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

AIRPORT - West Allegheny kept pace with Canon McMillan for an outside chance at the Class AA West Division title with an 8-0 victory over Greensburg Salem. Ed Jankoski scored twice and JustinHays, Tom Quinn, Josh Fuoco, Derek Keller, Josh Giegel and Tony Lutz added singles. The drive for 65 continues as Greensburg Salem becomes the 61st team covered by Pa Hockey with a little over two weeks remaining in an attempt to see all 65 Varsity teams.

MONROEVILLE – Franklin Regional is arguably Class AAA’s hottest team with six consecutive wins including recent victories over Mt Lebanon and Plum. Coach Jim Damp’s team is now in position to capture their first division crown since 1996, when those Panthers were coming off four consecutive Penguin Cup final appearances. This year’s team has people in the hockey circles talking about a possible contender as one of the teams who could surprise in the upcoming playoffs. Gateway knows all about that ‘potential playoff run team’ talk as the Gators have been a potential team for the past several years, who have showed that they can beat the best teams in the league……and frankly they are tired of hearing about it. So Dan Serakowski’s squad came into their most important game of the year knowing two important factors. First, Gateway would be playing without speedy Zach Flora, who is a key component to their playoff hopes and second that when the Gators score first they are 12-1-0 and when they don’t they are 1-6. So it was plain and simple for the Gators, get that first goal and their odds were real good in this one. The first period was evenly played with both teams getting a few decent scoring opportunities in the first nine minutes and the game remained scoreless until Matt Kopaczynski found himself with the puck at the top of the right faceoff circle and he blasted a snapshot over the glove hand of Brandon Stallard and the Gators owned that coveted first goal at 6:30. Gateway appeared to have a 2-0 lead, but Lucas Pepper’s goal was directed in with a high stick and waived off at 2:51. Franklin came right back as Mike Roth found the net as his shot trickled past David Himes to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:36 left. Then the Panthers went on the power play and Roth buried a rebound off of a Jimmy Daugherty shot with just 31 ticks left in the opening period. In the second period, the Gators tied the game as Kopaczynski made a great move at the blue line and beat Stallard low to the stick side at 7:46. The game remained tied as neither team was able to capitalize on power play chances. The third period started and the Gators took the lead at 13:52 as Kopaczynski walked around the Panther defense and put a shot through the five hole for a 3-2 Gateway advantage. Then a break for the Gators occurred as Justin ‘L.A.’ Scott picked up a FR turnover and buried a wrist shot on the short side at 12:28 to give the home team a 4-2 lead. Gateway, learning from their last letdown against McDowell, started to play smart and simple hockey with some excellent work down low and pinning the Panthers in their own end for much of the third period. Franklin got a last ditch chance with a power play with 1:18 remaining and a 6 on 4 [goaltender pulled] but could not score on Himes. ‘L.A.’ Scott put the exclamation point on a huge Gateway victory with a [between 140 and 145 feet by the Gateway faithful in the lobby] long shot into an empty net with :03 left and a 5-2 Gator win.

AIRPORT – Blackhawk missed the playoffs last season on the season’s final day, losing to Center in a mild upset. Coach Dave Stepanian’s club has already clinched a playoff spot for this year’s tournament and is possibly looking to slip into a home playoff berth for the first round. Ahead of the Cougars prior to this evenings contest are Deer Lakes [whom Blackhawk defeated 11-8 last week] and Freeport, so a victory over the Yellow Jackets would be huge. Freeport has battled all season and after a slow start, coach Jim Hill’s club went on a mini streak and then dropped a couple of one goal nailbitters to Mars and Bishop McCort. The Yellow Jackets are also looking to nail down a home berth in a potential first round match-up in the upcoming Class A playoffs. The opening period was pretty wide open as the teams played a little loose on defense. Freeport’s Dustin Gaworski missed on the breakaway at 13:44 and Blackhawk netminder John Fitzgerald made a stick save on Yellow Jacket sniper Michael Bender at 6:55. Blackhawk appeared to take the lead as Jake Polas hit Mike Wylie in stride and Wylie scored on the rebound, but the officials determined that the puck was directed in with a high stick. Freeport’s Dustin Gaworski bumped a Cougar defenseman off the puck and walked to the net and buried a wrist shot upstairs at 3:08 for a 1-0 lead. Freeport then took a couple of penalties and was down by two with 1:32 remaining. Blackhawk show extreme patience and it paid off as Jake Polas found Sam Kristian, who beat Derek Gaworski through the 5-hole to tie the game at one apiece with just :47 left in the opening frame. In the second, the Cougars went back on the power play at 13:04 and Mike Wylie hit the crossbar and dropped in the crease and no goal, but Blackhawk kept working and Jake Polas scored on the rebound at 11:23 for a 2-1 lead for the home team. Freeport came right back as Marty Bollinger’s slapshot from the right point glanced off Fitzgerald’s glove to tie the game at 10:43. The Cougars regained the lead as Mike Wylie walked through the Yellow Jacket defense and dropped a beautiful feed to Matt Stepanian, who made no mistake on the ice down low and Blackhawk now had a 3-2 lead at 9:33. The game tightened up defensively as both teams engaged in a chess match, Bender’s attempt to tie the game hit the post with 4:59 remaining in the 2nd. On to the third period and Derek Gaworski and John Fitzgerald put on a goaltending clinic. Gaworski stopped the Cougars Peterson on the breakaway with 6:06 left. Fitzgerald stoned Freeport’s big guns Mike Bender and Dustin Gaworski with 5:01 remaining. Blackhawk’s Mike Wylie just missed with 4:39 remaining as Gaworski dove to push the puck wide. Blackhawk went on the power play on a very undisciplined penalty by Freeport with just 2:32 left, but the Yellow Jackets were the aggressor as Gaworski and Bender had some chances shorthanded, but Blackhawk held on as Freeport could not get the equalizer with a 3-2 win. The victory pole vaulted the Cougars into 8th place in the Class A standings and in position to capture a home playoff game.

AIRPORT - West Allegheny kept pace with Canon McMillan for an outside chance at the Class AA West Division title with an 8-0 victory over Greensburg Salem. Ed Jankoski scored twice and JustinHays, Tom Quinn, Josh Fuoco, Derek Keller, Josh Giegel and Tony Lutz added singles. The drive for 65 continues as Greensburg Salem becomes the 61st team covered by Pa Hockey with a little over two weeks remaining in an attempt to see all 65 Varsity teams.

MONROEVILLE – Franklin Regional is arguably Class AAA’s hottest team with six consecutive wins including recent victories over Mt Lebanon and Plum. Coach Jim Damp’s team is now in position to capture their first division crown since 1996, when those Panthers were coming off four consecutive Penguin Cup final appearances. This year’s team has people in the hockey circles talking about a possible contender as one of the teams who could surprise in the upcoming playoffs. Gateway knows all about that ‘potential playoff run team’ talk as the Gators have been a potential team for the past several years, who have showed that they can beat the best teams in the league……and frankly they are tired of hearing about it. So Dan Serakowski’s squad came into their most important game of the year knowing two important factors. First, Gateway would be playing without speedy Zach Flora, who is a key component to their playoff hopes and second that when the Gators score first they are 12-1-0 and when they don’t they are 1-6. So it was plain and simple for the Gators, get that first goal and their odds were real good in this one. The first period was evenly played with both teams getting a few decent scoring opportunities in the first nine minutes and the game remained scoreless until Matt Kopaczynski found himself with the puck at the top of the right faceoff circle and he blasted a snapshot over the glove hand of Brandon Stallard and the Gators owned that coveted first goal at 6:30. Gateway appeared to have a 2-0 lead, but Lucas Pepper’s goal was directed in with a high stick and waived off at 2:51. Franklin came right back as Mike Roth found the net as his shot trickled past David Himes to tie the game at 1-1 with 2:36 left. Then the Panthers went on the power play and Roth buried a rebound off of a Jimmy Daugherty shot with just 31 ticks left in the opening period. In the second period, the Gators tied the game as Kopaczynski made a great move at the blue line and beat Stallard low to the stick side at 7:46. The game remained tied as neither team was able to capitalize on power play chances. The third period started and the Gators took the lead at 13:52 as Kopaczynski walked around the Panther defense and put a shot through the five hole for a 3-2 Gateway advantage. Then a break for the Gators occurred as Justin ‘L.A.’ Scott picked up a FR turnover and buried a wrist shot on the short side at 12:28 to give the home team a 4-2 lead. Gateway, learning from their last letdown against McDowell, started to play smart and simple hockey with some excellent work down low and pinning the Panthers in their own end for much of the third period. Franklin got a last ditch chance with a power play with 1:18 remaining and a 6 on 4 [goaltender pulled] but could not score on Himes. ‘L.A.’ Scott put the exclamation point on a huge Gateway victory with a [between 140 and 145 feet by the Gateway faithful in the lobby] long shot into an empty net with :03 left and a 5-2 Gator win.