Plum Mustangs - 1989 A

Montour and Moon have a history of close games and tonight was no different. The classic and physical rivalry provided a great game with an eerily similar outcome from games past. Moon's Andrew Slifkin was outstanding in net and stood on his head to stop 39 of Montour's 41 shots. However, it was not enough as Montour solved Slifkin in the third period for 2 goals and the 2-0 win. Mario Panucci struck twice in the third to score both of Montour's goals while goaltender Aaron Williams preserved the shutout for the win. Slifkin stoned the Montour offense time after time throughout the first two periods, making several sprawling saves. Meanwhile, the Montour defense clamped shut Moon's offense once again to limit Moon's scoring chances. With the game scoreless in the third period, Mario Panucci took a pass from Zach Perry through the neutral zone. Panucci skated into the Moon zone, wound up, and slapped a shot that found its way under Slifkin's glove for the 1-0 Montour lead. Late in the third, Dan Shiwarski out-skated a Moon defenseman along the boards deep inside the Moon zone. Shiwarski centered a pass where Panucci one-timed it into the net for the 2-0 lead and eventual final score.

JOHNSTOWN- Yes Johnstown ….where Mr. Haney made his first appearance or disappearance if you will. Surely, this trip would yield some Green Acres moments, especially after an 11-0 drubbing Tuesday night at the hands of North Allegheny University in Cranberry, coach Ron ‘Eb Dawson’ Steedle and myself,were looking forward to the game. As we pulled into the War Memorial, you could see the Crimson usher faithful filing in for another rendition of Serra – McCort. Amazingly, a parking space just 10 feet or so from the side entrance. Like Sam Drucker, I fumbled my camera and laptop to find my credentials to present at the door, would it be the postmaster or possibly the reporter or the store owner. You see the more things that things at Drucker’s store in Hooterville, the more they remained the same. Must I remind the McCort faithful or John Bradley of The 2000 Penguins Cup final – Serra 4 Bishop McCort 1 or The 2001 Penguins Cup final – Serra 6 Bishop McCort 3 or The 2002 Penguins Cup final – Serra 3 Bishop McCort 0 or The 2003 Penguins Cup semi-final – Serra 4 Bishop McCort 1 or The 2004 Penguins Cup final – Serra 5 Bishop McCort 2 or perhaps the game earlier this season at Rostraver won again by Serra 6 Bishop McCort 4. Tom Mooney’s Eagles had to feel great about their # 1 Pa Hockey Elite 8 ranking and the 18-0-0 perfect record and their mastery over McCort. For the Crimson Crushers, they are riding a wave into this game with 11 straight victories and a team that seems to be peaking for the upcoming playoffs. Bishop McCort also had an ace in the hole, as Serra was the last remaining undefeated team left in Western Pa Hockey, and the last two weeks have watched two unbeaten teams, Bethel Park and Canon McMillan fall from the ranks of no losses. So Ron ‘Eb’ stated ‘Hey, you are a curse for undefeated hockey teams. Look at what you did to Bethel and Canon Mac.” The 1st period featured some good action at both end and McCort had a few chances in which they missed the net. Serra would strike first as Aaron Nolte scored on a rebound of a Josh Jones rebound at 2:19 to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. The Crushers would tie it as Shawn James scored on a backhand through the 5-hole past Nick Koroly for a 1-1 tie. The goaltending in the 2nd period was good as Serra’s Nick Koroly and McCort’s Ron Stenger stopped several key chances. The third period of hockey would keep the fans at the War Memorial on the edge of their seat throughout and didn’t take long to heat up as Ray Gillis took a Tyler Burda feed and burst with speed around the McCort defense and undressed Ron Stenger with a great move on the forehand at 14:03 to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. The Crimson Crushers came right back and would not be denied as Marc Domonkos scored on his own rebound at 12:30. Serra came right back as Aaron Nolte showed why he is considered one of the most dangerous players in Class A as he converted a funny bounce past Stenger to give Serra the lead 3-2 at 8:43 after some nice work by linemates Justin Lubasch and Joey Manning. Back came the Crimson Crushers and after Domonkos almost beat Nick Koroly at 8:13, it would be David Champe, who found a loose puck at the feet of a Serra defenseman and flung a shot past the Eagle netminder to tie the game with 7:40 left. McCort would go on the power play at 5:57, as Serra was whistled for a slash behind the play and the Eagles would have the best scoring chance as Ron Stenger had to be tough on a Joey Manning slapshot shorthanded at 4:48. The Crimson Crushers would strike the fatal blow next as Cory Mock rifled a slapshot from just inside the faceoff circle on the ice under the stick of Nick Koroly to give McCort its first lead 4-3 with just 2:39 remaining in regulation. Ray Gillis had a great opportunity to tie the game with the goalie pulled, but Ron Stenger stopped him with 47 seconds left and McCort scored 2 empty net goals to make the final 6-3 in a possible preview of the 2005 Penguins between two schools who have been to the dance every year [except 1998] since 1994.

SOUTHPOINTE - Peters Township’s Mark Cooper was very happy with the underdog tag a year ago as Thomas Jefferson, Kittanning and Indiana headed into the playoffs with a little edge on the Indians and Coop used that as leverage to motivate his PT players to go out and prove to all that their team was the best in the state and they won their 3rd straight Penguins Cup, but were unable to complete the hat trick of Pennsylvania Class AA State Championships falling short against Archbishop Carroll. The Indians season in 2004-2005 has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows resulting in 6 losses, which is more than in 3 regular seasons prior to this one. So Coop and PT is looking for that magic to appear again and what better motivation than an undefeated # 1 ranked opponent. Canon McMillan is the target on every Class AA teams bullseye and coach Dave Fryer is starting to become accustomed to the Big Macs # 1 ranking in the Pa Hockey Elite 8. The coach also knows that his team will be one loss away from ending their season, when the playoffs start in a few weeks and even though this team has an undefeated record, it will have to prove it when March 1 means only five in a row will make them champions. The Big Macs will be looking to go where no other Canon McMillan team has ventured and have a pretty good start on it with an 18-0-1 record and an opportunity to tie down the # 1 seed and a bye in round one of the Penguins Cup playoffs. Before a packed house of rowdy CM fans on Senior night and Peters faithful of over 600, along with many of the Class AA players who had the night off, the first period began and Peters had a great chance as Brandon Tingle, had a two on one chance, which was gloved by Drew Stanton at 14:14. Then at 13:22, Justin Cormack dipsy doodled in the Peters zone and fired a shot, which Rob Madore handled, but Jesse Patnesky was perfectly positioned at the side of the net and beat Madore to give the Big Macs a 1-0 lead. Canon Mac went on the power play at 7:57 and Madore made a real nice leg save on Patneskey at 6:07. At 5:23, Doug Stanton beat Madore at the far post for a 2-0 lead with a slick shot. The Big Macs dominated the opening period, but may have been a little overzealous in their hitting and Peters had a great opportunity to get back in the game at 3:27 on the power play. At 1:21 a streaking Bryan Papciak had a point blank chance, but Drew Stanton said no! The 2ns period began much like the 1st and the Big Macs went on a 5 on 3 at 14:35 and a chance to go up 3 again. Rob Madore made several key saves and Peters survived and Jeff Hannan’s shot off the crossbar was really the Indians first legitimate scoring opportunity and the PT made it count as Chris Papciak scored into an empty net on a Jake Machel rebound at 11:14 to cut the lead to 2-1. At 8:16, the play was blown dead and the puck was loose and Peters had a chance to score, which was a huge break for Canon Mac, which became a little lifeless in the middle of the 2nd. At 3:43 Rob Madore made a tremendous save on a CM 2 on 1 where Doug Stanton fed Justin Cormack and the Peters goalie made a sliding stop. At 2:17 Peters got the spark they needed as Chris Papciak scored on the short side beating Stanton to tie the hockey game. Moments later at 1:30, Jeff Hannan found the net again on a wrist shot which fooled the Canon Mac goaltender and gave Peters its first lead 3-2. With 42 ticks left in the 2nd, Canon Mac showed frustration and Peters went back on the power play, with a chance to go up by two. Brandon Tingle apparently scored, but referee Dave Kosick ruled it was directed by a foot and no goal was called with 20 seconds left and the game remained 3-2 in favor of Peters. On to the third period we went and with Canon Macs undefeated season and possible # 1 seed on the line and Peters Twp’s chance to regain respectability in the Class AA playoff chase, the next goal go a long way to determining a winner in this one. At 13:31, Eric Lang put a licken on Jake Machel to get the CM crowd back in the game. Madore continued to play strong in between the pipes with another excellent save on Jesse Patnesky at 10:15 and again on Corey Griffith at 9:42 from just in front. At 9:11, Peters Twp scored a big goal as Gerry Raymond swung a pass to a streaking Jeff Hannan who chipped the puck past Drew Stanton for a 4-2 Indian advantage. With 3:29 left Canon Mac was whistled for a penalty and Peters only had to kill the clock on the power play, but Justin Cormack made something happen getting behind the Peters defense causing a penalty and a 4 on 4, but the Indians maintained a 4-2 lead. With 57 seconds left Justin Cormack missed a great chance to cut the lead to one and that would be all she wrote as Peters Twp would win it 4-2.

Click on the Penguins Logo for the Complete History of the Penguins Cup from 1975 to present [Year by year] for Class AAA, AA and A. Only available on Pa Hockey and see the long awaited Pa Hockey Penguins Cup Previews of every playoff team are here and can be accessed HERE ! 2005 Class A Penguins Cup - Tuesday March 22, 2005 @ 7 PM Bishop McCort Crimson Crushers 5 Serra Catholic Eagles 2 ***PLEASE READ THE GAME SUMMARIES*** 2005 Class AA Penguins Cup - Wednesday March 23, 2005 @ 7 PM Peters Township Indians 6 Pine Richland Rams 2 ***PLEASE READ THE GAME SUMMARIES*** 2005 Class AAA Penguins Cup - Wednesday March 23, 2005 @ 9 PM Bethel Park Blackhawks 1 North Allegheny Tigers 0 ***PLEASE READ THE GAME SUMMARIES***

DELMONT – Friday night Interscholastic Hockey is not something that is much of a tradition in Western Pennsylvania, because the Mr. Haney’s discipleship of the unneeded 6 AAA midget teams like to drink lots of Kool-Aid starting about 5 O’Clock for happy hour, which lasts essentially until the Monday morning hangover when somebody needs to go back to work and pay for these budding hockey careers. The battle between high school hockey and amateur hockey has reached a new level of ridiculousness, as now bantams and pee wees are calling off for freshman and junior varsity teams and subsequently, high school and amateur programs are dying off at an alarming level. Back in the 1997-98 season, as a coach at Franklin Regional, our program had 75 players with two freshman teams, a junior varsity and varsity team and Plum, our next door neighbor had well over 70 as well, with a developmental team, freshman team, two junior varsities and a varsity. Boy how times have changed in just seven years and although Plum has had a tremendous season at 16-3-1, clinching their 2nd division title in three years, there is great concern about the viability of the program. Even the aforementioned Franklin Regional has only 40 something players in its program. Ladies and Gentleman, the reason is cost. People are being priced out of high school hockey and this week the beginning of the avalanche is happening as 12-15 schools from the Johnstown area have announced plans to leave the PIHL for 2005-2006. So with Newt Kiley on hand to give and not present Plum their Division Championship trophy, and leave Penn Trafford’s in the lobby for the Center Ice staff to give their team, we all must wonder what the future holds. Ralph [not Murovich] and Alf are busy working on that banner for Connellsville (4-14-0), West Mifflin (4-15-0) and Trinity (4-15-0) for the Open Division South title, who are teams which have been busy snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at such an alarming rate, not even I can predict which one of those teams will back into a division title. One thing I can predict is that 2 or 3 of those programs will be extinct within the next few years. So Senior Night for this Plum team would be all the more special in Hooterville as coach Stu Rulnick and his sidekicks Jerry ‘Dr Evil’ Bass, Mike ‘I scored 100 goals in AAA and only ten against Connellsville’ Sargo and Sean Keller prepared their troups for a playoff run and maybe the people in Plum and Franklin are cherishing these Senior nights, because the parking lot was more crowded than the Pixley Bazaar, with cars parked down the hill, which could have disturbed the Lamplighter Nightclubs attraction, the Vogues, which also was a happening event in Delmont, Pa. The Mustangs have all the makings of a very good playoff team and are maybe a Serge Somma or Ian Beitler, plus a couple of bodies away from really putting together a playoff run, which is a direct byproduct of the lack of numbers in the program and the lack of cooperation between Interscholastic and Amatuer hockey. In town tonight was Mt Lebanon, the defending Penguins Cup champions of Paul Taibi and assistants Dave ‘I didn’t play for Mort at Bethel, but know Mr. Haney’ Dorsey and our good friend Bobby Montana, who is back in town after a trip on the Goodship Lollipop. So reluctantly as Mort and I maneuvered ourselves for parking position in the parking lot, Mr Montana triggers just by his prescence a Friday special edition of Whos Who night with Bethel Park’s Jim ‘Mort’ McVay, Norwin’s Dave Warren, North Allegheny’s Tom ‘I couldn’t miss tonight’s Pizza Pub meeting with my buddy Stu’ Pandolfo, Mrs Mary Jo Rulnick, Cindy ‘Mrs. Dr Evil’ Bass, Ron Valerino Sr, Ron Valerino Jr, Norm Uddstrom, Mt Lebanon Pres Gina Colligan, Ralph ‘the real Ralph and real contractor’ Murovich, Dave ‘I dropped out of the top 5 fans for Pa Hockey because I go to the Boulevard’ Scott, Lou ‘I am still coaching the Gator’s’ Biancanello, his sidekick Ray ‘I have way too much time on my hands’ Leith, and Mr and Mrs Bob Smith Sr in attendance to watch their grandson, while son Bobby was home or at the Pixley library studying up on ‘Due Process’, but here in spirit, and a whole host of other people to jockeying back and forth between the Franklin –USC game and this one. Arnold ‘Slick’ Ziffel would be in front of his television as Plum ‘do we have PIHL television rights?’ Cable access was on hand to televise tonight’s affair before a packed house at Center Ice Arena. Sorry about that…..anyway, Mt Lebanon has been one of Class AAA’s best teams in the 2nd half of the season and it has been the development of a number of players, who have flourished under coach Taibi’s system and the emergence of a solid third line unit, who wreck havoc on opposing teams and contribute each night to a total team effort. This enable’s the Blue Devils to have their top guns fresh late in the game or in key situations when the game is on the line, which is a contrast to Plum’s lack of numbers, which could be the difference in this very important seeding game. Mt Lebanon goaltender Evan ‘Max’ Baehr has also been sharp as of late, particularly in the Blue Devils 1-0 win over Bethel Park a week ago and will be a key player in Lebo’s defense of their title. Plum came out with grit and emotion in the opening minutes as the first period turned into a physical tight checking period. Phil Mains, who is arguably the best defenseman in Class AAA, was doling out checks like it was the first of the month and the senior defenseman struck the game’s first tally as he read the play and pounced on a Ben Colosmo rebound and beat Baehr at 9:24 to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Mt Lebanon regained their momentum on a power play that they didn’t score on at 4:03, but the affect may have resulted in a late goal in the period as freshman Tyler Murovich used his quickness to beat Brandon King on a Brandon Dornish rebound with just 27 seconds remaining in the opening period. On to the second period and after a 4 on 4 situation expired the Blue Devils went to work down low which left a wide open point and Matt Bartkowski, who blistered a slapshot through traffic and past King for Mt Lebanon’s first lead at 12:15. Plum looked to be a little tired and Mt Lebanon took the tempo up a notch in the middle of the period and the result was a loose puck in the slot and an opportunistic Tony Valerino, who found the puck and roofed it up under the crossbar [which several people including Mt Lebanon behind the net thought never went in] but it was ruled a goal and Mt Lebanon now has a 3-1 lead with 4:48 remaining. Back came the Mustangs in the 3rd as a streaking Ryan Griffin took a great cross ice pass from Mains and beat Baehr cleanly to cut the lead to 3-2. Plum was building some more momentum and executed some nice work in the offensive zone as Jonathon Smith, beat the Mt Lebanon defense and found Ben Colosmo, who buried a wrist shot upstairs at 8:14 to tie the game at three apiece. The Mustangs looked to take this game but Evan Baehr made a nice stop on David Dicau at 8:01 and Plum had another chance on the power play at 6:48, which they could not capitalize on giving Mt Lebanon a little momentum. Enter Mt Lebanon’s Shane Ferguson and one of the teams money players when the game is on the line [who sat the bench with a slight injury and could afford to with 18 players on the bench] and Fergy delivered as he swooped into the Plum zone found a rebound and lofted an ‘Arnold Slick if you will’ backhand, which handcuffed Brandon King and gave the Blue Devils a 4-3 lead with 4:14 remaining. All of the hard work of Plum to mount a comeback turned to frustration and an ill-advise penalty at 4:14 and The Blue Devils knew what was coming next as their chairman of the boards Tony Valerino put closure to a Plum upset slamming home a rebound with :49 seconds left to send the Plum faithful to the parking lot with a key 5-3 Mt Lebanon victory keeping them tied with Bethel Park, in the loss column, behind North Allegheny.