Peters Twp Indians - 2014 AAA 2002-2003-2005 AA

By MIKE MASTOVICH The Tribune-Democrat Bishop McCort’s hockey team gradually has reached full strength, and it shows. The Crimson Crushers beat Sewickley Academy 7-1 on Friday night at Cambria County War Memorial Arena for McCort’s third straight win. Coach John Bradley’s team is 3-3-1 after opening without a victory in the first four games. The Crushers began the season minus soccer players Zac Seidel and Justin Delic, football players Matt McIntyre, Dane Domonkos and Anthony Pioli, and the injured Chad James. Members of that group accounted for four goals and eight points on Friday. “Early on we had an opportunity to get some guys in the lineup and we were in all the games,” said Bradley, who had only nine players on his roster for one outing. “We lost a game in OT. They were all one-goal games. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of skill and a lot of guys that have the desire to play. “I don’t say it too often, but these guys – when they’re on, they’re going to be tough to beat. We’re letting some teams know we were down early because we didn’t have everybody. Some of the guys stepped up then and played well.” Six Crushers scored goals on Friday. Seidel had two goals and three points. Shawn James, Chad James, Todd Thomas, Jordan Jaco and Delic each hit the net as McCort outshot winless Sewickley Academy 31-10. “Now that we’ve got all of our players back we can set our lines up,” Seidel said. “It showed tonight that it helps having all of our guys back. We came in here thinking we just have to keep winning, keep our play up. We’re real excited and we’re going to keep building as we go on.” McCort posted a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal in the first period and had a 16-5 edge in the middle period. “We still try to take care of our zone,” Bradley said. McCort goalie Danny Mock stopped nine of 10 shots. Sewickley’s Steve Tehovnik was outstanding despite allowing seven goals. He turned aside a Jaco breakaway and a tight one-on-one challenge from Domonkos in the first period, and made a sweeping glove save on a Thomas shot from the slot in the second. “We easily could have had a lot more than seven goals,” Bradley said. “Their goalie played a great game and made six or seven sensational saves. Some guys had opportunities to put the puck in the net, but the kid made real nice point-blank saves on us.”

Franklin Regional 7 Elizabeth Forward 1 DELMONT – Franklin Regional hockey is a program that has struggled in recent years to keep the numbers that flourished in the program from the early 90’s up through the present. What boggles the mind for many is that Center Ice Arena sits in the back yard of the school district that can be called affluent with the move east by many people who have migrated from other east suburb districts. Head Coach Jim Daugherty, who entered the program during the mid 90’s has seen the program go from 4 teams including two freshman teams to the state it is now with barely enough players to field two teams at Junior Varsity and Varsity. The fact is the cost structure of the PIHL is so out of line that many people have moved away from High School Hockey to play just amateur or just high school, which has left the Panthers in a dilemma. In fact, it is over $ 1000.00 to play a Varsity game at the Mt Lebanon Recreation Center, which is unreal. This season the Panthers started off 1-4 with losses to Latrobe twice, Greensburg Salem and Thomas Jefferson, but have rebound to win two and have an opportunity to get the bus moving in the opposite direction and into the thick of the Class AA seeding frenzy, which is sure to be very interesting come February. Elizabeth Forward, their opponent for this evenings tilt came into existence in 1988 and had a string of losing seasons its first six seasons, then took a hiatus for a year and then had two more losing campaigns in 1997 and 1998 before disappearing into the developmental Junior Varsity and Freshman teams for three years until 2002 when the Warriors made in all the way to the Penguins Cup Semi-Finals before losing to Bishop McCort. The Warriors had two more winning seasons in 03 and 04 and then have been heading in the other direction again the past two seasons. The challenge for the coaching tandum of Larry ‘Briggs and Stratton’ Briggs and Tom Mooney [who lead Serra Catholic to their last Penguins Cups] is to keep enough healthy bodies to compete in a very rigorous Class AA schedule and a 1-4-1 start. According to club officials, the Warriors will lose 7 seniors that will be replaced by eight 8th graders currently playing on the EF Freshman team. Elizabeth Forward and Franklin Regional are two programs that appear to have similar qualities and both will need to attract players through development over the next three to five years to avoid the ‘Teams that aren’t here any more’ portion of the Pa Hockey Website. The Panthers looked to take advantage of their momentum from their modest two game winning streak and the very noticeable short bench of the Warriors. EF goaltender Michael Cole made several nice saves in the opening minutes to keep FR off the board and the game scoreless. FR opened the scoring when Ryan Kramer buried a snapshot past Cole after a pretty passing play and setup with Carl Richter and Eugene Mack with 5:44 to go in the opening period. Elizabeth Forward tied it on the power play less than a minute later as Cruise Lizik’s wrist shot from the right point glanced off something and bounded past James ‘Bobby’ Orr at 4:45. The Panthers scored a huge momentum goal late in the first as Jared Yesko pounced on a loose puck on the doorstep of a John Cecere rebound to give FR a 2-1 advantage. The Panthers held a 15-6 shot advantage after one. On to the second period and the Panthers seized control of this hockey game as Stephen Shirk found the 5-hole through Cole after a nice cross ice pass from Eugene Mack to make it 3-1 with 11:18 to go in the 2nd. The Panthers kept bringing the offensive pressure as Ryan Kramer picked up his second goal at 9:26 on the power play. FR took a 5-1 lead with 1:37 as Jared Yesko scored his second goal of the game. The Panthers iced the game in the third period as Stephen Shirk scored his 2nd goal on a shorthanded breakaway and Brian Buckley closed out the scoring converting a Shane Crossey feed with 1:31 to go to give Franklin a convincing 7-1 victory, outshooting the Warriors 43-18 on the night

By MIKE MASTOVICH The Tribune-Democrat Bishop McCort’s hockey team gradually has reached full strength, and it shows. The Crimson Crushers beat Sewickley Academy 7-1 on Friday night at Cambria County War Memorial Arena for McCort’s third straight win. Coach John Bradley’s team is 3-3-1 after opening without a victory in the first four games. The Crushers began the season minus soccer players Zac Seidel and Justin Delic, football players Matt McIntyre, Dane Domonkos and Anthony Pioli, and the injured Chad James. Members of that group accounted for four goals and eight points on Friday. “Early on we had an opportunity to get some guys in the lineup and we were in all the games,” said Bradley, who had only nine players on his roster for one outing. “We lost a game in OT. They were all one-goal games. We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of skill and a lot of guys that have the desire to play. “I don’t say it too often, but these guys – when they’re on, they’re going to be tough to beat. We’re letting some teams know we were down early because we didn’t have everybody. Some of the guys stepped up then and played well.” Six Crushers scored goals on Friday. Seidel had two goals and three points. Shawn James, Chad James, Todd Thomas, Jordan Jaco and Delic each hit the net as McCort outshot winless Sewickley Academy 31-10. “Now that we’ve got all of our players back we can set our lines up,” Seidel said. “It showed tonight that it helps having all of our guys back. We came in here thinking we just have to keep winning, keep our play up. We’re real excited and we’re going to keep building as we go on.” McCort posted a 9-0 advantage in shots on goal in the first period and had a 16-5 edge in the middle period. “We still try to take care of our zone,” Bradley said. McCort goalie Danny Mock stopped nine of 10 shots. Sewickley’s Steve Tehovnik was outstanding despite allowing seven goals. He turned aside a Jaco breakaway and a tight one-on-one challenge from Domonkos in the first period, and made a sweeping glove save on a Thomas shot from the slot in the second. “We easily could have had a lot more than seven goals,” Bradley said. “Their goalie played a great game and made six or seven sensational saves. Some guys had opportunities to put the puck in the net, but the kid made real nice point-blank saves on us.”

Central Catholic 1 Mt Lebanon 0 HARMARVILLE - Since Tom Pandolfo took over the Central Catholic program he has adopted a little different philosophy than the Vikings are used to and pretty similar to what we saw at North Allegheny, which brought the Tigers to two consecutive Penguins Cup. By his own admission, coach Pandolfo demands more from his players than one could expect normally, which rubs people the wrong way sometimes, but is necessary if you have goals and aspirations, which many of the Central Catholic folks are interested in. And in that world, some players looking for more personal glory with travel programs may take the highway, which is fine and some have. To live in the world of the Bethel Park’s, Meadville’s and the Paul Taibi era at Mt Lebanon means your program has pride and character to commit to the goal of winning a state championship, which includes going over and above to make it happen. So the recent trip to Chicago to play in the Loyola Thanksgiving Tournament may have been a revelation for the Vikings. While several players chose no to go the ones who did battled to a respectable 2-1 mark against Providence [7-3 loss], Naperville Central [5-3 win] and Loyola Maroon [Non-Prep Varsity]. And coach Pandolfo has come out of this experience knowing what players will give him quality minutes come January, February and playoffs, which looks pretty good so far with a 5-1 mark. Mt Lebanon’s State Championship season had similar undertones a year ago as Lebo 66, which was the nickname of the Blue Devils, when their top line players were off traveling around the globe in Scoutsville, and when it came to rug cutting time, Lebo was able to count on players like Jon Wilen or Scott Millhouse or as it turned out in the Penguins Cup Sean McDermott. Yes, we could assume that a very important cog in the championship aspirations, are those 2nd or 3rd liners who gain valuable leadership experience during the season. The Blue Devils are a work in progress that has vaulted them to a 5-1 start thus far in 06-07. This season has been a little different animal for head coach Paul Taibi and the absence of offense has turned the attention to defense and goaltending. Last weekend’s trip to Cleveland was a prime example of 2-0 win over Gilmour Academy or the 2-1 win over St Ignatius, which is how Mt Lebanon is going to be able to get it done in March. If anyone doesn’t think that can happen just ask Tom Pandolfo, whose North Allegheny team yielded one goal in the 2005 Pennsylvania State Playoffs to Bethel Park and was sent packing after the Penguins Cup. So while character or character’s if you will are on Mt Lebanon’s side, with the absence of the Ralph and Alf road show, the emperor King Tut, leader of the Blue Devils and twisted professor of Egyptology [and DJ on the side] has turned to his Dr Denton [Doctor of Psychiatry and serves as King Tut’s psychoanalyst, though he does tend to fall asleep during sessions, possibly Sunday night Lebo practice sessions]. Dr Denton’s role in this plot is spearheaded by the play of his offspring Robbie Behling, who has been stellar between the pipes for Mt Lebanon this season and had a coming out party against Pandolfo’s former team, the North Allegheny Tigers last Friday night stopping 27 shots in the 2-0 Lebo victory. After a flurry of penalties in the opening period, the game settled into a little bit of flow after two Viking power plays resulted in a 7-1 CC shot advantage thru the first half of the first period. Mt Lebanon finally was able to counter with a few scoring chances but Central goaltender Phil Salerno made several nice saves as the shot gap evened out through the 1st to 9-7 in favor of Central Catholic. The Vikings carried the play in the second period adding six more shots to their total, while the Blue Devils only could counter with two bringing the shot totals to 15-9 in favor of CC. Mt Lebanon worked hard and created some scoring chances, but failed to get off shots and get the shots they had on goal. Dr Denton and King Tut are with this program and we seem to have coach Pandolfo’s and coach Taibi’s attention as well. After Batman’s psuedo nap aided by the expert analysis of the Milk Man Dave Dorsey, we readied ourselves for an action packed third period. Robbie Behling afforded his team an opportunity to steal another game and this story looked to be writing a familiar script for Mt Lebanon at 0-0 as the Blue Devils went on the power play with 14:31 to go in regulation. King Tut’s fiendish play with the aide of Dr Denton drew excitement from the far sideline as the Lebo faithful, many of whom are well aware of Lebo 66 lore had to like how this one was playing out. Mt Lebanon’s struggles at even strength this season have welcomed power plays, but coach Pandolfo’s Vikings had other ideas as Chris Urso’s shorthanded attempt at 13:48 was stopped by Behling and then C.J. Burke was stopped twice by Behling at 13:20. Then it looked like a little Lebo 66 action as the Blue Devils had a 3 on 2 with 11:49 to go but failed to get a quality shot off. Moments later at 11:27, Burke was stopped by Behling again and we were still scoreless. Ah the suspense, almost too much for Batman to handle as the Bat Phone rang and it was Alfred from the Batcave and Aunt Harriett who came on the line……..at 8:18, the Blue Devils would have yet another power play and Robbie Behling would again have to come up big stopping stopping Chris Urso twice shorthanded from point blank range avoiding disaster after doing a double camel on the goal line and falling to the ice. Coach Pandolfo had to be scratching his head and I know coach Taibi was because I same him, but Lebo was still alive and still had a chance to steal this game despite being outshot 27-11 on the evening. Then the character and pride I spoke about from the onset came to life with 2:49 to go as C.J. Burke, on a tremendous individual effort walked out from behind the net and lofted a wrist shot high past the stick side of Behling and into the net on Central’s 26th shot and Burke leap high in the air after it hit the twine giving Central Catholic a thrilling 1-0 victory at the Harmarville Blade Runners before quite a few spectators. These two teams may meet again down the road and it could make for a thriller in the playoffs!

Courtesy of North Allegheny The Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils defeated the Tigers, 2-0, at Bladerunners in Warrendale on Friday night. The game was a rematch of last year's PIHL final won by Lebo, 3-1. NA outshot the Blue Devils, 27-18, but could not beat Lebo goalie Rob Behling. Mt. Lebanon scored two power plays for the difference in the contest. In the first period, Lebo took advantage of an early penalty to senior captain Dan Gaertner to take the lead. Mike Roman scored just 1:40 into the game to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 advantage. The Tigers had a chance later in the period when Mt. Lebanon was called for too many men on the ice. Junior defenseman Corey Sheran came close to tying the game but his blast from the blue line went just wide. Lebo took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission despite being outshot, 12-6, by NA. In the second period, the Tigers took another early penalty, but good stops by NA senior goalie Adam Lutty and good defense by junior Josh Herbert kept Lebo off the board. The Tigers had several power play opportunities but could not beat Behling. Late in the period, senior Mike Peterson was sent off for interference. Lebo was able to take a 2-0 lead when top scorer Sean McDermott scored a second power play goal. The Blue Devils took a two-goal advantage into the second intermission. In the third period, it was NA with the early power play. The Tigers came close again when Gaertner tipped a shot by Peterson just wide of the goal. Later in the period, Lebo caught the Tigers in a line change and went in on a two-on-none break. Lutty was able to make the save and cover the rebound to keep the game at 2-0. The Tigers had a golden opportunity to get back in the game when they got a 5 on 3 advantage for a minute and a half but could not score. With just 1:44 remaining, the Tigers pressured the Lebo goal as senior defenseman Brad Schwartzmier made a great play to keep the puck in the Lebo zone. Even with Coach Jim Black pulling the goalie for the extra attacker, the Tigers could not score. Mt. Lebanon went home with a 2-0 victory.