PIHL Penguins Cup Semifinals Wednesday Recaps

By: Bruce Markey
Thursday, March 22, 2012 | 12:17 AM

The PIHL Penguins Cup Semifinals concluded Wednesday night with Class AAA taking center stage. South Hills rivals Bethel Park and Peters Township both rose to the occasion and eliminated the top two seeds at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Complex. Here are recaps from both games.

Bethel Park Black Hawks 3 – Penn-Trafford Warriors 2
By Mark Schaas

Zach Volser's goal almost six minutes into the third period broke a one-all tie and Jacob Worcester tapped home a rebound five minutes later to send the Bethel Park Blackhawks back to the Class AAA Penguins Cup Championship Game on Saturday night with a 3-2 victory over the number one seeded Penn-Trafford Warriors at the RMU Island Sports Center.

It wasn't easy for the Blackhawks, who had to survive a Dan Maier goal with 2:37 left to cut the lead back to one and a furious rush in the final minute by the Warriors, but goalie Alex Blum held firm to keep the dream alive for Bethel Park, who took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Jacob Brown wrister, set up by a steal by Dan Yost, just under five minutes into the contest. The Blackhawks could have had a 2-0 lead but Derek Lesnak could not find an open net from the doorstep.

Penn-Trafford tied the game at 1 at 9:43 of the first, Maier scored his first of two goals on a breakaway, the goal came on the only shot allowed by Bethel Park in the opening period.

Both teams had great opportunities in the second period. Michael Cheswick, the Penn-Trafford goalie, got help from both the left and right posts on consecutive shots to keep the game knotted at one. The Warriors had three great scoring chances, Conlan Sodrosky had a wide open net, but he was hooked by Jacob Brown, Penn-Trafford could not capitalize on the minor penalty.

Maier took a breakaway with about 6:30 remaining in the second, but fired high over Alex Blum, the Warriors got another shot four minutes later, but Ryan Schugt could not put a rebound past the Blackhawks goalie.

Penn-Trafford opened the third period on the power-play with Jones off for illegal head contact. The Warriors had some great chances, but the Blackhawks killed the penalty and actually had more shots shorthanded. Following the Volser goal, Maier and Sodrosky both had scoring chances but Blum held firm in the pileup in front of his net.

There were only five power play chances, Bethel Park was 0-3, Penn Trafford 0-2. The sixth seeded Blackhawks go to 17-7-1 overall and have won fourteen straight games. The Warriors end the season at 20-3-1.

Score by Periods
Penn-Trafford Warriors 1 0 1 = 2
Bethel Park Blackhawks 1 0 2 = 3

Bladerunners Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
BP: James Brown (Dan Yost/Dylan Jones) 4:50
P-T: Dan Maier (unassisted) 9:43
2nd Period:
No Scoring
3rd Period:
BP: Zach Volzer (Yost) 5:57
BP: Jacob Worcester (Brown) 11:00
PT: Maier (2) (Conlan Sodrosky/Daniel Petrovay) 12:23

Shots on Goal:
Penn-Trafford Warriors 1 14 12 = 27
Bethel Park Blackhawks 10 4 6 = 20

First Niagara Bank Three Stars:
Third Star: Daniel Meier of Penn Trafford with two goals
Second Star: Alex Blum of Bethel Park made 25 saves
First Star: Jacob Brown of Bethel Park with a goal and an assist

Mount Lebanon Ice Arena Play of the Game: 
Zach Volser's goal that broke a 1-all tie in the third period.

Peters Township Indians 6 – Canon-McMillan Big Macs 4
By Mark Schaas

In a game that saw four goals scored in a 71 second span in the opening period, the fifth seeded Peters Township Indians upset the second seeded Canon McMillan Big Macs in the PIHL Penguins Cup Class AAA semifinals by a 6-4 count.

Davon Groom notched a hat trick for the Indians, getting the first two goals, the first coming 1:27 into the game. He had his second at the 8:39 mark. That started the scoring spree, Canon-Mac scoring just 31 seconds later on the power play with Taylor Cox in the box, Zach McKown getting the goal to cut the lead to one. That lasted twenty seconds as Patrick Hannan ripped a rebound from Cole Snyder and beat Ryan Christian.

Cox took his second penalty of the period for illegal head contact eight seconds after the Hannan goal. 

The Big Macs took advantage again, James Oddi was set up by McKown to cut the lead again to one. McKown took a cross-checking penalty late in the period, Trevor Recktenwald with the power play tally to make it 4-2 after one.

Anthony Tonkovich, who was robbed by Brian Baker, twenty seconds into the game, scored just over two minutes into the second to again cut the lead to one. Baker made some wonderful saves in the period, keeping the Big Macs from tying the game. The Indians got a goal from Hannan as Recktenwald took the puck to the net, Hannan took the pass and ripped it high over Christian to put the Indians up 5-3 after two.

Peters Township thought they salted the game away as Groom sent a wrister from the far half wall on the power play to make it 6-3. Tonkovich got his second goal of the game 42 seconds, putting the Big Macs down by two, Canon-Mac pulled the goalie and thought they scored with 1:18 remaining, Tonkovich blasted a shot from center ice past Baker, but the Big Macs were ruled offsides.

Peters is now 16-5-3 while Canon-McMillan's season ends at 20-4.

The Big Macs played without Alexander Baskakov for the second straight game. He was not eligible to play with visa issues.

Score by Periods:
Peters Township Indians 4 1 1 = 6
Canon McMillan Big Macs 2 1 1 = 4

Bladerunners Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
Peters Twp: Davan Groom (Taylor Cox/Benny Zalewski) 1:27
Peters Twp: Groom (2) (David Rex/Cox) 8:39
CM: Zachery McKown (unassisted) PPG 9:10
Peters Twp: Patrick Hannan (Cole Snyder) 9:30
CM: James Oddi (McKown) PPG 9:50
Peters Twp: Trevor Recktenwald (Josef Kittleberger) PPG 14:11
2nd Period:
CM: Anthony Tonkovich (Zach Swink) 2:15
Peters: Hannan (2) (Recktenwald) 11:27
3rd Period:
Peters: Groom (3) (unassisted) PPG 12:16
CM: Anthony Tonkovich (2) (unassisted) 12:58

First Niagara Bank Three Stars:
Third Star: Anthony Tonkovich of Canon Mac with 2 goals
Second Star: Patrick Hannan of Peters Township with 2 goals
First Star: Davan Groom of Peters Township with the hat trick

Mount Lebanon Ice Arena Play of the Game:
Brian Baker's save on Anthony Tonkovich just twenty seconds into the game.

Tags: Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan