2). "That's a big win because they're a good club," Plunkett said. "It isn't going to be easy for anybody down the road, so to get a win like that over a quality team is very good for the kids. We have a long way to go, but we're playing pretty well right now. This was a big step for us."

MT LEBANON ~ Special Report to Pa Hockey provided by Butler Hockey Butler began the game against Mt. Lebanon with 2 quick goals 1in pd. 1. The 1st goal came at 12:08 with Myke Guentner scoring with a wrap around goal, assisted by Greg Rogerson and Jared White. Less than 2 minutes later and Spencer Crouse had goal number 2 at 10:32, unassisted. At 6:48 Mt. Lebanon answered back when Eric Sloan had 1 of his three goals for the night. Butler held tight through most of the second period. It wasn't until 3:21 that Eric Sloan of Mt. Lebanon placed goal #2 in the net, tying the score 2-2. Jeff Simon got Mt. Lebanon's 3-2 lead goal at 2:45. Into the third period, Butler continued a strong game, holding the Mt. Lebanon team from scoring. Mt. Lebanon drew a penalty with 1:47 left in the game. Butler pulled move up goalie Seth Wolfe at :48 seconds in an attempt to tie the game with a 2 man advantage. But at :22 seconds Mt. Lebanon's Eric Sloan found the empty net for his third goal of the night. Butler's Greg Rogerson frantically chased the puck, but to no avail. Butler's move up goalie Seth Wolfe took 26 shots, stopping 22. Mt. Lebanon's goalie Matt Vaughan faced 22 shots, saving 20. Butler will meet up against Erie McDowell on Thursday, December 18, 2003 at the Belmont Ice Arena @ 7:35 p.m. The game will be broadcast live over WBUT 1050 AM.

NEVILLE ISLAND ~ Special Report provided by the Montour Hockey Club Montour defeated West Allegheny by the score of 5-1 tonight (12/12/03) at the Island Sports Center. For Montour, Mario Panucci had 2 goals and 2 assists, both Dan Shiwarski and Steve Tauriello collected a goal and an assist apiece, and Zach Perry had two assists. Goalie Aaron Williams turned away 31 of 32 shots for the Spartans.

NEVILLE ISLAND ~ Sewickley Academy coach Erik Hoolihan has done a masterful job building a hockey program at a very small school. The Panthers were near extinction many times, but they were able to come back to the varsity level in 2002-2003 after developing at the Junior Varsity level for two years and posting a 6-15-0 record and nearly missing the playoffs on a tiebreaker. SA would like to make the playoffs outright in 2003-2004 and would also like to exorcise the demons of Westmont Hilltop, who they have never beaten and has sent the Panthers on many a cold bus trips packing from the War Memorial in Johnstown. Maybe what Sewickley Academy needs is their # 1 fan to be their bus driver? You see at Westmont-Hilltop, there is THE MAN ….”Bob” the bus driver is as much a staple of the program as Art ‘King Arthur’ McQuillan, whose mighty Hilltoppers have Western Pennsylvania’s longest streak on the line this season at 13 consecutive winning seasons dating back to 1990. Westmont has started off slow this season and mainly due to graduation has been hard hit, but there is a new breed of Hilltopper in the form of all but one player who are underclassmen, a majority are freshman and sophomores. Now’Bob’ had an important job for tonight’s matchup with Sewickley Academy and it was to relay to these young Hilltopper’s the story of a little trip last March to Neville Island, where the preceding Westy boys went where none before them had gone, to the Penguin Cup and won it all with a 4-3 thriller over three-time defending State Champions Serra Catholic. So the usual suspects were on hand as King Arthur, his faithful assistants Brace Moran and Norm ‘the Judge’ Krumenacher set out from Johnstown with important work to do. Sewickley Academy broke out on top early as Trevor Heck scored at 11:54 to give the Panthers the lead at 11:54. Conner Blood extended the SA lead at 4:06 to 2-0 and Sewickley was looking to put it on Wesmont and defeat them for the first time outshooting WH 11-9 in the first period. The Hilltoppers scored a huge goal late in the first period, as Anthony DeMarco tallied with just 1:14 remaining to cut the lead to 2-1. On to the second and after the Panthers scored on the backhand at 14:10, Westmont really looked to be in trouble as Sewickley Academy began to pour the shots on Patrick Krumenacher, who made some spectacular saves at the 10:41minute mark just to keep the game within reach. If there has been a trademark of Art McQuillan coached teams over 19 years at Westmont, it has been the ability to never quit working….so the 2003-2004 version of sludging trudging mighty Hilltopper hockey may have begun before our eyes and an intimate gathering at Neville Island Sports Center. Anthony DeMarco, walk to the side of net and threw a seemingly harmless shot at the net from behind the goal line which snuck behind the pads of Peter Dimmick and gave Westy new life at 10:22 and cut the lead to 3-2. A great goal followed really fueled things for Westmont as Ashley Kowtonuk fed Demarco on a picture perfect pass through the slot and DeMarco slipped the puck through the five hole to tie the game at 3-3 with 7:50 ramining in the second. The Hilltoppers went on the power play at 5:00 remaining and DeMarco’s bid for the hat trick hit the post at 4:21, but the junior forward would not be denied as he scored on a pretty wraparound at 3:31 left to give Westmont it’s first lead 4-3. Coach Hoolihan must have really given it to his team during the ice cut as the Panther’s came out flying in the third period buzzing the Westmont net but could not beat Krumenacher, who turned away several SA chances, the best coming off the stick of Alec Shannon, who was the recipient of a nifty Trevor Heck feed at 7:13. Heck beat the Westmont defense again at 5:02, but could not beat Krumenacher. Finally, at the 4:00 mark, Alec Shannon fed a wide open Richard Thornburgh [grandson of the former Pennsylvania Governor], who blasted a slapshot past the Westmont goalie to tie the game at four apiece. Westmont came right back as Ashley Kowtonuck took a Anthony DeMarco feed and beat Peter Dimmick with 3:28 left and the Hilltoppers were on top 5-4. Sewickley poured on the attack late in the game but could not score as Scott Limbach just missed with :26 left and Westmont stole another one at Island Sports Center, in a game very similar to last years Penguin Cup, 5-4 over a very good Sewickley Academy team.

CRANDALEBERRY ~ North Allegheny coach Tom Pandolfo is committed to bringing North Allegheny a state championship banner to hang at CRANBERRY BladeRunner’s and right the ship of a program which has had 31 years of talent and 31 seasons, which ended in a loss. For some of us historian’s, maybe just maybe one could remember 1977 [none of these current players where born yet so maybe some of the parents like Jimmy Pekins [Shaler] or Dennis Sheran [Central Catholic] might but probably not ? After winning the WPIHL Championship NA headed off to the Round Robin State Championships in Philadelphia. After splitting the first two games, NA scored a huge win over defending 1976 Pennsylvania AA Champions Abington 6-4, and needed a little help from Cardinal O’Hara to defeat Erie McDowell, who where locked in a 1-1 tie going to the 3rd period. If my memory serves me correctly [I was there to watch Churchill-Richland], the NA coaches, players and parents watched at the old Lafayette rink, Erie McDowell score a late goal in that game dashing NA’s hopes of a shot at a State Title. Ladies and Gentleman, that was 27 years ago, but the closest opportunity the Tigers have come to the promised land. Now as I walked into CRANBERRY BladeRunner’s, I see the Championship Banners with 1977- 1995 – 1999 for the WPIHL Champions [which was a championship in 1977 similar to the Penguin Cup] and can’t help notice the JV Championship Banners, which get equal time and frankly are an eyesore in my opinion and need to be but at Wexford Middle School or somewhere else in the scheme of trying to overcome 31 years of frustration. Oh those opportunities to win it all and Central Catholic coach Kevin Zielmanski, knows as well because in 1998, coach Z led the Viking program to the State Final only to see it slip away 3-2 to LaSalle, a team who had pasted CC 14-0 early in the season. Discipline in the form of two game misconducts cost the Vikings that title opportunity and I guess you don’t appreciate it until you don’t see it for a while. If there was ever an opportunity to be a part of the process of winning a State Championship, this may be the best opportunity since 1998 to do it, so when Central defeated Meadville in the opener, maybe the kids thought this would be their year…..and in game two against Shaler, the players could be seen with open cockiness and almost arrogance prior to that game….which they ESCAPED and probably should have lost with a 2-1 victory over a team they should quite frankly beat by 4-5 goals. While many people want to know why Central Catholic is so up and down, the proof is in the pudding and the Vikings got a little reminder in the form of nemesis Bethel Park, who defeated the Vikings 3-0 on Monday. If they didn’t learn from the Shaler game…….here it is and Coach Z should not have to tell this group of mostly seniors so I will, YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO PLAY EVERY SHIFT OF EVERY GAME AND PUT YOUR INDIVIDUAL GOALS ASIDE FOR THE TEAM GOAL….A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP……and maybe just maybe come March your team will get on a roll and jell to make a run. Franklin almost did it but ran into the master of doing it Meadville, who has a great coach but had players who fully understood the magnitude of the moment and captured it. Central Catholic has the horses but needs the commitment and North Allegheny has the comittment, but needs some of its 2nd line players to step to the forefront and become horses….this makes both of these teams somewhat contenders at this point in the season, but they better find the intangibles aforementioned come January – March if either hope to make a run. Coach Zielmanski, who a my last reckoning, is the coach of the Vikings and is a great coach, decided it was time for a change and he could not have picked a better game to do it…North Allegheny, who defeated the Vikings 4-2 a couple of weeks ago in the Central Catholic Invitational. CC was looking for a spark so it change its lines and maybe needed to play more aggressively and a little on the edge, an edge that was displayed in Meadville in the opener and hasn’t been seen since. Conor [got it!] Hickton opened the scoring as Central displayed balance across three lines, a luxury only available to 3 Class AAA teams including Mt Lebanon [who was off to play LaSalle and Malvern Prep this weekend] and Meadville, at 8:54 to give CC a 1-0 lead. Michael McGurk, one of the silent leaders of CC, caught NA napping on the power play and scored a critical shorthanded goal at 4:05 and all the sudden the Vikings held a 2-0 lead at the end of one period. North Allegheny came back in the second as Ryan Sheran scored on the power play to cut the lead to 2-1 at 14:18. The game was in the balance and the game breaker made it happen as Eddie Martin gave the Vikings a big two goal cushion at 11:31 with a goal on the power play. Bryan Adamczyk, who has been confined to limited action this season, stepped to the forefront and showed why Central has two quality goaltenders, who can play in big games by stopping 33 of 34 NA shots. The third period was a titantic battle with some good physical play as Central had the lead and looked to wear NA down with 3-4 lines of playing on the edge and nobody can do it like Central can. The Vikings went on the power play and almost put the game out of reach but Jeff Kristan stopped Matt Capalongo at 10:34. Cappy returned the favor and showed why he is maybe Central’s best all-around forward as he gave up the body to block a slap shot from the right point by Jon Bishop at 7:17. Adamczyk continued to stop NA as he robbed Bill Weiler with 2:06 putting Central on their way to a huge win. Joe Kerr capped it off scoring on an empty netter with :39 left and the Vikings may have begun to turn the corner with a big 4-1 win over a very good North Allegheny team.