Chartiers Valley Colts - 1986 AA

HARMARVILLE - Freeport coach Jim Hill must be going through withdrawals again this season.....the Yellow Jackets went on a torrid streak last year which almost landed them in the Penguins Cup after a 1-4-0 start and then reeling off 15 straight. This year, after a slow start the Yellow Jackets are up to their old tricks and they have captured 5 of 6 with the exception a 2-1 loss to undefeated Mars. Deer Lakes on the other hand has had an up and down campaign and Al Pawloski was hoping Freeport would provide incentive for his club to get on a winning streak. Early in the first period, the Lancers applied some pressure, but Derek Gaworski was sharp stopping Brendan Orris at the 11:30 mark among several key saves. At 7:48 of the opening period Jesse Wells took a nice feed in the slot from Mike Bender and beat Roman Drievenosky through the 5 hole to make it 1-0. Just 9 seconds later, it was Troy Barker finding a loose puck and backhanding it past the Deer Lakes goalie and it was now 2-0. With 5:33 left, Tom Christy blasted a slapshot from the left point through traffic and Freeport was off an running 3-0. Early in the second, Freeport's Mike Bender unleashed a wicked slapshot to extend the lead to 4-0. Deer Lakes came back on the power play at 9:57 as Jason Graney scored to cut the lead to 4-1. At 7:41, Andreas Backstrom unleashed a booming wrist shot upstairs past Gaworski and all he sudden the Lancers were back within two at 4-2. Then with 3:57 remaining, Dustin Gaworski danced around the DL defense and beat the Deer Lakes goaltender high to the glove side for a huge goal and a 5-2 lead. Freeport never looked back in the third period, as Bender and Bryan Hanks added goals to put the game on ice. Jason Graney added a goal for the Lancers but Derek Gaworski shut the door the rest of the way as Freeport captured its sixth win in their last seven with an impressive 7-3 victory over Deer Lakes.

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CASTLE SHANNON - Upper St Clair coach Kip Guenther has inherited a nice young group of hockey players this season. In fact, there has always been talent at USC and the problem stems from years of not having a full lineup due to committments to amateur teams. The Panthers are still fighting that battle as Patrick Mullen was absent, while Kris McDonough is still nursing an injury. Even so, USC has scored some impressive performances against Bethel Park [3-3 tie] and their most recent win over Franklin Regional last Friday. Meadville, on the other hand, came into this evening's contest fresh from winning the Bulldog Invitational for the first time. Coach Jamie Plunkett's squad would have to play without top defenseman David Moyer. The # 1 Bulldogs were looking to maintain their division lead over Cathedral Prep. The first period was played quickly and both teams looked pretty rusty early on. The Panthers had a couple of decent scoring opportunities but the score remained 0-0 after one. Early in the second, both teams had chances to take the lead, but Meadville's Bahurinsky's shot at 14:17 rang off the crossbar and Matt McGinnis' shot with a little over ten minutes to go went sailing over the crossbar. Then Meadville opened the scoring as Christian Nickerson chipped the puck past RJ Vignetti at 7:46 to give the Dawgs a 1-0 lead. Upper St Clair came right back as Brian Gorder took an Ian Joyce past on the back door at 7:14. Then the Panther's got a huge to take the lead 2-1 as Ian Joyce scored at 6:15 on a big slapshot through traffic. Meadville answered at 5:24 as Nickerson took a Rick Thomas feed off the faceoff and beat Vignetti through the 5-hole. to tie the score at 2-2. The Panthers went on the power play early in the third and Brian Bahurinsky missed a golden opportunity to take the lead to no avail. Then at 9:55, Dan Duda scored on a rebound from the doorstep and the Panthers were smelling upset 3-2. Meadvile tied the game late in the third at 3-3, as Phil Siverd found a loose puck in the slot and buried it upstairs past Vignetti with 1:48 left and the Bulldogs salvaged a 3-3 tied with an impressive USC club.

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CASTLE SHANNON - Steel Valley has been through an up and down season and coach Tom Fetsko knows this could be a rebuilding year with several Freshman and Sophomores paving the future. The Ironmen started off quickly with 3 wins to start the season, but have struggled through the middle part of the season. Johnstown knows all about struggling, as Tom Rizzo's club has been in a holding pattern for a couple of years now, but looks to be improving with some youngsters who will begin an upward trend in the program over the next few years. John Preffer's early goal in the first period gave the Ironmen a 1-0 lead which it held onto after one. Early in the second period, Tony Bonacorsa blasted a long slapshot past the Johnstown goaltender to give SV a 2-0 lead. After Johnstown's Terry Bodenshatz scored to make it 2-1 at 10:43, freshman Mike Ulicny scored to extend the Ironmen lead to 3-1 at 9:10. On to the third and Steel Valley exploded for four goals as Preffer completed the hat trick with two goals and Tom Scheetz and Bonacorsa added singles to pace the Ironmen to a 7-1 victory over Johnstown.