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Bethel keeps the dream season alive and wins 3rd straight ! PITTSBURGH - Bethel Park Head Coach Jim McVay must have a lot of fun coaching the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks 78-2-1 record over the last three seasons, including two consecutive Penguin Cups and Pennsylvania State Championships has elevated BP vs the world mentality across the State of Pennsylvania. Sooner or later, they are going to lose, but it is impressive to look at the accomplishments, which incudes this seasons defensive gem of giving up just 13 goals in 23 regular season games. Mere mortals have challenged them...of course Gateway was 11 minutes away from winning, but getting outshot 39-13 gives you less of a chance. Sure Central Catholic, held a 2-1 lead with 8 minutes left in the semis, to watch it evaporate in OT. Mt Lebanon coach Paul Taibi, a Bethel disciple, and his team have come close and he knows what it takes. For Mt Lebanon, 26 years since its last State Title and its first trip to the Penguins Cup finals since 1987. A great year by most standards, but not complete. The Blue Devils would need goaltender Colin Sebastian to be Superman, get a lead (possibly a two goal lead) and play a spotless defensive game. So 'lets give it our best shot' was the motto of the seniors of Mt Lebanon and try and do the unthinkable. Who better than senior captain Mike Colligan to get things started and he did at 11:20 on a powerful backhand at give Mt Lebanon a 1-0 lead. Mt Lebanon was doing it and Sebastian was stoning the Blackhawks at the other end as BP outshot them 10-5 in the first period. All it takes is a lapse and you never know which one of these Blackhwks is gonna strike. At 13:23, just nine seconds in the power play, the almost forgotten one Dan Mackin blasted a slapshot from the point through the five hole and traffic and the game was tied 1-1. Bethel was settling in and Mt Lebanon was matching them, but to put BP on the power play is trouble and with just one second remaining in a late second period power play, C.J. Strauss picked up a Mackin rebound and deposited it past Sebastian to give Bethel the 2-1 lead. Early in the third period, Sebastian made a key save as Nick D'Allesandro had a breakaway opportunity and Steve Preite missed a great opportunity. Sebastian was stopping everything Bethel could throw at him and his team still had a chance, albeit a slim one. Matt Feige stopped all 6 shots Mt Lebanon could muster in the 3rd and the road to Rostraver for the Blue Devils was about to close. Enter Justin Glock, who looked like a bus comin through the Mt Lebo defense and while falling down one handed a shot over Sebastian with 4:42 remaining to seal the deal and give Bethel Park a 3-1 victory over their arch rivals and its third straight Penguins Cup. So now Bethel Park can put closure to a great run next week at Rostraver, but it will not be a picnic. Should Malvern Prep capture the Flyers Cup next Thursday, it will set up a rematch of last years Pennsylvania AAA State Final. Some unfinished business for Malvern Prep, who have lost their most recent opportunities for State Titles to Bethel Park in 1997 and last season. If Germantown advances, Bethel Park has some unfinished business with them, a 1983 defeat in BP's first State Championship appearance, which is coincidentially a year before this group of players was born. Any way it stacks up, Bethel Park can put closure to a lot of history next weekend.

ROSTRAVER - Mt Lebanon defeated Cathedral Prep in mid February by the score of 8-3 and Blue Devils coach Paul Taibi was a little concerned about his team, but what the coach also knew is that he has one of the hottest goaltenders in Western Pennsylvania between the pipes in Colin Sebastian. Cathedral Prep goaltender Jon Freeman has quitely been playing superb for coach Nels Whites upstart Rambler squad. It didn't take long for the Mt Lebanon to solve Freeman as at 11:48 Mike Colligan walked the puck off the near boards and blasted a snap shot high on the short side to give Mt Lebanon a 1-0 lead. The playoffs are special because of the heros created, who come up big when you least expect them to. Pat Magerski, who tallied the big goal to defeat North Allegheny, continued his hot hand with a goal at 5:58 of the 1st to tie the score at 1-1. Everyone knows to beat Mt Lebanon, you must stop the dynamic duo of Jason Schultz and Colligan, what Prep forgot was the diamond in the rough as freshman call-up Eric Sloan walked the puck behind the Rambler net and fed a wide open Dan O'Connell at 6:40, who made no mistake and beat Freeman to give the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead. Then the same combo did it again, as O'Connell threaded a perfect pass to Sloan, who was walking down the slot and the freshman buried it with just :29 seconds left to extend the lead to 3-1. On to the third period and Magerski found a loose puck in the slot and beat Sebastian through the legs to put the Ramblers within one at 3-2. But it was Mt Lebanon who wanted this game more than anyone can imagine, as Mr. Magic Eric Sloan put the game on ice hooking up with his newfound best friend O'Connell and gave Mt Lebanon a 4-2 victory. For Mt Lebanon another shot at Bethel Park and they have to love their chances with their hot goaltender Sebastian, who stopped 38 Prep shots and the new dynamic duo of O'Connell and Sloan.

Bethel Park shows why they are the Champions ! ROSTRAVER - Bethel Park survived a first round scare with Gateway because hot goaltender David Himes almost caught lightning in a bottle. Blackhawk coach Jim McVay takes nothing for granted and prepares his team for the playoffs to play a 45 minute game. Central Catholic on the other hand is looking to re-write a little history as they defeated Meadville in Meadville last Monday night in a classic overtime affair. Now the game plan and target was the two time defending State Champions and the Vikings welcomed leading scorer Jeff Race back into the lineup and hope he would provide that extra intangible to vault CC to an upset win. Central came out early determined to win the battles for loose pucks and get shots on Bethel. The Vikings went on the power play at 12:06 and looked to take the lead, but the Hawks Justin Glock had other ideas as he walked around the CC defense and beat Russ Hefner to give Bethel a shorthanded goal and a 1-0 lead. That 45 minute game plan came into play as Central's new young gun Eddie Martin outworked the Bethel Defenseman for the puck and snapped a shot through a screen past Matt Feige with just :07 left in the 1st and the score was tied at 1-1. The second period was very even with both teams getting some opportunities and near misses. Central's Martin dug the puck out of the corner and found C.J. Bruce cutting to the net, who beat Feige on the stick side to give Central a 2-1 lead with just 1:00 left in the middle frame. Could this be the upset or would the champs refind their third period magic ? On to the third and Central keep Bethel out and Hefner began to play spectacular stopping everything the Hawks could muster. Then a mistake with an undiscipline penalty by CC put BP on the power play and then another penalty behind the play put the Blackhawks on a 5 on 3. 5 on 3's are like sucide against the Bethel Park power play and Brandon Hanley found an open area between the circle and shoved a shot down on the ice through a screen and into the net to tie the game at 7:28. Now Bethel smelled a wounded animal and this is when the champs go for the jugular and put their opponents away. It nearly happen with 2:35 left as a BP shot trickled through Hefner and toward the goal line, but a great play by Zach Roberts to dive and clear the puck to saftey preserved the tie and send the game to OT. Overtime....Central must have liked that sound and after beating Meadville last week, they had confidence and the unthinkable almost happened as Jeff Race's shot beat Feige between the legs and just went wide on the opening shift of OT. Bethel Park came right back down the ice and Steve Preite found Jason McLean cutting down the right side, who slid a one timer past Hefner to give Bethel a hard earned 3-2 overtime victory. The win also kept alive the undefeated season for the Hawks, who will look to join the 1987 Upper St Clair Panthers as the only undefeated AAA team in Pa State History, whose goaltender was none other then BP coach Jim McVay !

Peters finally cracks gritty Latrobe club for Final berth ! ROSTRAVER - Latrobe entered their Penguin Cup Semi-Final matchup with Mark Cooper's # 1 Peters Township squad, relishing their two big playoff victories over Greensburg CC and Pine Richland. Coach Coopers team on the other hand has waltzed into the semi-final round with convincing poundings of Moon and defending State Champ Beaver and had to believe that Latrobe would be a stiffer challenge. Coach Makoski's Wildcats carried the play in the opening moments to Peters and Nick Loughner buried a Matt Makoski rebound at 13:46 of the 1st period and Latrobe took a surprise 1-0 lead. Peters Twp handled this well and responded as speedy Matt Schwartz scored on the backhand to tie the game at 1-1 at 9:49. The Indians have depth and balance across all of their forward lines and began to wear down Latrobe early, but could not solve Wildcat goaltender Matt Bloom until 1:31 remaining in the first period, when freshman Chris Clackson scored to give Peters the 2-1 lead. The Indians continued their assalt on Matt Bloom and it looked as if Latrobe would remain in this game as long as their goaltender kept turning away shots. Then the Wildcats got a break as two Indians were whistled an sent to the box putting Latrobe on a 5 on 3 advantage at 3:55. Tim Armanious scored an apparent tying goal, but the whistle blew prior to the puck crossing the line and the score remained 2-1 at 3:24. Peters Brandon Rubeo made a terrific clearing play late in the Latrobe power play and the Wildcats never threatened again. The Indians killed the penalties in a key turning point of momentum. Now Peters was looking for the knock out punch as they continued to pressure Latrobe with their awesome offense and at 8:48 of the third, Matt Clackson blasted a slapshot which beat Bloom and put the game on ice at 3-1. Jeremy Simmons added another to make the final outcome 4-1 and Peters Twp will make its second appearance in the Penguins in their history (the other in 1998) against Indiana.

Indiana hitting full stride with big win over Kittanning ! ROSTRAVER - Kittanning coach Jeff Smouse had mixed emotions entering the Wildcats Penguins Cup Semi-Final matchup with arch rival Indiana. On one hand, coach was very excited about the opportunity for his young team and on the other hand he knew of the firepower they would face in Ron Hellen's Indians. Indiana looked to be the nervous team early as they agressive Wildcats carried the play in the opening minutes being cheered on by a large contingent of Kittanning faithful. The Indians survived a couple of power plays and the score remained 0-0 until Aaron Smith's wrist shot at 2:32 beat Adam Toy to give Indiana a 1-0 lead, which it maintain after one. In the second period, the Indians took the game over as freshman phenom Casey Haines threaded a beautiful back door pass to Zach Diamond at 8:51 to make it 2-0. Then, captain Nicko Spielmann had his shot blocked but recaptured the puck and walked down the slot at 6:27 and beat Toy and made it 3-0. Mike Nesper blew by the Wildcat D shorthanded and scored another Indian tally at 1:53 to put the Indians up 4-0 and one period away from their first trip to the Penguin Cup Finals since 1996. In the third period, Haines and Diamond added goals and Mike Lady earned the shutout stopping all 24 Kittanning shots for a 6-0 victory. The Indians got a terrific effort as they have all season from the defensive corps and excellent backchecking from their second and third line forwards, who will play a key role in the Indians chances for their first Penguins Cup ever against Peters Twp.