Chartiers Valley Colts - 1986 AA

DELMONT ~ Bethel Park headed into a critical stretch of games this week against three ranked opponents, which was supposed to start on Monday at home against Cathedral Prep. Coach Jim McVay’s Hawks will now play the Ramblers next Wednesday in the last of a trio including Meadville, ECP and the new kid on the block Franklin Regional. BP hopes to nail down the # 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs and surviving this stretch would be critical to that goal. Franklin Regional got caught counting their chickens Tuesday night as the Panthers may have been a little too relaxed in a big division battle with Gateway and it came back to bite them in a 5-2 loss to the arch-rival Gators. Jim Damp’s club had double motivation as the East Division crown and the # 1 Blackhawks were in front of Franklin if they could pull of an upset. Should the Panthers capture the East Division crown, it would be their first since 1996, when FR won the WPIHL AA Championship. Franklin came out gunning on the first shift and Joe Ferriero slammed home a rebound just 16 seconds in to give the home team a 1-0 lead. If you make mistakes against Bethel they’ll make you pay and goaltender Brandon Stallard mishandled a clearing attempt and it ended up on BP’s Johnathon Glock’s stick and he buried a wrist shot to tie the game at 1-1 at 13:06. At 11:28, Luke DeLorenzo took advantage of a broken play in the Bethel end and beat Matt Feige through the 5-hole and the Panthers regained the lead 2-1. With 8:12 remaining, Brandon Hanley’s breakaway was stopped by Stallard, but the big Bethel forward came back to tie the game at 4:59 with a wicked wrist shot to make the score 2-2. DeLorenzo picked up his second goal of the game beating Feige on a soft goal with 4:04 remaining in the opening period and FR was back on top 3-2. Brian Bakowski replaced Feige between the pipes and made a huge save on DeLorenzo with 1:38 left in the 1st. On to the second and Bethel Park started to fuel on the goaltending of Bakowski, who stoned Michael Roth on a breakaway at 9:52. The Hawks Michael Diethorn got the equalizer with a little over 7 ½ minutes left in period number two on a rebound. Franklin’s Dakota Drew put his team back on top 4-3 with :21 left on a feed from DeLorenzo as the Panthers capitalized on aggressive play against BP. Bakowski continue to shine for Bethel, stopping Roth and DeLorenzo early in the period. This brought hope to Gateway, whose players were rooting on the Blackhawks to defeat Franklin and keep their division title hopes alive. With 6:30 remaining, Sean Buckley delivered an insurance tally through traffic which trickled past the BP goalie and a 5-3 lead for the Panthers. Bethel Park pulled the goalie on the power play as Stallard made several big saves and DeLorenzo completed the hat trick with a 155 foot shot into the open net with :23 seconds remaining which sent the Franklin faithful into a tizzy at a packed house in Delmont for a 6-3 upset victory for Franklin and one step away from a division title.

WHEELING ~ Linsley Academy has doe well in its inaugural season in Western Pa Hockey and celebrated its first Senior afternoon festivities before a nice matinee crowd at the Wheeling Civic Center. Head Coach Daryl Crews is looking forward to having the 2002-2003 campaign being a stepping stone for the Cadets. Richland Cambria on the other hand has playoff fever and Geroge Gvozdich’s club has three games to pull out of a five-team mess for the final playoff spot in Class A. The Rams have had an up and down season, but were hoping that a win over Linsley would propel them closer to the upcoming playoffs. Richland survived the two hour early Saturday bus ride and got first period goals from Derek Schawley and Chris Gvozdich for a 2-0 lead. The Rams extended their lead in the second as Matt Truscello score early on for a 3-0 advantage. Linsley got on the scoreboard as Matt Wade scored at 7:40 to make it 3-1, but RC goaltender John Kamzik shut the door the rest of the way stopping 19 of 20 Cadet shots for a huge victory for the Rams.

WHEELING - Wheeling Park has built a nice hockey program after coming into existence in 1995 and coach Steve Kerr had his # 6 ranked Patriots gearing to finish the season strong with an 11-4-0 record into the seasons final week. A high powered offense which has scored 96 goals in just 15 games. Conemaugh Valley is a little different animal as they have tried to build a more defensive club around all-start netminder Corey Stahl. The Blue Jays have had some great moments this season including a 3-2 OT upset victory over Bishop McCort, but nothing would be sweeter for Matt Yingling’s club than nailing down their first ever playoff berth. Wheeling Park had all of the momentum early in this game but Stahl came up with some real nice stops to keep the Patriots off the board including saves on Andrew Dague in a 13-4 shot onslaught in the opening period. Conemaugh Valley struck first as Zach Szwast scored on a wrist shot at 11:05 for a 1-0 lead. At 9:07, Ryan Reynolds shot from the point sailed high over the glove hand of Justin UpDegraff for a 2-0 Blue Jay lead. Conemaugh Valley struck early and often in the second period as Rick Price scored after a WP turnover in the slot at 14:31 and Dan Pollino scored on a weak shot from the point which trickled past the Wheeling goaltender for a 4-0 lead. Wheeling showed its frustration taking a 4 penalties at 13:10, which resulted in a couple of CV 5 on 3 power plays and the Blue Jays buried their chances as Brad Vogel [12:40], Szwast [11:57], Mark Muir [11:57] and [7:02] and Matt Tilson [3:03] scored made it a 7 goal CV second period and a 9-0 lead over a stunned Wheeling Park team. WP’s Mark Maguire finally broke through on Stahl with just :14 remaining in the 2nd and the teams went to the locker room as Conemaugh Valley held a 9-1 lead. Wheeling Park rallied with five goals in the third period as Andrew Dague and MaGuire scored a pair apiece and Steve Mercer cut the Conemaugh lead to 9-6 with 2:50 remaining. The Blue Jays Brad Vogel scored at a 1:25 and Joe Heltzel sandwiched a Wheeling goal by Kurt Schenkel in the final minute and a half to pace Conemaugh Valley to an 11-7 scoring fest and clinch the Blue Jays first playoff spot in their six year history with a 9-11-0 record.

Its looks like the drive to see all 65 Varsities may have a slight chance of happening in 2002-2003.........Saturday's game's with Wehheling Park and Conemaugh Valley brought the total to 62 teams with three left............ Norwin we'll need to see this week possibly Trinity and Forest Hills in the playoffs next week !

VALENCIA ~ Canevin has clinched a playoff spot and is working on preparing for the upcoming playoffs. Coach Brian Henderson has done a wonderful job getting the Crusaders back in the playoffs after a two year sabbatical and is now working on teaching his players what it takes to go to the next level including discipline. Canevin would be playing without Justin Holzer, who was suspended for this contest, but will be needed if the Crusaders have hopes of advancing, which has been a tradition. Hampton has been one of the biggest mysteries of the 2002-2003 season, starting off with a 2-6-0 record. Something happened as the Talbots have had a great second half and could be a factor in the upcoming playoffs, which I am sure pleases head coach Craig Clontz. Senior night was celebrated and the underlying message of this senior night was the admiration amongst the players, who have matured into a team that is willing to put in on the line in the trenches, which is critical for any team thinking of a playoff run…..and this is the number one reason Hampton has turned their season around along with the improved play of goaltender Brian Troiano. Canevin had its chances in the first period to grab the lead on the road as Regis McGrath missed on a breakaway in the games opening minute. Both teams had power play opportunities, but Troiano and Canevin’s Patrick Smith kept the game scoreless. With the Crusaders on the power play in the final minute of the period, Troiano robbed Dane Hetland with :01 on the clock and the first period was scoreless. The Hampton goaltender was stealing the show as he stopped Hetland and Pawlos at 11:52. Hampton looked to break out on top as Brandon Kolich hit the post at 8:28 and the Talbots gain some momentum and scored the opening tally as Michael Briston’s shot from a weird angle banked off Smith to give the Talbots a 1-0 lead. The Crusaders came right back as McGrath took a picture perfect pass from Jordan Goff and the game was tied at one apiece. In the third period, Hampton appeared to take the lead as John Bongiovanni’s goal at 10:09 was waved off on a high stick. On the next shift, after Briston won the faceoff, Grant Patterson cut inside the Canevin defender and beat Smith low on the short side and the Talbots had a 2-1 lead. Then with 5:22 remaining, Canevin was whistled for a penalty and coach Henderson was livid and picked up a bench minor putting Hampton on a 5 on 3. Bongiovanni scored on the rebound with 4:58 left for a big insurance goal and a 3-1 lead for the Talbots. Jared Coleman put Canevin back in reach with a goal just 10 seconds later to make the score 3-2. Brian Troiano would have the last say in this game as he stoned Crusader sniper Dane Hetland on a clear breakaway with 2:38 remaining and shut the door the rest of the way for a 3-2 Hampton victory.