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Franklin does enough to win and defeat West Allegheny 4-2
Franklin Regional 4 West Allegheny 2
CORAOPOLIS –
West Allegheny (13-4-0) just completed its roughest stretch of the season with losses to Franklin Regional and Canevin back to back to fall out of a top two spot and back to 4th ranked in a Class AA that has only really four teams in contention at this point to contend for a Penguins Cup. The Indians have rebounded with a win over Indiana and would like to send a message to Class AA, that West A intends to contend in March and a great way to start wold be to knock off Franklin Regional, which is the 5th and final game against the other top 3 contenders. Head Coach Norm Cook will also need to establish depth in the playoffs to compete for the Class AA Penguins Cup.
Franklin Regional (13-2-1) is ranked # 3 in the latest Post Gazette Class AA rankings and after losing to Kittanning a week ago after surrendering another third period lead similar to their only other loss to Latrobe. Head Coach Jim Daugherty is looking for his club to adopt the killer instinct it displayed in their first meeting with West Allegheny where the Panthers outshot the Indians by a wide margin and walked away with a 4-0 victory. If the Panthers hope to contend for a Penguins Cup a little over a month away, they must be able to put teams away in the third period when they have the lead. The loss at Kittanning was just another reminder that this team despite its record has its flaws, which may become exposed in March.
Good action in the opening minutes as Franklin’s Eugene Mack hit the post and then Ryan Kumpfmiller was stopped by FR’s Anthony Livecchi. At 12:40 of the opening period, the puck was forced to the front of the net and Ryan Crossey got a freebie tap in to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. At 7:23 of the period, Ryan Crossey had a great chance on a breakaway, but Kyle Mortimer made the save. A little over a minute later at 6:16, Shane Corssey made a terrific play to keep the puck in the zone after a rebound was kicked out near the blue line and Crossey raced down the slot amnd beat Mortimer to make it 2-0 at 6:16. Franklin could not capitalize on the man advantage at 5:49 and the scored remained 2-0 after one as the Panthers outshot West A 11-5.
On to the second period and Kyle Mortimer made a terrific toe save stop on Anthony Talamo after a real nice setup by Ryan Crossey at 11:22. West Allegheny would answer as Jeff Cupelli took a lead pass from Ryan Kumpfmiller and beat Livecchi to cut the lead to 2-1 in favor of Franklin. West Allegheny had a chance to tie it on the power play at 10:16, but Franklin had an even better scoring opportunity on a 3 on1 at 8:32 but was unable to even register a shot.Mortimer made another great save on Ryan Crossey, which seemed to lift his team and the Indians responded by turning up the heat in the Franklin end in an effort to tie the game. West A took a very bad penalty with 1:46 to play in the period and the Panthers made them pay as Eugene Mack walked the Indians defense and buried a wrist shot with 57 seconds to play in the period for a huge goal and an even bigger momentum swing as FR outshot West A 9-8 in the 2nd period.
Officials can have a significant influence in a hockey game if they want to and if Franklin wasn’t noticing, the same official who stuck it to them in their Semi-Final loss to Thomas Jefferson was up to his old tricks again turning a pretty good hockey game into a fiasco with a West Allegheny power play at 12:52, another one at 11:09 and a 5 on 3 at 10:07 of the third period. Some of the penalties were marginal calls and lead to a significant shot advantage for the Indians in the third period. Franklin Regional penalty killing and some poor West A shot selection led to the Panthers killing off the flurry. With 6:57 to go, Anthony Livecchi robbed Tyler Fitzgerald and FR and its goaltender stood tall in the unfriendly confines of the Airport Ice Arena. Eugene Mack, on a great individual effort won a battle for a loose puck at 4:47 and slid it under Kyle Mortimer to make it 4-1 Panthers. West Allegheny’s Justin Haskins chipped a loose puck over Livecchi with 3:57 to go to make it 4-2 and Franklin held on for their lives the rest of the way for a 4-2 win. Not exactly a convincing third period, but found a way to kill off some bad penalty calls and a very good West A power play, which is a recipe for winning in the playoffs, which will be tested a little over a month from now.
Somerset holds off McCort rally in the third for huge Class A win !
JOHNSTOWN –
Over the mountain and through the woods to the friendly confines of the Cambria County War Memorial we went on a cold and blustery Thursday evening for a double header with Serra Catholic and the mighty Hilltoppers of Westmont and the nightcap between Somerset and Bishop McCort. The opener was a tough pill for King Arthur’s Hiltoppers as they were thumped by a pretty good Serra club 10-0. Much of the game was a good time to debate some hockey with a couple of 6 year old Mites who will be the future as Lane McQuillan, son of the Hilltopper Head Coach and Matthew Sliva, son of the Eagle Head Coach were bringing me up to speed of the happenings of the Warriors and Badgers, their teams. A breath of fresh air in what has become a pretty stale hockey community over the past five years and you wonder what lies ahead for these two youngsters in seven years, when they don the uniforms of Westmont and Serra.
A great example of this is Bishop McCort, who for the past 15 years have dominated the Class A landscape along with Serra Catholic. The Crimson Crushers made it to the 2005 Pennsylvania State final, only to lose to Penncrest in a very good hockey game. So it has been nine years since the Crimson Crushers have tasted victory in the States and the toll on the Johnstown Hockey community as a whole has been very noticeable. Once proud and strong hockey programs such as Forest Hills, Johnstown, Richland Cambria and even Westmont Hilltop have become minor players in the Penguins Cup chase. McCort, this season with five losses is off to one of its worst starts in their history going back nearly 20 years at 9-5-0.
The reason is pretty simple and was one of the fears of the Unification, which is now known as the PIHL. The Open Division, which is a conglomeration of co-op schools, West Virginia and some pure schools with no home has cause the scheduling of Serra Catholic for six trips to Johnstown and is absolutely unnecessary. Furthermore, the cost structure in the PIHL is way out of line and the Board of Governors of the league is unable to have ANY influence nor impact on a League Administration that is out of control, been around way too long and has its hands on all of the money that they are hemorrhaging from the schools, many whom can no longer afford to pay and are losing players fast to amateur and travel hockey, because of the poor product on the ice in the PIHL.
Somerset, who plays their home games nearly an hour away in Johnstown at Planet Ice has a program which is teetering again on extinction. The Eagles advanced to the Penguins Cup one time in 2004 and this year’s squad has rebounded from an 0-5 start with seven wins in their past eight games, including a win over Serra Catholic, and is right back in the playoff hunt at 7-6-0. Head Coach Matt Cavrack’s Eagles, after being bounced around in Class AA and then exiled to the Open Division, after their only Penguins Cup appearance, last beat Bishop McCort back in 2004, were out to avenge an early season loss to the Crimson Crushers.
McCort broke out on top in the opening period as Matt McIntyre scored the opening goal of the contest. Somerset tied the game late in the period on a goal by Hunter Specht.
Chad James gave the Crimson Crushers a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd period. Back came the Eagles to tie the game again as Craig Eddy took a drop pass from Alladin Faily and blistered a wrist shot past Danny Mock and we were tied at two apiece. The two culprits were back at it again with 5:10 to go in the period as Faily patiently waited on a two on one and feed the puck across to Eddy who buried it to give Somerset it’s first lead 3-2. The Eagles had an opportunity on the 5 on 3, but McCort killed it off prior to the ice cut.With 13:47 remaining in the third period, Craig Eddy completed the hat trick beating the McCort defense with speed and Mock to give the Eagles a 4-2 advantage. Back came the Crushers as Chad James came down the left side and lofted a wrist shot high over the glove hand of Somerset’s freshman goaltender Caroline Barth to cut the lead to 4-3 with 10:37 to play. With 6:55 to go, Danny Mock came up big for McCort stopping Eddy, but a half a minute later at 6:25 Eddy would score again through the 5-hole to make it 5-3. The Crushers lost their composure and took a couple of untimely penalties digging a bigger hole, but Todd Thomas had other ideas shorthanded as he danced with the puck just inside the Somerset zone and buried a wrist shot up high over the glove of Barth and McCort was backing the game 5-4. The Crushers pulled the goaltender but could not get the equalizer as Somerset held on for a 5-4 victory over Bishop McCort.
Somerset holds off McCort rally in the third for huge Class A win !
JOHNSTOWN –
Over the mountain and through the woods to the friendly confines of the Cambria County War Memorial we went on a cold and blustery Thursday evening for a double header with Serra Catholic and the mighty Hilltoppers of Westmont and the nightcap between Somerset and Bishop McCort. The opener was a tough pill for King Arthur’s Hiltoppers as they were thumped by a pretty good Serra club 10-0. Much of the game was a good time to debate some hockey with a couple of 6 year old Mites who will be the future as Lane McQuillan, son of the Hilltopper Head Coach and Matthew Sliva, son of the Eagle Head Coach were bringing me up to speed of the happenings of the Warriors and Badgers, their teams. A breath of fresh air in what has become a pretty stale hockey community over the past five years and you wonder what lies ahead for these two youngsters in seven years, when they don the uniforms of Westmont and Serra.
A great example of this is Bishop McCort, who for the past 15 years have dominated the Class A landscape along with Serra Catholic. The Crimson Crushers made it to the 2005 Pennsylvania State final, only to lose to Penncrest in a very good hockey game. So it has been nine years since the Crimson Crushers have tasted victory in the States and the toll on the Johnstown Hockey community as a whole has been very noticeable. Once proud and strong hockey programs such as Forest Hills, Johnstown, Richland Cambria and even Westmont Hilltop have become minor players in the Penguins Cup chase. McCort, this season with five losses is off to one of its worst starts in their history going back nearly 20 years at 9-5-0.
The reason is pretty simple and was one of the fears of the Unification, which is now known as the PIHL. The Open Division, which is a conglomeration of co-op schools, West Virginia and some pure schools with no home has cause the scheduling of Serra Catholic for six trips to Johnstown and is absolutely unnecessary. Furthermore, the cost structure in the PIHL is way out of line and the Board of Governors of the league is unable to have ANY influence nor impact on a League Administration that is out of control, been around way too long and has its hands on all of the money that they are hemorrhaging from the schools, many whom can no longer afford to pay and are losing players fast to amateur and travel hockey, because of the poor product on the ice in the PIHL.
Somerset, who plays their home games nearly an hour away in Johnstown at Planet Ice has a program which is teetering again on extinction. The Eagles advanced to the Penguins Cup one time in 2004 and this year’s squad has rebounded from an 0-5 start with seven wins in their past eight games, including a win over Serra Catholic, and is right back in the playoff hunt at 7-6-0. Head Coach Matt Cavrack’s Eagles, after being bounced around in Class AA and then exiled to the Open Division, after their only Penguins Cup appearance, last beat Bishop McCort back in 2004, were out to avenge an early season loss to the Crimson Crushers.
McCort broke out on top in the opening period as Matt McIntyre scored the opening goal of the contest. Somerset tied the game late in the period on a goal by Hunter Specht.
Chad James gave the Crimson Crushers a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd period. Back came the Eagles to tie the game again as Craig Eddy took a drop pass from Alladin Faily and blistered a wrist shot past Danny Mock and we were tied at two apiece. The two culprits were back at it again with 5:10 to go in the period as Faily patiently waited on a two on one and feed the puck across to Eddy who buried it to give Somerset it’s first lead 3-2. The Eagles had an opportunity on the 5 on 3, but McCort killed it off prior to the ice cut.With 13:47 remaining in the third period, Craig Eddy completed the hat trick beating the McCort defense with speed and Mock to give the Eagles a 4-2 advantage. Back came the Crushers as Chad James came down the left side and lofted a wrist shot high over the glove hand of Somerset’s freshman goaltender Caroline Barth to cut the lead to 4-3 with 10:37 to play. With 6:55 to go, Danny Mock came up big for McCort stopping Eddy, but a half a minute later at 6:25 Eddy would score again through the 5-hole to make it 5-3. The Crushers lost their composure and took a couple of untimely penalties digging a bigger hole, but Todd Thomas had other ideas shorthanded as he danced with the puck just inside the Somerset zone and buried a wrist shot up high over the glove of Barth and McCort was backing the game 5-4. The Crushers pulled the goaltender but could not get the equalizer as Somerset held on for a 5-4 victory over Bishop McCort.
PA Hockey presents 'WBCB's Hockey Night in Bucks'
North Allegheny turns tide on Meadville
CRANBERRY –
After the 12th Annual Meadville Bulldog Invitational played this past weekend, it is pretty clear that LaSalle is one of if not the prohibitive favorite to win the Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championship in 2008. That being said the Western Pennsylvania teams are lining up to take a run at the Penguins Cup and more than likely an opportunity to face the Explorers when the title is on the line.
History is on Western Pa’s side as the Penguins Cup champions have won 13 out of the last 16 Pennsylvania Class AAA titles and three of those years when Pa Hockey had Malvern Prep ranked # 1 for much of the season in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and the Friars failed to close the deal, except in 2004. North Allegheny, the defending AAA State Champions, took an 11-0 pasting from the Explorers and then regrouped to face Meadville in a very important seeding contest. Although, the Tigers have clinched a playoff spot, North Allegheny is focused n securing a # 2 or 3 seed to avoid any possible match-up with Pine Richland. Meadville, who is currently around the 8th seed is anxious for the return of Billy Espy, who may return tto the lineup for the stretch run. The Bulldogs are currently a one trick pony with Morgan Nickerson, Nick Fedorka and Drew Finton carrying the offensive load and any additional depth will bolster Meadville’s chances in the Penguins Cup playoffs. Head Coach Jamie Plunkett faces division foes NA, McDowell and Seneca Valley over the next few games and will be a key point in the Dawgs schedule, if they hope to ramp up their playoff seeding.The opening period featured some pretty close checking as Meadville outshot the Tigers 6-5. NA’s Brady Waldschmidt’s shot at 11:53 appeared to go up under the crossbar but the official did not make the goal signal. The Tiger’s Josh Herbert fired a lasar off the corner of the crossbar at 10:41 to no avail. Meadville had its beat chance at 2:37 as Aaron Nye stole the puck and shot the puck from the faceoff circle, but Max Richards came up big.
Meadville went on the power play early in the 2nd ,but NA was equal to the task. The Bulldogs best chance came as Morgan Nickerson had a breakaway, but Richards stopped him. North Allegheny had its chances as well as Donnie Lewis had a quick backhand turned aside by Bryan ‘the Duck’ Danczak at 9:07. Josh Herbert was turned aside at 7:55 and then Joe Snatchko rung one off the pipe with 4:39 to go in the 2nd.
The Tigers finally broke the ice at 7:55 of the 3rd period as Josh Herbert scored on the wraparound to make it 1-0. NA and Meadville.played strong defense in the third period similar to a playoff game limiting the scoring opportunities around Max Richards and Bryan Danczak. Josh Herbert added an empty netter from the Red Line with :32 to go to make the final count 2-0 in favor of the Tigers. Final Shots for the game were 21-21. .
