Franklin Regional Uses Big Third Period To Win First Penguins Cup

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 | 9:12 PM

Goaltending is arguably the most important ingredient for a team making a deep postseason run at any level of hockey. For the Franklin Regional Panthers, an unlikely source, freshman Daniel Soltesz, not only held his own in net, but was the key factor in Franklin Regional’s 4-1 win against South Fayette in the Class A Penguins Cup Championship at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The victory marks the first ever hockey championship for the school.

Soltesz made 44 saves, while Nicholas Carretta recorded a hat trick, as the Panthers scored all four goals in the third period for the triumph. Soltesz’s heroics kept Franklin Regional within striking distance, as the Lions outshot the Panthers 38-16 through the first two stanzas.

Special teams allowed Franklin Regional (19-6-0) to claw back, however, as Corretta’s first tally came on the power play early in the third, and Ethan Bennett’s shorthanded marker with just less than three minutes left all but sealed the outcome. In between, though, Carretta netted an incredible goal in which he shed a pair of Lions’ defenders to score on a breakaway, the eventual game winner.

The early portion of the contest belonged to South Fayette, as the Lions registered 10 of the first 11 shots on goal. Among those chances was a point-blank shot by prolific scorer Jordan Timmons, but Soltesz made a spectacular glove save to keep the game scoreless.

Although the Panthers began to even the play as the period progressed, South Fayette again gained the upper hand early in the second frame. The opening goal of the contest came for South Fayette (17-6-2) on the power play, just more than eight minutes into the period. Spencer Barber pounced on a rebound after Jack Lipovich fired a shot from the point, staking the Lions to the advantage.

South Fayette nearly extended that lead on several occasions, including during a five-minute man advantage that resulted from a Joseph Grieco elbowing major. Franklin Regional mostly kept the Lions to the perimeter, though, and Soltesz again made numerous stellar stops.

Despite the wide disparity in shots through the first two periods, the Panthers only faced a one-goal deficit. With 12:47 left in regulation, Franklin Regional deadlocked the contest, as Carretta tapped home a rebound on a shot by Olda Virag.

Just 2:29 later, Carretta scored the spectacular one-on-two tally, as he outwitted South Fayette netminder Kyle Sharp. For the next several minutes, the Panthers withstood an onslaught by South Fayette, including an array of chances on another Lions’ power play.

On that man advantage, though, the Panthers notched a shorthanded marker, as Ethan Bennett fired a wrist shot that popped into the air after Sharp initially made the save. The puck landed behind Sharp, and trickled over the line for a crucial insurance goal. Franklin Regional sealed the outcome with 34 seconds left, as Carretta completed the hat trick.

With the triumph, Franklin Regional advances to the Pennsylvania Cup Championship on Saturday. The Panthers will face Flyers Cup Champion Bayard Rustin at Pegula Ice Arena at Penn Stat University.

Scoring Recap:

Management Science Associates Three Stars
3. SF – Spencer Barber
2. FR – Nicholas Carretta
1. FR – Daniel Soltesz

Interview with Nick Carretta and Dan Soltesz:

Tags: Franklin Regional