Announcement
2007 St Margaret Fall Face-Off Game Summaries and Highlights
15th Annual St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off
Invitations are now being issued to participate in a 16-team showcase of the top Varsity high school teams from Western Pennsylvania in the Premier Interscholastic Pre-Season tournament. The 15th Annual St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off will host the best teams in Western Pennsylvania for the FFO Championship Director’s Cup, that will be dedictaed for this year's event. This year’s field will include defending Fall Face-Off Champions Bethel Park Blackhawks, the 2007 Pennsylvania Class AAA Champions North Allegheny Tigers and the 2007 Pennsylvania Class AA Champions Pine Richland Rams.
The philosophy of the St Margaret Foundation Fall Face-Off is to challenge top-level Varsity teams, who do not face each other during the regular season to compete at the same level. Each team is guaranteed three divisional games. The top teams from each bracket will advance into the medal round. The tournament will be played on two rinks in prime time and the St Margaret Fall Face-Off Final will be held on October 11th. The Pa Hockey Network plans to Webcast the event including a pre-tournament preview, the 1st Annual Skills Competition, the Medal Round Semi-Finals and Finals.
The schedule for the 15th Annual Tournament will be posted soon and we have another great field fot this years event including:
Thursday October 12th
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FINAL |
#1~Mars | 0 | #3 ~ North Allegheny | 2 |
North Allegheny blanks Mars to capture 5th St Margaret FFO title
HARMARVILLE –
North Allegheny has a long tradition of success in the St Margaret Fall Face-Off Tournament and prior to this season had won 4 championships including an unprecedented 8 trips the Finals in 14 years. This year’s appearance makes six in a row for the Tigers and is really a sign of the success of the program over those years. Head Coach Jimmy Black would like to start another tradition at NA that started in April at the Ice Works in Philly when North Allegheny won its first Class AAA State Championship over Holy Ghost Prep after knocking on the door of the Penguins Cup for two years and finally overcoming Bethel Park at the Mellon Arena in the spring. The Tiger program is just getting stronger and that comes with winning, it’s a nice habit to get used to as NA displayed by dispatching Plum and Class AA wannabe Franklin Regional with two ticks left on the clock to advance against Mt Lebanon in the semis. The Semi-Final matchup between the last two Pennsylvania Champions went Double OT with NA edging Lebo in the 5 player shootout 2-1. The matchup also feature Team Pittsburgh goaltenders Lebo’s Robbie Behling and NA’s Max Richards, who I consider the top two returning goaltenders in the State.
Mars is in their 2nd St Margaret Fall Face-Off and again advanced into the Semi-Finals for the second year in a row. In last season’s tournament, the Planets lost to North Allegheny, which is not bad for a Class A school, which is quickly becoming a power due to the economic growth in the Mars/Adams Township/Seven Fields area. Head Coach Tim Coleman has some lofty aspirations for the Planets mainly to advance one more step to the Class A Penguins Cup in March and challenge for a State Championship, which has eluded the Mars program. Coleman has called on former Penn State teammate Lynn Sipe to assist him, who held the Class AAA Scoring record in Western Pennsylvania for 14 years while playing at North Catholic [also a former teammate of Jimmy Black] until it was shattered by Gateway’s and now Plum Assistant Coach Mike Sargo in 1996. The Planets defeated Upper St Clair, Peters Twp and neighbor Class AA State Champs Pine Richland all by one goal including I am sure what will be a memorable nine player shootout over the high powered Rams on Tuesday. In the Semis, Mars knocked an improved Shaler team 3-1 to gain a spot in the finals.
Another great goaltending matchup between Max Richards of NA and Greg Lewis or Mars, who yielded just 7 goals in 4 games and has been brilliant over the two years of play for Mars. In a fast paced first period, the game was scoreless with the Planets outshooting the Tigers 8-7.
While the teams continued to try to limit scoring chances in the second period, Mars had the better of the play in the period with 10 shots to NA’s 6, but is was Max Richards, who came up big robbing Jake Robash on a divings stop at 3:58 and then again with 2:38 to play in the middle period as the game headed to period number three still scoreless.
North Allegheny went on the power play at 13:01, but could not beat Greg Lewis. The game opened up a little in the third period and NA began to dominate outshooting Mars 13-5. The turning point came when Mars had a great chance as Jake Robash stole the puck from the Tiger defense and was in alone, but Max Richards made the save at 8:03. Just 15 seconds later, North Allegheny finally broke through as Ryan Worsena fought off the Mars defenseman and scored on a Josh Herbert rebound to give NA a 1-0 lead at 7:48. Lewis kept the Planets within one with a stellar save on Thomas Gillespie at 6:20. Mars went on the power play with 2:39 to go, but the Tiger defense stiffened and Patrick Moynihan added an empty netter with 29 seconds to go to give North Allegheny a 2-0 victory over Mars and their 5th St Margaret Fall Face-Off Championship. Max Richards with 23 saves earned the shutout and was named the recipient of the Arthur Scully award for the Most Valuable Player named after the Tournament’s Founder, who was in attendance to present the award.
For a complete Tournament Wrap-Up, please visit the Pa Hockey Website at www.pahockey.net and also visit the St Margaret Fall Face-Off Website at http://eteamz.active.com/pahockey/index.cfm?league=604905&subsite=4200813 for the Tournament and Event History.
| SEMI | #1~Mars | 3 | #4 ~ Shaler | 1 |
Highlights: Mars captured the # 1 seed with a shootout victory over Mt Lebanon. Shaler opened up a 1-0 lead on a goal by Eric Fichter early in the first period. Jake Takach, Jake Robash and Michael Heltman scored for the Planets to capture a 3-1 victory and a trip to the St Margaret Fall Face-Off Final. Shaler’s Andy Celender stopped 27 of 30 shots for the Titans.
| SEMI | #2~Mt Lebanon | 3 | #3 ~ North Allegheny | 4 | SO |
Highlights: North Allegheny and Mt Lebanon are the owners of the past two Pennsylvania State AAA Championships and the current owners of the two best goaltenders in the State in the Tiger’s Max Richards and Blue Devils Robbie Behling, who helped lead Team Pittsburgh to a National Championship in the Chicago Showcase in April. In a see-saw battle Lebo and NA battled three regulation periods and two overtimes battling to a 3-3 tie. Brandon Bianco, James Greeno and Rob Simcik scored for Lebo, while Ryan Worsena, Patrick Moynihan and Dylan Rohar scored for NA. The game went into a shootout and the 6th shooter in Sudden Death as Ryan Worsena scored to give the Tigers a trip to the finals.
| FINAL | #1~Mars | 0 | #3 ~ North Allegheny | 2 |
***GAME SUMMARY TO BE POSTED SOON****
Monday October 8th
| A | Seneca Valley | 1 | Shaler | 2 |
Highlights: Shaler and Seneca Valley traded goals in the opening period from the Raiders Logan Pfeffer and Titans Doug Zalewski. The Titans pulled out a dramatic win as Jesse Grossman intercepted a pass and beat SV goaltender Scott Van Horn and the buzzer with :001 seconds left on the clock to give Shaler a 2-1 victory.
| B | Fox Chapel | 5 | Hampton | 3 |
Highlights: The Foxes scored twice in the 3rd period to break open a tight 3-2 contest with a 5-3 win over the Talbots. Jared Bayer scored twice for Fox Chapel as the Foxes outshot Hampton 58-15.
| C | Peters Township | 1 | Pine-Richland | 10 |
| D | Franklin Regional | 3 | Plum | 2 |
Highlights: In a tremendous goaltending dual between the Mustangs John Bronder and Panthers James Orr, the two East rivals battle to a 2-2 tie through regulation and overtime on goals from Plum’s Anthony DaDamo and Cody Cenci and Franklin’s Chad White and John Cecere [Penalty Shot]. With the teams tied 1-1 in the shootout, FR’s Chad White scored the game winner on the 8th shooter to give the Panthers a heartstopping 3-2 win.
| A | Bethel Park | 7 | Thomas Jefferson | 0 |
Highlights: The defending Fall Face Off Champions started defense of their title with an impressive 7-0 whipping of Thomas Jefferson. Chris Mandia scored twice and Matt Quigley added a goal and three assists for the Hawks.
| B | Central Catholic | 1 | Mt. Lebanon | 2 |
Highlights: Mt Lebanon goaltender Robbie Behling yielded a goal to CC’s Renars Rukmanis in the opening minute of the game. The Blue Devils rallied in the 3rd period as Jon Wilen scored to tie the game and Chris Cummings notched the game winner with 10:00 to play in the 3rd period.
| C | Mars | 2 | Upper St. Clair | 1 |
Highlights: Mars defeated Upper St Clair a year ago in the Fall Face-Off and did it again with a 2-1 victory over the Panthers. The Planet’s Ian Finney and Jake Robash scored to give Mars a lead through two periods and goaltender Greg Lewis turned away 20 of 21 shots. Kevin Kelly scored the lone goal for the Panthers.
| D | North Allegheny | 3 | North Hills | 4 |
Highlights: Rivalries are hard to come by these days and even harder to get schedule during the regular season for some teams. North Hills came in to the FFO Opener with upset on their mind and defeated the defending Pennsylvania AAA Champions 4-3.North Hills Dan Stein’s blast with 1:13 to go in the game provided the margin of victory and his second goal of the hockey game. Josh Herbert scored twice for the Tigers of NA.
Tuesday October 9th|
C |
Pine-Richland | 3 | Mars | 4 |
Highlights: Mars outlasted rival neighbor Pine Richland for three periods, an overtime and a 9-player shootout to win 4-3. Ian Finney scored twice and Mike Heltman added another for the Planets, while Brandon Saad, George Saad and Dylan Trombetta scored for the Rams. Mars goaltender Greg Lewis was spectacular turning aside 42 PR shots and several chances during the shootout. The Planet’s Jake Takach scored the game winner for the Planets to end the marathon.
B |
Central Catholic |
1 | Fox Chapel | 3 |
Highlights: Fox Chapel raced to a 3-0 lead on goals by Jacob Grumski, Colin Cheng and Jack Stump and goalltender Rich Gerber turned aside 19 of 20 Vikings shots. Alex Galbraith scored the lone goal for Central.
A |
Seneca Valley |
4 | Bethel Park | 2 |
Highlights: Seneca’s Taylor Wagner scored with 5:53 remaining in the 3rd period to give the Raiders the lead and the Raiders held off the Bethel Park attack and added an empty netter for a 4-2 win.
|
D |
Plum | 2 | North Allegheny | 7 |
|
C |
Upper St. Clair | 5 | Peters Township | 3 |
Highlights: Down 3-2 entering the 3rd period, Upper St Clair scored three unanswered goals fo a 5-3 victory. Tim Graulty and James Joyce scored a pair each for the Panthers.
|
B |
Mt. Lebanon | 7 | Hampton | 0 |
Highlights: Mt Lebanon’s Brandon Bianco scored two goals and added two assists as the Blue Devils wiped out the Talbots 7-0. Travis Lisowski stopped 12 shots to earn the shutout for Lebo.
A |
Shaler |
5 | Thomas Jefferson | 7 |
Highlights: Shaler raced out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Tyler Schreiber and Drew Martz. Thomas Jefferson exploded for the next 7 of 8 goals to secure a 7-5 victory. AJ Parkinson notched the hat trick for the Jaguars.
|
D |
Franklin Regional | 2 | North Hills | 0 |
Highlights: Franklin Regional scored goals by Johnny Cecere and Stephen Shirk for a hard fought 2-0 victory. The Panther’s Anthony Livecchi stopped all 25 North Hills shots.
Wednesday October 10th
|
D |
North Hills | 3 | Plum | 2 |
Highlights: North Hills finished the FFO with a 2nd win by defeating Plum 3-2. Dan Stein, Ben Grom and Derek Belke scored for the Indians and Cody Cenci and Vinnie Somma scored for the Mustangs.
|
D |
North Allegheny | 4 | Franklin Regional | 3 |
Highlights: North Allegheny need to win to advance to the Semi-Finals of the FFO and had to rally to do so. Franklin Regional’s Patrick Coyne scored the hat trick and James Orr turned aside 31 shots as the Panthers built a 3-2 lead early in the 3rd period. NA’s Brady Waldschmidt scored the tying goal and Dylan Rohar scored the game winner on a laser shot with just :02 to go in regulation to give the Tigers a heartstopping 4-3 win and advance to the Semi-Finals.
|
C |
Mars | 2 | Peters Township | 1 |
Highlights: The Planets completed a perfect record at 3-0 and win their bracket by defeating Peter Twp 2-1. Jake Takach and Michael Heltman scored for the Planets.
|
C |
Pine-Richland | 8 | Upper St. Clair | 2 |
Highlights: Pine Richland continued to look impressive in their final game of the 2007 FFO with an 8-2 spanking of Upper St Clair. Bryan Watt and Dylan Trombetta scored a pair of goals apiece to lead the offensive attack.
|
B |
Mt. Lebanon | 4 | Fox Chapel | 2 |
Highlights: Mt Lebanon and Fox Chapel entered the contest undefeated with the winner advancing to the Meadl Round of the FFO. Chris Cummings scored twice and Michael Wagner and Christopher Ford added goals to lead the Blue Devils. Andrew McCoy and Greg Lorenz scored for the Foxes.
|
B |
Hampton | 2 | Central Catholic | 4 |
Highlights: Central Catholic scored three unanswered goals to paste Hampton 4-2.
Alex Galbraith scored twice and Ranars Rukmanis and John Wroblewski added scores for the Vikings. Jason Bateman scored both goals for the Talbots.
|
A |
Bethel Park | 2 | Shaler | 3 |
Highlights: Shaler has not defeated Bethel Park in a long time in hockey, but came through with a solid effort resulting in a 3-2 victory and a trip to the FFO Semi-Finals. Drew Martz, Jesse Grossman and Zac Lynch scored for the Titans and Andy Cellender stopped 24 BP shots for the win. Ken Loeffler and Nick Machi scored for the Hawks.
