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

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey Coaches Association and Pa Hockey conducted the 11th Annual Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The votes are streaming in and the results will be tabulated and posted here soon for Class A, AA and AAA. Who will be the favorites for the 2007 Penguins Cup ? We have the previews of our Elite 8 in each classification for Pa Hockey ! PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL 2006-2007 "AAA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AAA SOUTH BETHEL PARK 1 AAA WEST MEADVILLE 2 AAA NORTH NORTH ALLEGHENY 3 AAA SOUTH MT LEBANON 4 AAA NORTH CENTRAL CATHOLIC 5 AAA SOUTH UPPER ST. CLAIR 6 AAA WEST SENECA VALLEY 7 AAA WEST MCDOWELL 8 2006-2007 "AA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AA NORTH PINE-RICHLAND 1 AA SOUTH PETERS TOWNSHIP 2 AA NORTH KITTANNING 3 AA WEST WEST ALLEGHENY 4 AA SOUTH THOMAS JEFFERSON 5 AA EAST FRANKLIN REGIONAL 6 AA WEST CANEVIN 7 AA NORTH CATHEDRAL PREP 8 2006-2007 "A" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM A EAST BISHOP MCCORT 1 A SOUTH SERRA CATHOLIC 2 A WEST QUAKER VALLEY 3 A SOUTH MARS 4 A NORTH FREEPORT 5 A WEST SEWICKLEY ACADEMY 6 A NORTH WESTMONT-HILLTOP 7 A WEST BEAVER 8

The Western Pennsylvania Hockey Coaches Association and Pa Hockey conducted the 11th Annual Pre-Season Coaches Poll. The votes are streaming in and the results will be tabulated and posted here soon for Class A, AA and AAA. Who will be the favorites for the 2007 Penguins Cup ? We have the previews of our Elite 8 in each classification for Pa Hockey ! PENGUIN CUP ELITE "8" COACHES POLL 2006-2007 "AAA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AAA SOUTH BETHEL PARK 1 AAA WEST MEADVILLE 2 AAA NORTH NORTH ALLEGHENY 3 AAA SOUTH MT LEBANON 4 AAA NORTH CENTRAL CATHOLIC 5 AAA SOUTH UPPER ST. CLAIR 6 AAA WEST SENECA VALLEY 7 AAA WEST MCDOWELL 8 2006-2007 "AA" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM RANK AA NORTH PINE-RICHLAND 1 AA SOUTH PETERS TOWNSHIP 2 AA NORTH KITTANNING 3 AA WEST WEST ALLEGHENY 4 AA SOUTH THOMAS JEFFERSON 5 AA EAST FRANKLIN REGIONAL 6 AA WEST CANEVIN 7 AA NORTH CATHEDRAL PREP 8 2006-2007 "A" DIVISION CLASS DIVISION TEAM A EAST BISHOP MCCORT 1 A SOUTH SERRA CATHOLIC 2 A WEST QUAKER VALLEY 3 A SOUTH MARS 4 A NORTH FREEPORT 5 A WEST SEWICKLEY ACADEMY 6 A NORTH WESTMONT-HILLTOP 7 A WEST BEAVER 8

Plum uses quick start to defeat Penn Trafford & capture GCC Crown Plum 7 Penn Trafford 2 GREENSBURG - After Plum’s semi-final win over State College, the question was asked ‘when the last time Plum won a tournament’. No. it wasn’t when David Smith’s grandfather Jim coached because he coached Penn Hills in the 1970’s before Plum began their program in 1989 and captured the Pennsylvania Class A Championship the same year. With the memory churning, we need to look no further their the Plum bench and head coach Joe Piccolino, who played for the 1997 WPIHL AA Champions who defeated Fox Chapel and the 1996 WPIHL AA Champions, who defeated Indiana, but it was the 1998 WPIHL AAA Championship series with some kid named Umberger, who scored in overtime, to beat a team from Central Catholic in the third and deciding game of the WPIHL Championship Series before a packed house at Harmarville that will long be remembered as the Mustangs greatest conquest. That was the last time Plum won anything of significance, which is a decent amount of time. Penn Trafford has never won a league, Penguins Cup or State Championship, but after 10 losing seasons in 2003, the Warriors almost upended defending State Champions Bethel Park and lost a heartbreaker in overtime after a controversial penalty gave BP a power play in overtime and the Hawks prevailed. The confidence from that game coupled with the arrival of Todd Purvis behind the bench has resulted in three consecutive Class AAA East Division titles. The Warriors consecutive division title streak may be on the line and if anyone can derail them it’s the Plum Mustangs and this championship game could be a preview of a more meaningful game on January 27th at the Center Ice Arena. PT won the 2004 Greensburg CC Invitational by defeating Franklin Regional 4-0 and is looking to make it two out of three in the Greensburg CC Invitational. At 10:04 of the opening period, Andy Weston got around the PT defenseman causing a hook and a power play chance for Plum. With 8:47 left in period number one, Vinnie Somma took a pass from Chad Covol and wristed it past Billy Taylor low to the stick side to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. At 7:29 of the first period, the Mustangs went back on the power play. With 5:59 left in the period, David Humphries took a shot from the center point and Andy Weston gathered the rebound and buried a shot up under the crossbar past Billy Taylor to extend the Plum lead to 2-0. With 3:55 remaining in the 1st, Penn Trafford received their first chance on the power play. The Mustangs would play opportunist as Vinnie Somma, stole the puck with 2:26 to play and beat Taylor inside the far post to give the Stangs a 3-0 advantage. On to the 2nd period at 10:52, Shawn O’Conner scored on the backhand to up to lead to 4-0. Plum continued its onslaught at 3:48 as freshman Vinnie Somma would not be denied as he showed the tenacity of a pit bull and banged away until the puck ended up behind the Penn Trafford goaltender and it was now 5-0. With 1:50 remaining, Somma and Chad Covol dug the puck out of the corner and Ben Colosmo finished it off to make it 6-0, as Somma picked up his 3rd assist and 6th point of the evening. In the third period, Penn Trafford finally broke through with 6:54 remaining as Chase Keibler broke John Bronder’s shutout bid on the Warrior’s 14th shot to make the count 6-1. Jessie DiPietro scored a power play goal from in between the circles with 3:38 remaining to cut the Mustang lead to 6-2. Chad Covol wrapped up the scoring with 1:13 left resulting in the final score of 7-2. So now the answer to the question as to when Plum won a tournament is now 2006 in the Greensburg CC Invitational over division rival Penn Trafford. For more Recap on the Plum Website please click on the icon or title above

Plum uses quick start to defeat Penn Trafford & capture GCC Crown Plum 7 Penn Trafford 2 GREENSBURG - After Plum’s semi-final win over State College, the question was asked ‘when the last time Plum won a tournament’. No. it wasn’t when David Smith’s grandfather Jim coached because he coached Penn Hills in the 1970’s before Plum began their program in 1989 and captured the Pennsylvania Class A Championship the same year. With the memory churning, we need to look no further their the Plum bench and head coach Joe Piccolino, who played for the 1997 WPIHL AA Champions who defeated Fox Chapel and the 1996 WPIHL AA Champions, who defeated Indiana, but it was the 1998 WPIHL AAA Championship series with some kid named Umberger, who scored in overtime, to beat a team from Central Catholic in the third and deciding game of the WPIHL Championship Series before a packed house at Harmarville that will long be remembered as the Mustangs greatest conquest. That was the last time Plum won anything of significance, which is a decent amount of time. Penn Trafford has never won a league, Penguins Cup or State Championship, but after 10 losing seasons in 2003, the Warriors almost upended defending State Champions Bethel Park and lost a heartbreaker in overtime after a controversial penalty gave BP a power play in overtime and the Hawks prevailed. The confidence from that game coupled with the arrival of Todd Purvis behind the bench has resulted in three consecutive Class AAA East Division titles. The Warriors consecutive division title streak may be on the line and if anyone can derail them it’s the Plum Mustangs and this championship game could be a preview of a more meaningful game on January 27th at the Center Ice Arena. PT won the 2004 Greensburg CC Invitational by defeating Franklin Regional 4-0 and is looking to make it two out of three in the Greensburg CC Invitational. At 10:04 of the opening period, Andy Weston got around the PT defenseman causing a hook and a power play chance for Plum. With 8:47 left in period number one, Vinnie Somma took a pass from Chad Covol and wristed it past Billy Taylor low to the stick side to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. At 7:29 of the first period, the Mustangs went back on the power play. With 5:59 left in the period, David Humphries took a shot from the center point and Andy Weston gathered the rebound and buried a shot up under the crossbar past Billy Taylor to extend the Plum lead to 2-0. With 3:55 remaining in the 1st, Penn Trafford received their first chance on the power play. The Mustangs would play opportunist as Vinnie Somma, stole the puck with 2:26 to play and beat Taylor inside the far post to give the Stangs a 3-0 advantage. On to the 2nd period at 10:52, Shawn O’Conner scored on the backhand to up to lead to 4-0. Plum continued its onslaught at 3:48 as freshman Vinnie Somma would not be denied as he showed the tenacity of a pit bull and banged away until the puck ended up behind the Penn Trafford goaltender and it was now 5-0. With 1:50 remaining, Somma and Chad Covol dug the puck out of the corner and Ben Colosmo finished it off to make it 6-0, as Somma picked up his 3rd assist and 6th point of the evening. In the third period, Penn Trafford finally broke through with 6:54 remaining as Chase Keibler broke John Bronder’s shutout bid on the Warrior’s 14th shot to make the count 6-1. Jessie DiPietro scored a power play goal from in between the circles with 3:38 remaining to cut the Mustang lead to 6-2. Chad Covol wrapped up the scoring with 1:13 left resulting in the final score of 7-2. So now the answer to the question as to when Plum won a tournament is now 2006 in the Greensburg CC Invitational over division rival Penn Trafford. For more Recap on the Plum Website please click on the icon or title above

Plum 4 State College 2 GREENSBURG – State College enters the 2006 – 2007 season fresh off the Open Division Championship defeating Carrick at Mellon Arena. With the largest enrollment in all of Western Pennsylvania hockey, rather than play in Class AAA, the Icers choose to participate against Class A doormats like Ferndale, Johnstown, Valley, and former AAA turnstile Woodland Hills, who are lucky to even have teams let alone compete at ANY level in the PIHL ‘Glorified JV’ Open Division. State College has faired well in the GCC Invitational defeating 3-time AAA East Division Champions Penn Trafford 3-0, Franklin Regional 3-0 and host Greensburg CC 4-2, while dropping a 4-2 decision to Greensburg Salem, who has decided to return to Class AA and play competitive hockey. Plum had a rough season playing in Class AAA in 2005-06 and head coach Sean Keller has remained on top assist Plum Alum Joe Piccolino, who has taken over the reigns of the Plum program. The Mustangs are coming off a 0-2-1 finish of the stiff competition at the St Margaret’s Fall Face-Off in a bracket with Penguin Cup AAA Finalist North Allegheny and AA powers Thomas Jefferson and Montour, which was the necessary pieces to the puzzle, which will help them compete at the Class AAA level. The Stangs have a little chip on their shoulder after last years wild card playoff loss to Baldwin and are looking to challenge for the East Division title with Penn Trafford this season. Plum defeated Fox Chapel, Kiski, Woodland Hills and tied Latrobe 2-2 in this years tournament and advanced into the Semi-Finals for the 6th consecutive year but has yet to capture the GCC Invitational Title. At 6:33 of the opening period, Ben Colosmo picked up his own rebound and beat State College goaltender Mac Weiler on the ice through the 5-hole to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Plum kept up the pressure and worked the puck through to the slot and Andy Weston buried a wrist shot on the stick side of Weiler to give Plum a 2-0 lead. Shots on goal for the first period were seven apiece. After three quick shots turned aside by John Bronder, State College went on the power play at 10:07, but John Bronder was equal to the task and the Mustangs kept their 2-0 advantage. The Icers continued to pour on the shots and finally scored as David Scultz scored on a wrist shot high to the stick side at 5:26 to cut the advantage to 2-1. Plum took advantage of a 4-4 situation as Ben Colosmo buried and slap shot high over the glove hand of Weiler from the right point to give the Mustangs a 3-1 with 2:04 left in the seconds period. Ben Colosmo buried a Chad Covol rebound with 11:51 remaining in regulation to give the Mustangs a 4-1 lead and complete the hat trick. John Bronder kept State College off the board stopping 21 of 23 Shots to help the Mustangs advance to the finals of the Greensburg CC Invitational, allowing a meaningless goal to the Icer’s Robbie Holdcroft at the buzzer to make the final count different, but the outcome was a Plum victory.