PIHL High School Hockey Notebook – 01/09/2012

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, January 9, 2012 | 2:47 PM

Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook,” your weekly companion to “The PIHL Power Play” on the MSA Sports Network. This week, Bethel Park, Plum, Bishop McCort and Blackhawk are among the teams “Melting the Ice” while the “Scoreboard Watch” includes recaps of the Outdoor Charity Series doubleheader played on Friday night.

PIHL CLASS AAA:

MELTING THE ICE

Canon-McMillan remains perfect in Section 1 at 12-0-0 … Bethel Park has points in two straight in the quest for .500 … North Allegheny leads Section 2 with six straight wins … McDowell is smoking with a hat trick of victories … Norwin is heating up with points in its last six contests.

SCOREBOARD WATCH

1/5/12 – Section 1: Bethel Park 5, Peters Township 1 … This could be the start of the Black Hawks’ traditional second-half surge … Bethel exploded for three goals in the first … Alex Debolt got Peters on the board while shorthanded early in the second, but two more BP goals before the Zamboni made its appearance closed this one out … Dan Yost had a five-point night (2 G, 3 A), Derek Lesnak scored one of two power play goals while adding two assists, and Jacob Worcester gets credit for the winner.

1/6/12 – Non-section: Mount Lebanon 5, Pittsburgh Central Catholic 1 … The Blue Devils were impressive in the Outdoor Charity Series at South Park with three goals on special teams … Tom Horn opened the scoring shorthanded at 2:29 of the first, and Jason Hartman would net the winner 6:25 later … James Phillips registered another shorthanded tally for the only goal of the second, and Horn would add a power play goal early in the third … Anthony Parrucci got the Vikings on the board shortly thereafter before Trevor Nelson closed out the scoring at 11:56 … Horn finished with four points (2 G, 2 A) while Michael Dorazio made 20 saves.

PIHL CLASS AA:

MELTING THE ICE

West Allegheny’s seven-game winning streak has the Indians running away with Section 1 … Bishop Canevin and Erie Cathedral Prep are tied for first in Section 2 with four and six-gamers respectively … Plum has a precarious hold on first place in Section 4 thanks to two consecutive victories.

SCOREBOARD WATCH

1/2/12 – Section 2: Erie Cathedral Prep 5, Chartiers Valley 1 … The Colts suffered a second straight loss while the Ramblers cemented their place as a legitimate contender in Class AA … Erie led 2-0 after one before CV struck early in the second, but Prep led 4-1 after two and ended the scoring at 5:27 of the third … Mitch Campbell scored twice, including the winner, Cameron Zbrzeznj added three points (1 G, 2 A) and Trey Brown stopped 18 shots.

1/2/12 – Section 4: Pine-Richland 3, Latrobe 2 … The Rams inch closer to .500 and avenge a 1-0 loss suffered right before Christmas … After a scoreless first, PR grabbed a 2-0 lead at 9:12 of the second with two power play goals … The Wildcats scored with the man advantage themselves before the intermission before tying it at 4:24 of the third … Kyle Cunningham prevented overtime by scoring with just 1:18 left on the clock … Cunningham also had an assist while Clint Loney matched his output (1 G, 1 A) … Chase Takacs made 21 saves in the win while Shane Brudnok stopped 24 shots for Latrobe.

PIHL CLASS A:

MELTING THE ICE

Mars and Quaker Valley continue to try and outduel each other in Section 2 with a perfect 9-0-0 start for the Planets and an eight-game winning streak for the Quakers … Bishop McCort has won back-to-back contests after a 0-8-0 start … Hampton continues to own Section 4 with a recent hat trick of victories.

SCOREBOARD WATCH

1/5/12 – Section 3: Kittanning 6, Freeport 3 … The Wildcats snapped a three-game point streak for the Yellowjackets and took at least temporary possession of second place in the section standings … Freeport actually led 1-0 after one and 2-1 at 4:43 of the second, but it was 3-2 Kittanning by intermission with the Wildcats scoring five unanswered before the ‘Jackets ended the scoring late in the third … Heinz Koster was the star of the show with four goals, including two on special teams (1 PP, 1 SH) … Christian Miller scored twice, once shorthanded and then for the win, and added one assist … Cameron Langham stopped 25 shots to earn the victory.

1/6/11 – Non-section: Quaker Valley 4, Westmont Hilltop 2 … The 2012 PIHL Outdoor Charity Series started with this close contest at South Park … The Quakers took the early 1-0 lead, but the Hilltoppers tied it late in the first before taking a 2-1 advantage midway through the second … The QV power play took over in the third, though, and an empty-netter closed out the scoring … Ryan Dickson and John Pilewicz each scored twice, with Pilewicz netting the winner, and Jayson Lottes collected two assists … Zach Nedrewski (1 G, 1 A) and Zak Kindya (2 A) each had two points in the losing effort … Doug Revak made 19 saves to earn the victory while Adam Ayre turned aside 25 shots.

PIHL OPEN CLASS:

MELTING THE ICE

In the Nailers Cup bracket, Morgantown and John Marshall remain hot in Section 1 with winning streaks of five and four games respectively … Blackhawk is clawing its way toward .500 with points in two straight … In the Chiefs Cup bracket, Ford City is looking for separation from Indiana in Section 3 with a six-pack of consecutive victories … Greensburg Salem continues to dominate Section 4 with four straight decisions, but Baldwin is trying to keep things interesting with a five-gamer at present.

SCOREBOARD WATCH

1/2/12 – Section 1: Wheeling Park 7, Wheeling Central Catholic 4 … The Patriots have won the first two games of the season series and will look to finish the sweep tomorrow night … Wheeling Park led 3-1 after one and 6-2 after two … Central scored twice midway through the third, but Dominik Kohel would add the empty-netter at 14:43 to seal the deal … Nicco Catalano scored the winner shorthanded while adding a power play goal and one assist … The Maroon Knights got a goal and assist each from Anthony Tighe, Parker Henry and Harry Slyder.

1/4/12 – Section 3: Ford City 4, Indiana 1 … The Sabers complete a three-game sweep of the season series … Jesse Valasek started the scoring at 6:43 of the first period, and it stayed 1-0 until 4:04 of the third when Domenic DiSanti netted the winner … Ford City would add two more goals in the next 2:41 to seal the victory … Patrick Hunter scored for the Indians with 2:42 left to prevent the shutout … Jesse Valasek added two assists while brother Kevin also had a three-point night (1 G, 2 A) … Austin Moody stopped 30 shots in the losing effort.

UPCOMING MSA BROADCASTS

1/9/12 – Class AAA – Section 4: Penn-Trafford @ Norwin … This could be a crucial game in the Section 4 race as the Knights only trail the Warriors by four points at the moment … Penn-Trafford won the previous meeting 7-6 in a wild overtime affair … Dan Petrovay got the winner along with two assists … Matt Burger and Dean Demartino each scored twice and Conlan Sodrosky set up five goals in the winning effort … Dan Merz led Norwin with five points (2 G, 3 A) while Tim Palmer netted two power play goals … Sodrosky leads PT with 19 assists and 31 points while Dan Maier is tops in goals (21), power play goals (7) and shorthanded markers (4) … Merz is pacing Norwin with 14 goals, 14 assists and 28 points … The puck drops at 6:30 PM with Matt Vandriak and Josh Rowntree on the call.

1/9/12 – Class AA – Non-section: Pine-Richland @ Moon … The Rams won the previous meeting by a 6-3 count … Ryan Cole (2 G, 1 PP, 2 A) and Nicholas Jenkins (PPG, 2 A) starred for PR while Jake Coleman (1 G, 2 A), Alec Coleman (PPG, 1 A) and Josh Kelly (PPG, A) produced for the Tigers … Chase Takacs also made 31 saves in the win … Ryan Cole leads Pine-Richland with 11 assists and 14 points while Scott McAliney is tops with nine goals, including six on the power play … Alec Coleman is pacing Moon in goals (9), power play tallies (4) and points (14) … The puck drops at 7:30 PM with Steve Nagler and Brandon Rebel on the call.

1/12/12 – Open Class – Section 2: Harbor Creek @ Quigley … Quigley leads the league with 93 goals and owns the best record in the Nailers Cup bracket … Doug Simon and Nicholas Santiago pack a solid one-two punch with a combined 46 goals, eight of them on the power play, and 82 points … Harbor Creek is looking to snap a two-game skid … The Huskies have gotten 30 points apiece from Nick Jenkins (16 G, 14 A) and Josh Green (13 G, 17 A), including seven combined man advantage markers .. The Spartans took the initial meeting in the season opener by a 7-1 count … Simon scored five times, twice on the power play, while Santiago and Troy Emig each had four assists … Preston Charlton stopped 27 shots in the winning effort … The puck drops at 8:45 PM with Adam Hoerner and Mike Azadian on the call.

THEY SAID IT:

“The schedule has been a little unkind. We hit a pretty tough stretch, and we’re going through some growing pains. When you’re playing teams like Mars and Quaker Valley, they’re a little unforgiving as far as that stuff is concerned. But I think going into the second half of the season, the one thing that we know very well is nobody is handing out a trophy in December or January. It’s who is hitting their stride in March. I think we have an opportunity to come through the next five or six games of our schedule and get ourselves back on track. Then we hit Mars again in February and send a little message to let them know where we are.” – Serra Catholic head coach Brian Boehm on his team’s struggles before the holiday break

That wraps up this edition of “PIHL Notebook,” but check back every Monday from now through March for the most current news from around the league. First, though, Adam Hoerner and Josh Rowntree host another episode of “The PIHL Power Play” on Wednesday night at 8:00. Joining us this week will be Mount Lebanon coach Dave Hornack to discuss his team’s outdoor victory on Friday night. Plus, Erie Cathedral Prep forward Chris Coombs will check in to remind everyone about the “other” team in Section 2-AA. The exclusive home for the 2012 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!

Tags: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Bishop Canevin, Bishop McCort, Blackhawk, Canon-McMillan, Erie Cathedral Prep, Erie McDowell, Ford City, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Indiana, John Marshall (WV), Kittanning, West Allegheny, Wheeling Park