Plum Mustangs - 1989 A

ROSTRAVER ~ Mighty Hilltoppers pull off a big upset and defeat Mars 3-2 ! Mars has had a wonderful season in 2002-2003, out scoring their opponents in almost ridiculous fashion and has done so with great touch around the net and great puck movement. Head Coach Bob Finney’s team dare to go where no Planets team before them, as Mars picked up its first ever state playoff victory over Deer Lakes 10-5 to advance to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals at Rostraver. The opponent would be division rival Westmont, who the Planets defeated twice this season 6-1 and 6-4 and beating them a third time would be a real feat for Mars. Westmont Hilltop has been here before and head coach Art McQuillan has watched many a Hilltopper season end at Rostraver over the past as 6 out of the past eight years have ended in Penguin Cup Semi – Final disappointment, not including 2002 when they lost to Serra Catholic at the Gardens. So the usual suspects with a couple of their friends as Bob the Bus Driver in his own superstitious way, like many of the Hilltopper faithful took their posts at the Rostraver Ice Garden, hoping for a little Irish luck for McQuillan lad and his band of merry men on St Patrick’s Day. Maybe Mars was supposed to be a little nervous in their first trip to the Semi-Finals, nut the Planets came out storming in the first period and took it to Westmont outshooting them 20-5, but Hilltopper goaltender Pat Krumenacher was outstanding helping his team kill off two of three penalties. The one he didn’t resulted in the games first score as Bobby Beckert stationed himself in front and took a nice feed from Bobby Finney and slammed it home for a 1-0 Mars lead. Westmont weathered the storm and held Mars off the board early in the second as the Planets continued their attack with 14 more shots in the middle frame. As legend woud have it, the mighty Hilltopper would get their chance as Mars was maybe too aggressive as Justin McClosky streaked down the left wing and blasted a big slapshot inside the far post to tie the game with 10:02 left in the 2nd. McCloskey showed why he had 37 goals on the regular season as he came right back a few shifts later and beat Bryan Ross on a long slapshot, which appeared to have deflected off a Mars defenseman and over the glove of the freshman goaltender at 6:36 to give Westmont a 2-1 lead, despite being outgunned 34-10 through two periods. Mars continued their attack on Westmont resulting in a Planet power play in the middle of the final period of regulation. Jim Roach found a wide open Bobby Beckert in tight at 8:04 and the big Mars Forward made no mistake beating Krumenacher through the 5 hole and tying the game at 2-2. Art McQuillan had to wonder as his team was whistled with a little over five minutes to play putting Mars on the power play, with a chance to regain the lead. But this wasn’t just any ole Hilltopper team, as David ‘don’t call me Corey’ Mock made a great play to penetrate the Planets defense and dropped a terrific pass to McCloskey, who buried a wrist shot past Ross and sent the Westmont faithful into an uproar on the near sidelines with a 3-2 lead. The mighty Hilltoppers could smell victory and Mars displayed their frustration by taking a few ill-advised penalties late and Westmont held on to go on to the Penguins Cup for the first time since 1998. ROSTRAVER ~ Serra continues mastery over Bishop McCort 4-1 ! Bishop McCort has been to the Penguins Cup finals 10 out of the last twelve seasons with five Class A State Championships and many great seasons, but coach John Bradley’s club has run into a real roadblock over the past three seasons in the form of the Serra Catholic Eagles, who have won three consecutive State Championships at the expense of the Crimson Crushers. The road to the Class A State Championship, which used to go through Johnstown has been detoured through onto Route 30 and through East McKeesport and Serra Catholic High School. Those pesky Eagles have been awesome this season, but head coach John Mooney knows every time his team suits up against McCort, that Serra will have a tussle, especially at playoff time. Serra defeated Freeport and has been scorching Class A for the entire second half of the season with the usual suspects Leppo, King and Lubasch, but also with a new breed of Eagles in Joey Manning, Ryan Noone and Ray Gillis, who have matured into a strong double threat for the Egales. CJ King opened the scoring at 10:40 beating the McCort defense and goaltender Ron Stenger on the wrist shot stick side to give Serra a 1-0 lead. The Crimson Crushers pressured Serra for the equalizer in the first period, including a 5 on 3 power play with two minutes left in the first, but met the same old frustration as Timmy Johnson stoned them included 10 shots on the two man advantage and the Eagles took a 1-0 lead to the break. On to the second and King rung McCort up again on the power play at 10:08 getting his own rebound and beating Stenger to give Serra a 2-0 lead. Joe Delic came back and got McCort on the board on a rebound goal with 7:27 left in the 2nd period. The Crimson Crushers were pressing for the equalizer but Serra caught them napping as King found Joey Manning behind the McCort defense and threaded a perfect pass to the speedy forward, who scored to give the Eagles a huge insurance goal with 3:43 left in the 2nd and a 3-1 lead. Bishop McCort would have an opportunity to get back in the game on a 4 minute power play at 12:51, but they could not beat Johnston, who stopped 33 of 34 shots and has made a career out of beating the Crimson Crushers. C.J. King closed it out with the hat trick with just 8 minutes remaining and Serra would move on to the Penguins Cup for the 4th straight year with an impressive 4-1 win over McCort.