PIHL Penguins Cup Recaps – Tuesday, March 11th

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, March 11, 2014 | 11:39 PM

Monday saw thrills and chills with a couple of PIHL Penguins Cup Class A Semifinals instant classics. Tuesday presented plenty of fireworks in the Penguins Cup Class AA Semifinals, but they all seemed to be shot from one side and the top two seeds put up dominant performances. Here are recaps from both the Bishop Canevin and Erie Cathedral Prep Semifinals victory from Tuesday night.

PIHL PENGUINS CUP CLASS AA SEMIFINALS:

Erie Cathedral Prep Ramblers 9 – Armstrong River Hawks 5

Erie Cathedral Prep scored four unanswered goals in the final 10 minutes of action to defeat Armstrong 9-5 in PIHL Penguins Cup Class AA semifinals play at Robert Morris University Sports Center on Neville Island.

Erie Cathedral Prep’s Jacob Ordos broke a 5-5 tie with 9:42 remaining in the contest, as he shoveled a loose puck past netminder Taylor Smouse. The Ramblers would extend their lead when Trevor Faulkner netted his second goal of the contest after Ben Eliason’s blocked shot careened to Faulkner’s blade. Jack Kelly tallied an empty-net marker for No. 2 Eric Cathedral Prep, and Faulkner sealed the victory 16 seconds later when he roofed a backhand to notch the hat trick.

Faulkner put the Ramblers ahead just 25 seconds in to the game, as his backhander on a breakaway beat Smouse to put Eric Cathedral Prep on the board. Hunter Emerson and Brandon Gotkin added to the Ramblers’ advantage, as they took a 3-0 lead into the second period.

The third-seeded River Hawks showed their resolve, though, as they scored three times in a span of just over two minutes in the second. Nicholas Long notched a powerplay goal to put Armstrong on the board with 11:09 left in the stanza. David Contrael then deflected a shot past Ramblers’ goaltender Grant Kennedy to pull Armstrong within one. Christian Miller, whose 46 goals in the regular season led Class AA, tied the game just 30 seconds later.

Armstrong appeared poised to take the lead, but a pair of potential River Hawks goals were waived off because the net became dislodged. Shortly thereafter, Joe Kelly restored the Eric Cathedral Prep lead, as his wrist shot from just inside the blue line floated past Smouse. Richard Vicary added another goal for the Ramblers with 1:05 left in the period, allowing Eric Cathedral Prep to take a two-goal edge into the locker room.

In the third period, Armstrong again battled back, as John Phelps ripped a slap shot 51 seconds into the period to pull the River Hawks within one. Long tallied his second of the night to tie to contest with just over 13 minutes remaining, but Armstrong would not score again.

The River Hawks, playing without leading scoring Hunter Grafton for the majority of the contest after he left in the first with an apparent knee injury, overcame two multi-goal deficits in the contest, but could not manage to take the lead.

Armstrong’s inaugural season concludes with a 17-6-1 record for the River Hawks, while Eric Cathedral Prep (18-4-2) advances to the Class AA championship at the Consol Energy Center on Monday.

Score By Period:
Erie Cathedral Prep Ramblers : 3-2-4=9
Armstrong Riverhawks : 0-3-2=5

Shots:
Erie Cathedral Prep: 30
Armstrong: 35

Bladerunners Scoring Summary:

First Period:
(:25) ECP: Trevor Faulkner (Ben Eliason)
(13:49) ECP: Hunter Emerson (Shane Cross, Jacob Ordos)
(15:44) ECP: Brandon Gotkin (Jack Kelly) , 15:44

Second Period:
(5:57) Armstrong: Nick Long (John Phelps, Joshua Oliver) PPG
(8:13) Armstrong: David Contrael (Christian Miller, Josh Oliver)
(8:49) Armstrong: Christian Miller (Nick Long)
(14:02) ECP: Joe Kelly (Nick Findley)
(15:55) ECP: Richard Vicary (Ben Eliason)

Third Period:
(0:51) Armstrong: John Phelps (Jacob Snyder)
(3:59) Armstrong: Nick Long (2) (David Contrael, Christian Miller)
(11:46) ECP: Jacob Ordos (Shane Cross)
(13:35) ECP: Trevor Faulkner (2) (Ben Eliason, William Kelly)
(15:38) ECP: Jack Kelly (Anthony Piglowski, Shane Cross) ENG
(15:54) ECP: Trevor Faulkner (3) (Ben Eliason)

Goaltender:
Erie Cathedral Prep: Grant Kennedy (35 Shots, 30 Saves)
Armstrong: Taylor Smouse (29 Shots, 22 Saves)

Power Plays:
ECP (0-2)              Armstrong (1-2)

Management Science Associates Three Stars:
1. Trevor Faulkner (ECP) (3G)
2. Nick Long (Armstrong) (2G, A)
3. Jack Kelly (ECP) (G, 2A)

Mount Lebanon Rec Center Play of the Game:
Joe Kelly’s goal at (14:02) of the second period – After leading 3-0 after the first period, Armstrong rallied for 3 unanswered goals to tie the game at 3-3. Kelly snapped a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Taylor Smouse through a screen to regain the lead for the Ramblers. Richard Vicary would also score late in the second period to give Erie Cathedral Prep a 2 goal lead heading into the third period. Even though the Riverhawks would tie the game at 5-5, Kelly’s goal helped the Ramblers regain the momentum late in the second period in a game in which the Ramblers would never trail.

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Bishop Canevin Crusaders 7 – Hampton Talbots 1

Using three power play goals, Bishop Canevin took control early and did not look back, as the Crusaders will look to win their seventh Penguins Cup after defeating Hampton 7-1 in the PIHL AA Semifinals at the 84 Lumber Arena on Tuesday night.

Randy Unger scored twice and had three assists for a five point night, while Liam Walsh added three assists for the Crusaders. Bishop Canevin finished 3-of-8 on the power play as Hampton took nine minor penalties on the night, including six consecutive in the second period.

However, it was a Bishop Canevin penalty that led to their first goal, as Liam Walsh went off for slashing to make it four on four. After Thomas Krivak nearly took a stretch pass in for a goal with Walsh in the box, the Crusaders got a second opportunity as Blaine Adams got behind the defense for a short handed goal and a 1-0 lead. It was another Adams, this time Brennen Adams, then scoring on the power play with Hampton’s Andrew Lynch serving a slashing minor. The goal, set up by Unger, gave Bishop Canevin a 2-0 after one period.

In the second, Bishop Canevin out-shot Hampton 21-5 and had six tries with a man advantage, which led to two more goals. Walsh set a pass across the slot to Unger on the far post, who buried it past Cameron Raidna to make it 3-0. It was Unger’s turn to set up Alec Bosnic for the next goal, going from the far to near post. Bosnic continued his success on the power play, with seven goals overall coming with the extra skater.

Unger and Garrett Godlewski gave Bishop Canevin a 6-0 lead with third period tallies. Hampton’s Zachery Kosick ended the shutout on a breakaway goal with 1:48 left. Ross Langford hit the score sheet for the Crusaders 43 seconds later as he continued to tap away at a loose puck and got it across the goal line.

Raidna saw 39 shots, stopping 32. Nikita Meskin wasn’t tested often, stopping 14-of-15 shots to get his 22nd victory of the season. Bishop Canevin is now 22-2 overall. Hampton falls to 14-9-1 to end the season.

Bladerunners Scoring Summary:
Bishop Canevin Crusaders : 2 – 2 – 3 = 7  (39 shots)
Hampton Talbots : 0 – 0  – 1 = 1  (15 shots)

First Period:
9:20 – BC – Blaine Adams (shorthanded) (unassisted) 
12:55 – BC – Brennen Adams (power play) (Randy Unger)

Second Period:  
6:47 – BC – Unger (power play) (Liam Walsh, Alec Bosnic) 
10:08 – BC – Bosnic (power play) (Unger)

Third Period: 
7:26 – BC – Unger (Walsh)
10:45 – BC – Garrett Godlewski (Walsh,Unger)
15:12 – H – Zachery Kosick (Justin Weinbrenner)
15:55 – BC – Ross Langford (Thomas Krivak)

Power Plays:
Bishop Canevin 3 of 8
Hampton 0-3

Mount Lebanon Rec Center Play Of The Game: Blaine Adams’ shorthanded goal in the first period.

Management Science Associates Three Stars:
3:  Alec Bosnic of Bishop Canevin with a goal and an assist
2:  Randy Unger of Bishop Canevin with two goals and three assists
1:  Liam Walsh of Bishop Canevin with three assists.

Tags: Armstrong, Bishop Canevin, Erie Cathedral Prep, Hampton