Chartiers Valley Colts - 1986 AA

3/24/04 ~ Mt Lebanon grabs lead & holds on to advance to PC PITTSBURGH – Upper St Clair coach Kip Guenther pulled a major media heist in the second round of the Penguins Cup playoffs against Fox Chapel, which was probably learned from his days as an assistant for Jim McVay at Bethel Park, who is the master at impersonating Joe Paterno. Guenther had everyone including Fox Chapel convinced that his team was prepared to play a run and gun game similar to the 6-5 overtime win over Plum in the 1st round of the playoffs. What Upper St. Clair did was to tighten their defensive system, shadow Matt Quigley in an attempt to shut down the Foxes top line, and have the hot line of Davy Crockett, Mike Penkrot and freshman Andrew Blazek continue to fill the net as they did for five of six goals against Plum and for six of the eight goals against Fox Chapel. This change in philosophy has produced wonderful results and would be severely tested against a Mt Lebanon team which pummeled the Panthers 8-2 less than a month ago. USC Would have to do this without Kris McDonough, one of the top defenseman in Western Pa, who has decided to pursue a promising baseball career, and whose services will be lost at Upper St Clair. Mt Lebanon has been the top rated team all year in Class AAA and when the Blue Devils defeated Central Catholic 7-2 and Meadville 2-1 in an exhibition in February, it established them as the favorites for the 2004 Class AAA Penguins Cup. Lebo coach Paul Taibi has been very diligent about keeping his team focused on the task at hand, but in their second round playoff game against Bethel Park, something changed. Mt Lebanon beat the Blackhawks after getting a break in a game in which they dominated, but remained in the balance until the 3rd period when a shot by Bethel’s Michael Diethorn, that is still being debated as to whether it went in OR hit the post. Needless to say the Blue Devils talent and very discipline overcame the Hawks 3-0, but the # 1 seed in the playoffs played more like scared rabbits than the dominant team they have been all season. Mt Lebanon came out in the first period and dominated USC outshooting the Panthers 10-4. One mistake by the Panther defense proved costly as Brian Colligan intercepted a errant clearing attempt and deposited behind Kevin Gorder for a 1-0 lead at 13:33. The game remained a one goal game until 12:33 of the second period when Tony Valerino made a great pass to set up Michael Jordan, who beat Gorder through the 5-hole to make it 2-0. Mt Lebanon became a little overzealous with their lead and USC’s John Markwell had a wide open net to shoot at 12:13, but Matt Vaughn made a spectacular diving save to keep USC off the board. USC went on the power play at 6:21 of the second and red hot Davy Crockett buried a wrist shot on a great back door pass from Mike Penkrot at 5:43 to cut the lead to 2-1. Penkrot had an excellent chance to tie the game, but Vaughn made a better save at 4:12. Mt Lebanon clamped down in the 3rd period and played smart hockey and great defensively, particularly defenseman Jeff Simons and the Blue Devils forwards, who provided great backchecking to limit USC to 5 shots in the 3rd and 15 on the night. Mt Lebanon would hold on for a 2-1 victory setting up a big showdown with Meadville on Sunday March 28th at the Mellon Arena.

3/23/04~NEXT Peters Twp has coming out party over Kittanning PITTSBURGH – The Kittanning hockey program was established in 1972 out of the Belmont Ice Complex and is one of Western Pennsylvania’s most storied schools. Originally, the Armstrong Arrows and know known as the Kittanning Wildcats, there have been many fine teams resulting in 476 wins 213 losses and 35 ties heading into the 2004 Penguins Cup playoffs including a stretch from 1996-97, where the ‘Boys from Belmont’ have been to the playoffs 7 out of the past eight seasons. Head coach Jeff Smouse and former head and now assistant Al Stipp, have had a big hand in developing these teams into contenders for the Penguins Cup, with the goal of bringing the State Championship to Kittanning. In the early 1990’s, Armstrong Central had two great opportunities bowing to Council Rock in Philadelphia 5-4 in the 1991 Pennsylvania Cup AAA Final after defeating Meadville and again in 1992 losing to Meadville in the Penguins Cup final 8-5. The nemesis these days for the Kittanning hockey program is Peters Twp. The Indians defeated Kittanning in last years Penguins Cup 6-3 on their way to a second consecutive Pennsylvania State Championship. In addition, it was Peters Twp, who in 1998 knocked off # 1 seed Kittanning 5-1 at Southpointe ending a 22-1-0 season for the Wildcats. Peters Township has built a power in hockey and after capturing the Pennsylvania State AA title in 2003 with a stomping of Flyers Cup Champion Holy Ghost Prep 9-3 at IceLine to follow up a 10-3 pounding of Archbishop Carroll in 2002, many observers of Interscholastic Hockey felt that the Indians run of State Championships would come to a hault in 2004. Head coach Mark Cooper has quietly reloaded the lineup with some up and coming players to mesh in with the veterans like Chris Clackson, Si Bishop, and Dan Crogan and are thinking but not talking about a three-peat. The one thing we all need to remember is that Peters Twp is the State Champion until they are defeated. The game was very even in the opening minutes as Kittanning was looking to pressure freshman goaltender Rob Madore, but the young Indian goaltender looked like a crafty veteran early on with several nice saves. Dan Crogan’s shot from the left point trickled past Adam Toy at 7:47 and Gerry Raymond was there to poke it home for a 1-0 PT lead. Momentum in a hockey game is critical at this juncture of the season and Kittanning went on the power play after a great shift by John Ford, Lee Heilman and Tyler Ochs forced Peters to take a penalty. What would happen next would ultimately break Kittanning’s back and send the Indians on their way. Chris Clackson made an terrific poke check on the penalty killing forced the Kittanning defenseman to cough up the puck and Si Bishop read the play beautifully and took the puck and beat Adam Toy on the backhand at 5:37, killing the Wildcat momentum and giving PT a 2-0 lead. Clackson showed why he is one of the most feared plays in Western Pa as he overpowered the Kittanning defense and buried a wrist shot over the glove side of Toy at 3:30 for a 3-0 lead. With 1:10 remaining Dustin Roux threaded a great lead pass to Bryan Papciak, who scored on the breakaway and Peters was off and running 4-0 after the first period. The second period was a penalty filled slugfest as Kittanning became frustrated and Peters continued to play with the edge that has been an integral part of two State Championships. Gerry Raymond scored his second goal at 9:42 and Chris Clackson converted another shorthanded tally with :52 seconds remaining on a great pass from Dustin Roux. Raymond [7:23] and Clackson [6:39] both completed the hat tricks to turn this one into a rout 8-0. Kittanning’s Wade Bowser broke Rob Madore’s shutout bid with 3:50 left tipping a Michael Mecurio shot on the Wildcats 37th shot. Madore was outstanding and looks to be a key in another State Title run as Peters Twp will attempt to win their 3rd straight Penguins Cup on Sunday March 28th at the Mellon Arena.

3/23/04~Indiana shocks TJ with little O & Heavy D 3-2 in OT PITTSBURGH ~ Indiana coach Dom Glavech is the guy who shows up at a game on a cold Jaunary night at the Ice Connection or at Bethel Park or at Rostraver, when I am there for a 9:30 game to watch Class AA action to get a feel for what is going to take place in the playoffs. I think coach Glavech likes the company, but what he is really doing is his homework and scouting the competition. Indiana has a veteran club in 2004 and reached the Penguins Cup in 2002 only to be edged by Peters Twp 3-2 in a game where the Little Indians could have pulled off the upset and moved on to the State Finals but didn’t seize the opportunity. A lot of the players on that team are now seniors including Zach Diamond, Mike Nesper, Michael Hart making up the core of the 2004 squad. Thomas Jefferson has had an outstanding season going 19-0-1 and ripping Greensburg CC in the opening game of the 2004 playoffs. Head coach Don Powell is hoping to get the Jaguars back into the Penguins Cup for the first time since 2000, which was the third of three straight Pennsylvania Cup State Championships for TJ. The Jaguars has a strong well balanced attack and great goaltending of Danny Hartman, who is one of the top netminders in State of Pennsylvania in my opinion. TJ welcomed the return of top defenseman Grant Heinauer, who has been out for most of the season with a injury and would be a key of any championship runs for the Jags. Indiana was the aggressor in the 1st period outshooting TJ 13-9, but the Jaguars opened the scoring on the power play as Brandon School slapped a Luke Wawrzeniak rebound out of the air at 10:24 for a 1-0 lead. Indiana would answer as Zach Diamond belted home a Michael Nesper rebound at 7:44 and the game was tied at one apiece. Great players make things happen when they are called upon and at 2:34 of the first period Michael Nesper showed why he is one of those players as he used his speed to the outside after taking an excellent Joe Lenz outlet pass and beat Danny Hartman with an overpowering backhand in full stride high over the glove side to give the Little Indians a 2-1 lead. On to the second period and Thomas Jefferson showed why they went undefeated this season by pouring the pressure on Indiana. Indians goalie Mike Mentch, who has been up and down all season, was just spectacular stopping several Jaguar opportunities and keeping Indiana in the lead. Brandon School would not be denied as the speedy TJ forward walked to the middle of the ice and buried an over powering wrist shot over the glove side of Mentch to tie the game 2-2 at 6:25. The teams battled into the third period as Danny Hartman and Mike Mentch turned this playoff game into a playoff dual. Both teams had several opportunities but the best came with 1:55, when Brandon School looked to complete the hat trick but Mentch stoned him and the game went to overtime. End to end they went in the overtime and this one was looking more like TJ’s game with Kittanning in the 2003 semi-finals with near misses and great goaltending. Luke Wawrzeniak and Brandon School had a golden opportunity with a little over six minutes left in the opening overtime period as Wawrzeniak threaded a perfect feed to School, who shot it just outside the post. Michael Hart would make the key play in this hockey game as the big Indiana defenseman lugged the puck through center ice and into the Jaguar zone. The puck was poked into the corner and Danny Hartman tried to get there first, but Hart used his long reach to center the puck to a wide open Zach Damico, who put a little ‘Heavy D’ behind a wrist shot an buried it into the empty net and sending the Indiana faithful into a frenzy giving Indiana a heartstopping 3-2 victory over # 1 seed Thomas Jefferson and a date with Peters Twp in the 2004 Penguins Cup.

Flyers Cup 2nd Round Class A Second Round Results Springfield High 6 Central Dauphin 2 Highlights: Mike Kelly & Kevin Brawley with a goal & an assist each as Springfield races to 4-1 lead in 1st Period Radnor 6 Lower Merion 1 Highlights: Ed Devine with the hat trick for Radnor, while Colby Cohen picks up a goal & 2 assists for the Raiders Lower Dauphin 8 Marple Newtown 6 Highlights: Bryan Chiavetta scores 2 goals & 2 assists to lead the comeback for Lower Dauphin as the Falcons erase a 4-2 Marple Newtown lead & come back to win Hatboro/Horsham 6 Methacton 3 Highlights: Alex Cohen with 3 goals & an assist, Miles Winter with 2 goals & 2 assists as Hatters score 5 goals in 6:32 to erase 2-1 Methacton lead in the 3rd period. Horsham outshoots Methacton 31-23. Class AA Second Round Results Thursday March 18 Abington Ghosts 4 West Chester Henderson Warriors 0 ***GAME SUMMARY IS NOW AVAILABLE*** Archbishop Carroll Patriots 8 McDevitt Crusaders 4 Highlights: Shane Aldinger with 3 goals & 2 assists and Greg Manz picks up 1 goal & 2 assists as Patriots have a 4-goal and advance to the Flyers Cup Semi-Finals 2nd period Friday March 19 Archbishop Wood Vikings 4 Neshaminy Redskins 2 Central Bucks West Bucks 6 Haverford High Fords 2 Class AAA Second Round Thursday March 18 Malvern Prep Friars 3 Eastern Regional Vikings[NJ] 1 Highlights: Chris Campanale scores a goal & assists on two more as the defending Flyers Cup champs open playoffs with a victory. The win could prove costly as four Malvern players receive Game Misconducts including Warren Byrne, Will Averona and Tim Gehring will sit for a game against Cardinal O'Hara or Holy Ghost Prep. Friday March 19 LaSalle Explorers 7 Downingtown Whippets 4 West Chester East Vikings 5 Germantown Academy Patriots 3 Highlights: Vikings Greg Scherbacki & Jeff Martin tally 2 points as WC East pounds GA with 54 shots to 20 for Germantown Holy Ghost Prep Firebirds 3 Cardinal O'Hara Lions 1

3/22/04 ~ Somerset does it & moves on to Penguins Cup final PITTSBURGH – The Somerset hockey program has taken their lumps over the years with a 73-142-13 record, but hidden in that record is the past four years with a record 59-21-4, including an outstanding 20-2-0 regular season under Cliff Zeigler. Despite all of this, the Eagles had never won a State Playoff game until last week’s 4-0 victory over Sewickley Academy. So anyone who predicted that this team would go a long way in the playoffs, would know a lot more than I would because the playoff experience of three straight losses in three years does not indicate this was a team ready to make a big run. Furthermore, in their two biggest games late in the season, the Eagles fell hard to Bishop McCort 7-3 and blew a 3-0 lead on the season’s final night to Quaker Valley, tonight’s opponent only to lose 5-3 in giving up five goals in the third period. So if Somerset was going to dance at the big dance, it would have to get their big guns Bret Zeigler, Cullen Eddy and Matt Rouch to figure in the scoring and then play solid defense and get some clutch goaltending from Wes Cramer. Quaker Valley opened up the playoffs with an impressive 6-0 victory over Forest Hills, in a game in which Jed Michael stopped 33 shots and big guns Furman South, Sam Hairston and Ben Herring figured in on five of the six Quakers goals. Coach Kevin Quinn’s program compiled a 19-3-0 campaign with five straight winning seasons and five straight Penguins Cup playoff appearances. If there is an achilles heel with QV, it is their inability to move on past the 2nd round of the playoffs, but if there was a year when it could happen this could be a golden opportunity for the Quakers and especially with Ben Herring, who is considered one of the top players in Class A, back in the lineup for full-time duty. Quaker Valley owns a couple of big wins over Somerset, Serra Catholic and Blackhawk during the regular season, which makes them a very appetizing pick to possibly go a long way with clutch scoring, key goaltending and a very disciplined team. Somerset came out in the first period like a team on a mission as freshman Cullen Eddy overpowered Jed Michael with a slapshot for a 1-0 Eagle lead at 12:15. Quaker Valley had some partial breaks, but could not find the handle as Ben Herring just missed tying the game at 12:18. At 8:21 of the first period, Matt Rouch walked the puck off of the far boards and beat Michael down low on the forehand and Somerset held a 2-0 lead. Jed Michael made a huge save on Bret Zeigler from the high slot at 4:35 as the Eagles held a 9-1 shot advantage at this point and a 10-4 edge for the first period. On to the 2nd period and Jed Michael held the Quakers in the hockey game making several key saves early on. The Somerset defense spearheaded by Chad Pritts, Bill Hoffman and Jonathan Davies continued to frustrate the big guns for Quaker Valley by simply clearing the zone and playing solid fundamental defense. Somerset went on the power play at 7:23 and Michael snared a bullet delivered by Bret Zeigler with a great glove save. Somerset took an ill-advised penalty at 5:43, which brought Quaker Valley to life. Herring made a great move beating the Somerset defense and almost backhanded past Cramer but somehow the Eagle goaltender got a piece of it and the Somerset defense cleared the puck from danger with 4:51 left in the 2nd. It was all Quaker Valley late in the period as Sam Hairston walked around a pair of Eagle defenseman, but could not beat Wes Cramer, who made a great leg save at 2:40. With 11 seconds remaining, Ben Herring had another great chance, but it was Cramer again who robbed Quaker Valley. The Quakers showed their frustration pouring 11 shots on the Somerset goal, with nothing to show for it as the game stood 2-0 at the end of two periods. Somerset started the 3rd period on the power play thanks to a very undisciplined penalty by the Qaukers with 1.3 seconds left in the second. Cullen Eddy made them pay as he buried a one-timer past the stick side of Michael off a nice feed from Chad Pritts, who won the battle along the boards for the puck with teammate Bret Zeigler at 13:25 to make it 3-0 Somerset. Wes Cramer and the Eagle defense kept up the frustration on Quaker Valley as the netminder stoned Ben Herring and Sam Hairston at 8:46 on simultaneous chances. With 7:28 remaining in regulation, Brett McBee-Wise shot the puck from the left point which had eyes on it and found its way through traffic and behind Cramer for a huge goal and cut the lead to 3-1. Back came the Eagles and the player who many consider the beast all-around player in Class A Bret Zeigler delivered a crushing blow to Quaker Valley as he scooped up a rebound of a Matt Rouch shot and deposited behind Jed Michael for a 4-1 Somerset lead with 6:33 remaining. Quaker Valley did not quit and Jeppe Boldsen scored on a slapshot after a perfect pass from Ben Herring with 4:19 remaining and enough time to rally. Quaker Valley poured on the pressure and owned the Somerset end, but at 3:34 it would be Wes Cramer who would steal the show as he made a terrific diving save on Ben Herring, who was stationed alone on the back door to keep the lead at Somerset 4 Quaker Valley 2. The Quakers pulled the goalie for the games final minute and it would be Jordon Woy who would send Quaker Valley packing as the quick little Somerset forward calmly gathered the puck at Center Ice and made no mistake putting the puck through the QV defenseman and into an empty net with 1:07 remaining to send the Somerset hockey team to its first ever Penguins Cup Final to face Serra Catholic on Sunday March 28th at the Mellon Arena at high noon.