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

This Game Summary was provided by Latrobe Hockey GREENSBURG - There was a cat fight at the Kirk S. Nevin Ice Arena in Greensburg on Thursday night as the Latrobe Wildcats hosted the Kittanning Wildcats in AA Varsity Ice Hockey action. Latrobe jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a Brad Roth goal assisted by Mike Kimmel and Aaron Stitt. However, Kittanning's Joel Shriver responded with two goals, including a power play goal, to give his team a 2 - 1 lead at the end of the first period. Justin Kovatch assisted Shriver on both goals while teammates Lee Heilman and Nick Troup chipped in with one assist each. In the second period, Kittanning's Colin McKelvey struck quickly with a goal assisted by Cory Beers and Adam Fiscus. Nevertheless, Latrobe jumped back into striking distance on an Eric Gondosh goal with Stitt and RJ Williams assisting. But, McKelvey, assisted by Troup, scored again with 13 seconds remaining in the period to give Kittanning a 4 - 2 lead at the end of two. A short-handed breakaway goal by Shriver took Latrobe by surprise early in the third period. Heilman assisted Shriver with his hattrick goal to give Kittanning a 5 - 2 lead. Shortly thereafter, Williams put another goal on the board for Latrobe with Kimmel and Roth providing assists. The final twelve and one-half minutes of the game resulted in a defensive battle as each team refused scoring rights to the other. Kittanning clinched the game with a 5 - 3 victory. Kittanning Goalie Joseph Mercurio stopped 24 of 27 shots and Latrobe Goalie Justin Fontaine denied Kittanning 28 of their 33 scoring attempts.

VALENCIA – So my schedule said the game between Thomas Jefferson and Pine Richland started at 6:00 PM and then it was changed to 7:00 PM and then the e-mail nobody ever gets changed it to 7:30 PM. Another fiasco in a year of fiasco’s including JV and Freshman scheduling, which not only effected our game this evening, but also a freshman game at Center Ice with no referees! And all of you out there are paying a lot of money, for ineptitude and remember…..”if you don’t show up, you will be fined $ 1000.00”! I can’t wait until the freshman playoffs in Wheeling for 5 nights in March. So we had an opportunity to spend some quality time with the Thomas Jefferson folks and talk about the old times and good times over the past few years and well we won’t get into that right now. Speaking of which, there was a game played in the 1999 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals at the Rostraver Ice Garden between Pine Richland – Thomas Jefferson, that was the ‘2nd most famous’ stick measuring incident in Pa State Playoff history. The Jaguars won that game and went on to win their 2nd of 3 straight Pennsylvania State AA Championships under Don Powell, the Dean of Class AA coaching. In 2004-2005, TJ entered this evening’s game at 7-6-1 with a young, but maturing team, which could make lots of noise in the playoffs, if it finds consistent scoring and goaltending. Pine Richland coach Jimmy Black’s team is just looking for consistency period as the Rams have survived the opening night loss to Ambridge and then won 10 of 12, before being defeated by Montour. PR can score goals and their goaltending has had its moments as they figure to be in the mix when the playoff bell rings in March. So after a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem by a young lady from Pine Richland, we all settled into our seats at the Ice Connection for the now 7:40 start to this game. The first period featured a few good chances and goaltending, which both coaches are looking for in the playoffs. The Ram’s Josh Fodor beat the TJ defense and tried to score on the backhand at 11:12. but Mike Patterson stood tall. Then at 8:10 of the first, Phil Trombetta had a great chance from in front, but Patterson stopped him to keep the game scoreless. Thomas Jefferson had their chance in the opening 15 minutes as Joe Moore intercepted a pass while shorthanded but was stopped on a glove save by Andy Hildreth. The Jaguar’s Gary Bucci had a 2 on 1 late in the period, but shot high and wide as the game remained scoreless. Pine Richland had several chances on the power play in the 2nd period, but Patterson and the Jags defense held them off as key saves came on Jordan Yoklic at 13:22 and Tom DiDinato at 12:06. The thirds power play was a charm for the Rams as Yoklic found a loose puck in the slot and buried it past a sprawling Patterson for a 1-0 lead for PR at 8:20. The turning point of the hockey game came with The Jaguars on their first power play, but it would be Josh Fodor, who displayed great speed and finesse beating the TJ defense and Mike Patterson on the forehand at 5:02 for a shorthanded tally and a 2-0 lead. Thomas Jefferson had a great chance to get back into the game on a 5 on 3. but Fodor and the Rams killed it off. Brendan Conlon banged home a Jordan Yoklic rebound at 11:50 of the third period and Pine Richland had the game in their hands 3-0. Thomas Jefferson tried to mount a comeback as Brock Heinauer used the Pine Richland defenseman and beat Andy Hildreth with a wrist shot at 3:20, but it would prove to be the last score of the evening as the Rams defeated the Jaguars 3-1.

Special Report provided by Canon McMillan Hockey JOHNSTOWN -- The longest road trip of the season for Canon-McMillan almost proved to be a dead end for their undefeated season, but the Big Macs were just too powerful for the Somerset Eagles to stop. In the end, a late rally by Somerset wasn't enough, and the top-ranked Big Macs prevailed, 3-2. Canon Mac didn't have a problem finding their legs after arriving in Johnstown, dominating the opening period in overwhelming fashion. But they did have a problem locating their scoring touch. The Eagles could only muster 1 shot on goal in the opening frame, while the Big Macs put 10 on the opposing net and buzzed around it all period. Neither team was able to find the back of the net, though, and Somerset was relieved to see zeros on both sides of the scoreboard. Doug Stanton would break the tie with a stellar shift early in the 2nd period. Stanton put the Big Macs ahead 1-0 at the 10:10 mark with a low wrister from the bottom of the right wing circle that found its way past Somerset netminder Wes Cramer. Justin Cormack assisted on the goal, and got another helper on another goal by Stanton 26 seconds later. This time it was a low wrist shot again that gave Stanton his league-leading 29th goal of the season. Cramer then returned to his first period form and held the Big Macs off the board despite a furious onslaught. Cramer made 10 saves again in the 2nd period, and at the other end, CM goaltender Mike O'Neill was making efficient work of the 6 shots he saw through the first 30 minutes of play. The Canon Mac defense was playing exceptionally well in front of him, and the few chances that got to the net were all turned away by O'Neill. A pretty glove save with 4:25 left in the second stopped the Eagles' best scoring chance prior to the ice cut. The Big Macs looked to put away the Eagle in the third, and an early power play gave them the opportunity to do so. CM buzzed around the net, but Cramer kept the puck in front of him and kept the 2-goal differential in tact. Officiating in Johnstown always poses a challenge for visiting teams, and this game was no different. Penalties 14 seconds apart left Canon Mac down two men at 9:33 of the period, and the Somerset power play would use the advantage to sneak back in to the game. K.J. Elowek took a pass down low from Alex Olsen, then threw a pass across the slot to Craig Eddy, who deposited it in the back of the CM net at 8:08. Canon-McMillan was able to kill off the rest of the 5-on-4 advantage, then quickly restored their 2-goal lead. A shot up high by Stanton deflected off Cramer and in to the air above the Somerset goal. As the puck came down towards the crease, Jesse Patnesky was there to knock it out of mid-air and in to the open net. The referees debated the call, but in the end it was clear the puck was below the crossbar. The Eagles weren't about to let Cramer's strong performance end there, though. Another 5-on-3 advantage was granted to them, and they made the most of it again. A pass from the left wing circle by Mathias Eliasson deflected off the heel of a CM skate and past O'Neill at 5:19 to make the score 3-2. Olsen received his 2nd assist on the goal, and the home team had aspirations of an upset. CM once again killed off the remaining penalty time, then continued to play tough in their defensive zone. Somerset was never able to set up a prime scoring opportunity despite the press to tie the game. Cramer took the loss in spite of a stellar, 30-save effort for Somerset, who falls to 3-10 on the year. O'Neill improved his personal record to 3-0 for the season by making 11 saves, while Canon-McMillan remains unbeaten at 14-0-1. Somerset next welcomes Bishop Canevin to Johnstown for a Sunday night match-up at Planet Ice. Canon-McMillan returns home to play one of the biggest games of the season in Monday night, when they host West Allegheny in a showdown of the top 2 teams in AA.

This Game Summary was provided by Latrobe Hockey GREENSBURG - There was a cat fight at the Kirk S. Nevin Ice Arena in Greensburg on Thursday night as the Latrobe Wildcats hosted the Kittanning Wildcats in AA Varsity Ice Hockey action. Latrobe jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first period on a Brad Roth goal assisted by Mike Kimmel and Aaron Stitt. However, Kittanning's Joel Shriver responded with two goals, including a power play goal, to give his team a 2 - 1 lead at the end of the first period. Justin Kovatch assisted Shriver on both goals while teammates Lee Heilman and Nick Troup chipped in with one assist each. In the second period, Kittanning's Colin McKelvey struck quickly with a goal assisted by Cory Beers and Adam Fiscus. Nevertheless, Latrobe jumped back into striking distance on an Eric Gondosh goal with Stitt and RJ Williams assisting. But, McKelvey, assisted by Troup, scored again with 13 seconds remaining in the period to give Kittanning a 4 - 2 lead at the end of two. A short-handed breakaway goal by Shriver took Latrobe by surprise early in the third period. Heilman assisted Shriver with his hattrick goal to give Kittanning a 5 - 2 lead. Shortly thereafter, Williams put another goal on the board for Latrobe with Kimmel and Roth providing assists. The final twelve and one-half minutes of the game resulted in a defensive battle as each team refused scoring rights to the other. Kittanning clinched the game with a 5 - 3 victory. Kittanning Goalie Joseph Mercurio stopped 24 of 27 shots and Latrobe Goalie Justin Fontaine denied Kittanning 28 of their 33 scoring attempts.

VALENCIA – So my schedule said the game between Thomas Jefferson and Pine Richland started at 6:00 PM and then it was changed to 7:00 PM and then the e-mail nobody ever gets changed it to 7:30 PM. Another fiasco in a year of fiasco’s including JV and Freshman scheduling, which not only effected our game this evening, but also a freshman game at Center Ice with no referees! And all of you out there are paying a lot of money, for ineptitude and remember…..”if you don’t show up, you will be fined $ 1000.00”! I can’t wait until the freshman playoffs in Wheeling for 5 nights in March. So we had an opportunity to spend some quality time with the Thomas Jefferson folks and talk about the old times and good times over the past few years and well we won’t get into that right now. Speaking of which, there was a game played in the 1999 Penguins Cup Semi-Finals at the Rostraver Ice Garden between Pine Richland – Thomas Jefferson, that was the ‘2nd most famous’ stick measuring incident in Pa State Playoff history. The Jaguars won that game and went on to win their 2nd of 3 straight Pennsylvania State AA Championships under Don Powell, the Dean of Class AA coaching. In 2004-2005, TJ entered this evening’s game at 7-6-1 with a young, but maturing team, which could make lots of noise in the playoffs, if it finds consistent scoring and goaltending. Pine Richland coach Jimmy Black’s team is just looking for consistency period as the Rams have survived the opening night loss to Ambridge and then won 10 of 12, before being defeated by Montour. PR can score goals and their goaltending has had its moments as they figure to be in the mix when the playoff bell rings in March. So after a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem by a young lady from Pine Richland, we all settled into our seats at the Ice Connection for the now 7:40 start to this game. The first period featured a few good chances and goaltending, which both coaches are looking for in the playoffs. The Ram’s Josh Fodor beat the TJ defense and tried to score on the backhand at 11:12. but Mike Patterson stood tall. Then at 8:10 of the first, Phil Trombetta had a great chance from in front, but Patterson stopped him to keep the game scoreless. Thomas Jefferson had their chance in the opening 15 minutes as Joe Moore intercepted a pass while shorthanded but was stopped on a glove save by Andy Hildreth. The Jaguar’s Gary Bucci had a 2 on 1 late in the period, but shot high and wide as the game remained scoreless. Pine Richland had several chances on the power play in the 2nd period, but Patterson and the Jags defense held them off as key saves came on Jordan Yoklic at 13:22 and Tom DiDinato at 12:06. The thirds power play was a charm for the Rams as Yoklic found a loose puck in the slot and buried it past a sprawling Patterson for a 1-0 lead for PR at 8:20. The turning point of the hockey game came with The Jaguars on their first power play, but it would be Josh Fodor, who displayed great speed and finesse beating the TJ defense and Mike Patterson on the forehand at 5:02 for a shorthanded tally and a 2-0 lead. Thomas Jefferson had a great chance to get back into the game on a 5 on 3. but Fodor and the Rams killed it off. Brendan Conlon banged home a Jordan Yoklic rebound at 11:50 of the third period and Pine Richland had the game in their hands 3-0. Thomas Jefferson tried to mount a comeback as Brock Heinauer used the Pine Richland defenseman and beat Andy Hildreth with a wrist shot at 3:20, but it would prove to be the last score of the evening as the Rams defeated the Jaguars 3-1.