Chartiers Valley Colts - 1986 AA

DELMONT – Bethel Park has won three consecutive Pennsylvania Class AAA State Championships and while many Junior Varsities and Freshman team are suiting up for playoffs for the first time and will hang banners about their JV and Freshman Championships, they need to take a seminar about what Junior Varsity and Freshman hockey SHOULD be about which is a training ground for the Varsity Program. Invited speakers to this seminar should be Paul Taibi, the Mt Lebanon head coach, who spent several years quietly grooming players who were the building blocks leading the Hawks to those three straight championships. Coach Taibi is building a class program at Mt Lebanon, a team that lost something like 14 seniors from a Penguin Cup finalist from a year ago and has only three seniors on a team, which has matured beyond its years in just a few months and will be knocking on that door for the next few years with great young talent. In fact, I had to go back on the ole’ Pa Hockey Master Schedule just to figure out that the Blue Devils last lost in February on the 10th to Franklin Regional 7-4 and has not lost since in an undefeated stretch that included Bethel Park, Cathedral Prep, and Baldwin. Now Taibi doesn’t know who Gary Swingle is, but he would see a lot of similarities in the former Franklin coach who was a similar architect, who entered the Franklin Program in the early 90’s and helped build a Junior Varsity and Freshman programs. Those programs produced WPIHL AA Championships and a four-year run to the Penguin Cup finals from 1992-1996 and continued the building process until the Panthers moved to the Center Ice Arena in 1998. In the 1997-1998, FR fielded two freshman teams with 37 players and rather than stacking one freshman team, ‘the General’ as he was known put the odds on one side and the evens on the other side and those two teams lost a combined two games out of 30. The best of that group have developed since into the 2003 edition of the Franklin Regional Panthers. Most recently, coach Jim Damp has taken this talented group and they have molded into a real contender for Class AAA and have opened some eyes around the Western Pa hockey circles, with big late season wins over Lebanon and Bethel Park. Some of the Panthers were looking to erase memories of last seasons ending a double overtime defeat at the hands of North Allegheny. Goaltending dominated the first period as Pa Hockey Top 5 Freshman phenom Matt Vaughn stopped Luke ‘now you see him now you don’t’ DeLorenzo, who danced around the Mt Lebo defense at 13:15. The Blue Devils went on the power play at 11:57 and pressure Franklin to try to get that all-important first goal, but Brandon Stallard made several key stops including an excellent save on Chad Uddstrom at 10:52. Stallard then stopped Eric Sloan and Uddstrom again at 7:21 as Mt Lebo could not capitalize o some excellent scoring chances. Late in the opening period, Sloan was in on the breakaway but could not beat Stallard and the game was scoreless after one period. Mt Lebanon opened the second period much like the first but could not beat Stallard, who stoned Billy Leckenby at 13:30. Franklin Regional counter attacked and Luke ‘now you see him now you don’t’ DeLorenzo but Matt Vaughn on Route 22 going West on a spectacular move and beat the freshman goaltender on the forehand to make it 1-0 at 13:19. The Panthers came right back on the same shift as Vaughn made the initial save on DeLorenzo and Lou Levine pounced on the rebound and banged it home to give the packed house at Delmont on the Franklin side something to cheer about and a 2-0 lead at 12:50. Still on that extended shift, Delorenzo made a great drop pass to Mike Roth, who buried a wrist shot upstairs on the glove side at 12:12 and all the sudden Franklin led 3-0. Now many of you may not remember the Penguin Cup Semi-Final at Rostraver in 1997, where Mt Lebanon had a 4-0 lead at the end of two periods only to watch it evaporate into a 5-4 Bethel win and an eventual State Championship for the Hawks. A game for the ages that night and one of the first thoughts that came to my mind in this game and maybe its was the calmness as Luke ‘now you see him now you don’t’ DeLorenzo, exited the building off to that all-important Hornets practice with 9:15 left in the second period of a do or die playoff game. You could almost see Paul Taibi, grinding his teeth and although he would never say maybe thinking it that Mt Lebanon would love to come back and win this one and make a real statement. Well, Taibi’s heart warmed a little bit as Eric Sloan scored on a wrist shot upstairs at 8:39 to get Mt Lebanon on the board 3-1. Mike Roth came right back for the Panthers just thirty seconds later to extend the lead to 4-1 beating Vaughn on the wrist shot. Stallard made a great blocker save on Leckenby at 3:29 and on Sloan with just :18 seconds left, stacking his pads and FR took a 4-1 lead to the intermission. On to the third period and Franklin went into that dreaded prevent defense a little too early as they failed to gain territorial advantage. The Blue Devils gain some momentum and Tony Valerino banged home a Bill Leckenby rebound on the backhand at 10:44 and Lebo was back within striking distance at 4-2. Less than a minute later, Leckenby scored on a long blast after a Franklin turnover at blueline which beat Stallard on the stick side and all the sudden it was 4-3 and all Mt Lebanon. The Blue Devils were all over FR at this point and Eric Sloan just missed at 4:40, but Dan Weilin tied the game with exactly four minutes remaining on a great move beating Stallard on the backhand and roofing it upstairs. The game headed to overtime as Mt Lebanon outshot Franklin Regional 32-23 through regulation. Franklin was awarded a rare power play in overtime [Oh by the way …the officiating in this one was outstanding with Chet Steen and Norm Faas] but Mt Lebanon survived two FR chances as Michael Jordan blocked a Jimmie Daugherty shot at 7:45 and Matt Vaughn stopped Joey Ferrairo from point blank at 7:01. Mt Lebanon went on the PP at 6:07 and almost won it but Eric Sloan’s blast hit the crossbar at 4:10. Then Vaughn stoned Franklin Regional as he stopped Joey Ferrairo again with 2:40 left in the first OT and robbed Jimmie Daugherty with just 5 seconds left in OT # 1. On to Overtime # 2 and after confusion with the league rep who didn’t know the playoff rules and probably was never provided a copy of them, the game moved on as the teams switched ends. Franklin came out early and made it happen as Mike Roth gathered a rebound after Vaughn made the initial save on Daugherty and lofted into the empty net over a fallen Vaughn and Franklin Regional would advance on to face Bethel Park, which will be a rematch of a late season game at Center Ice and will have a lot more riding on it come next Wednesday as we move on to Rostraver and the Penguin Cup semis. For Mt Lebanon, a great year and a stepping stone for the future as hopefully this group of Blue Devils will remember this game and let it help fuel a Penguin Cup run over the next few years !

Flyers Cup AAA - Washington Township AA - Clearview AA - Eastern Regional A - Cherry Hill East A - Cherokee

GREENSBURG – Greensburg CC and South Park did not meet in the regular season in Class AA in 2002-2003, but the Centarians and Eagles did meet twice and the flavor of both meetings was one team taking the lead and the other mounting a big comeback for victory. In the Greensburg CC Invitational semi-finals in October, GCC overcame a 2-0 South Park lead and being outshot 36-18 to defeat SP 3-2. In the Pa Hockey Scholastic Showcase in late December South Park overcame a 3-2 third period deficit and two five minute majors to defeat GCC 5-3. Greensburg CC coach Joe Dytka’s club has not been to the Penguin Cup semi-finals since 1996 and was looking to erase playoff frustration of the past few years. South Park on the other hand, made it to the dance in 2001, only to fall to eventual Pa Class AA Champion Beaver. So both schools had something to prove in this game and one would move on to Rostraver next week. The game would be played before a packed standing room only crowd at Kirk Nevin. The game was wide open early on as Jake Genes made a great stop on Vito Caporal at 14:08. GCC came right back as Allen Pershing beat Ian Artim on a quick shot to the stick side to give the Centarians a 1-0 lead at 13:55. The Eagles answered just 38 seconds later, as Justin Juha took a perfect feed from Tim Ryan out of the corner and handcuffed Genes with a wrist shot to tie the score at one apiece. Then at 9:50, Pat Bates took a big shot from the left point and Matt Ward was on the doorstep to poke it between the legs of Artim to give Greensburg CC the lead 2-1. South Park came right back as Juha took advantage of some great corner work by the towering Matt Slogan, who walked out of the corner and fed Juha who buried a shot on the stick side to tie the game again at 2-2 with 8:35 remaining in the opening period. The teams traded power play chances and the Egales capitalized as Rocco DaBecco snapshot through traffic fooled Genes and SP had its first lead 3-2 at 2:56. On to the second and DaBecco walked the puck to the net and beat Genes cleanly on the backhand to extend the South Park lead to 4-2 at 12:20. GCC was in a little trouble now, but was rescued as Allen Pershing gathered a Zach Cutrell rebound and scored a huge goal to put the Centarians back within one at 4-3 at 7:05. South Park went on the power play, but got a little careless and committed playoff sin # 1 and turned the puck over at its own blue line and Pershing made them pay as he sprinted 120 feet and slipped a shot through the 5 hole past Artim and tied the score at 4-4 with 2:14 remaining in the second period. The next goal would be huge as the teams took the ice in the third period and goaltending would be outstanding as Ian Artim and Jake Genes would come up big. Colin Ludwig and Matt Ward had excellent chances in the first three minutes of the 3rd and Ian Artim stoned them. Jake Genes stopped Tim Ryan, who was in a lone at 9:27 and then DaBecco and Juha again at 6:15. Artim made a diving save on Zach Cutrell with just 4:08 remaining in regulation. After a phantom elbowing call gave GCC the power play with just 3:58 remaining, the Eagles dug in and killed off the disadvantage and almost scored the go ahead goal as Josh Hickey took a feed from Justin Juha in the slot but was denied by Jake Genes. The third period was scoreless as the teams were dead even in shots 34-34. On to the overtime we went and the crowd was now on its feet as the chances of ‘Lets go Eagles’ and ‘GCC’ rang off the tin foil roof in a great playoff atmosphere at Kirk S. Nevin. South Park would have the early chances as Genes dove out and stopped Justin Juha on the breakaway at 9:21 of the OT. Juha came right back on the next shift and clanged one off the right post at 8:41. Then GCC had a great chance as Matt Ward was stopped by Ian Artim at 7:35. It would be Allen Pershing who would have the final say in this one as he gathered a SP turnover and buried it upstairs on the shortside to send Greensburg CC to the dance at Rostraver for the first time since 1996, which happened to be the year that the Centarians won their last Pennsylvania Class AA crown.

Class AAA Flyers Cup Inter County Scholastic Hockey League # 1 - Malvern Prep Friars # 2 - West Chester East Vikings Eastern High School Hockey League # 1 - Cardinal O'Hara Lions # 2 - Monsignor Bonner Friars Class AA - Playoffs [Double Elimination] Downingtown 8 Archbishop Carroll 6 Council Rock 3 Bishop Shanahan 0 Council Rock 2 Downingtown 0 Archbishop Carroll 5 Bishop Shanahan 1 Archbishop Carroll 6 Downingtown 3 Archbishop Carroll 2 Council Rock 1 Highlights: Carroll is at it again as they force a deciding game to go to the Flyers Cup Archbishop Carroll 5 Council Rock 2 Highlights: Carroll comes out of # 5 slot to capture final Flyers Cup AA berth for Inter-County Flyers Cup Representatives AA ICSHL # 1 - West Chester Henderson Warriors ICSHL # 2 - Archbishop Carroll Patriots Class A Inter-County Playoffs Central Division [Double Elimination] Springfield(D) 5 Haverford 3 ***Haverford Eliminated*** Radnor 4 Springfield 1 ***Springfield Eliminated*** Flyers Cup Central Division Class A # 1 - Radnor Raiders East Division [Double Elimination] Roman Catholic 6 Lansdale Catholic Crusaders 1 Souderton 3 Roman Catholic 2 Flyers Cup East Division Class A # 1 - Souderton Indians South Division [Double Elimination] Unionville 2 Kennett Sqaure 1 Malvern II 4 Unionville 0 ***Unionville Eliminated*** Flyers Cup South Division Class A # 1 - Malvern Prep II Friars North Division [Double Elimination] Boyertown 8 vs Plymouth Whitemarsh 2 Downingtown II 1 Coatesville 0 Boyertown 5 Downingtown II 1 Plymouth Whitemarsh 5 Coatesville 2 Downingtown II 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3 Boyertown 4 Downingtown II 1 Flyers Cup North Division A # 1 - Boyertown Bears Eastern League Playoffs Class AA and Class A [Double Elimination] Haverford School 7 Episcopal Academy 0 Chichester 3 Bonner II 2 Interboro 3 Delco Knights 0 Chichester 3 Interboro 0 Haverford School 8 Episcopal Academy 1 Cardinal O'Hara II 5 Chichester 3 Cardinal O'Hara II 5 Chichester 3 Eastern League Class AA # 1 - Haverford School Eastern League Class AA # 2 - Marple Newtown Tigers Eastern League Class A # 1 - Cardinal O'Hara II Lions Eastern League Class A # 2 - Chichester Eagles

2002-2003 FLYERS CUP AAA - Tier I Champion - Hershey Trojans AA #1 - Tier I Runner Up - Lower Dauphin Falcons AA #2 - Tier I Consolation Game Winner - Hempfield Black Knights A #1 - Tier II Champion - Bishop McDevitt Crusaders A #2 - Central Dauphin CPIHL Playoffs Class AAA [Tier 1] Semi-Finals Hershey 4 Central Dauphin 1 Lower Dauphin 4 Hempfield 2 Tier 1 - Consolation Hempfield 4 Central Dauphin 1 Class AAA [Tier 1] Finals Hershey 5 Lower Dauphin 4 Highlights: Hershey is CPIHL Champion ! Class AA [Tier 2] Semi-Finals Bishop McDevitt Crusaders 8 Cedar Cliff 1 Central York 6 Lampeter Strasburg 2 Class AA [Tier 2] Finals Tier II Championship Bishop McDevitt Crusaders 4 Central York 3 Class A Central Dauphin 5 Central York 3 Thank you to the CPIHL for clarification on the Flyers Cup criteria !