Central Region

Indiana shows depth and Kittanning lookin for Finals berth ! Kittanning vs South Park The Penguin Cup playoffs of 2001 featured many classic games that shaped the outcome of several clubs. The South Park / Kittanning match-up was a wild affair at the Ice Castle which saw the Eagles hold of a furious challenge from Kittanning to move on to the Penguin Cup Semi-Finals. Six months removed from that contest, the 2001-2002 clubs locked up in a key Kittanning Invitational match-up at the Belmont. South Park was hit hard by graduation while the Wildcats feature some promising youngsters as both teams are heading to the start of the regular season. Dustin Keller and Luke Heller scored twice and Adam Toy turned back several South Park chances to lead Kittanning to a 7-5 victory and an opportunity to earn a berth in the finals with a victory over McDowell. The Eagles were paced by Justin Juha and John Holl, who picked up a goal and an assist apiece. Indiana vs Archbishop Carroll This matchup featured the two time defending Flyers Cup champions against a re-tooled Indiana squad with a lot of depth looking to repeat as Kittanning Invitational champions. The Indians would line up without Nicko Speilmann, Mike Lady, Mike Nesper and super freshman Casey Haines and this game would answer the depth and character question for coach Ron Hellen. The Patriots struck first as Stefan Teece scored with four minutes into the first. The Indians answered with a early in the 2nd as Clint Pizarchuk and Dane Bettenazzi scored a minute apart to give the Indians a 2-1 lead. Cory Schaffer extended the Indiana lead to 3-1 four minutes into the 3rd. Three goals would be enough as sub goaltender Mike Mentch stoned the Patriots on several point blank opportunities including a great glove save with a little over 90 seconds remaining in a 3-2 game to perserve the victory and a date in Sunday's final. Latrobe vs Butler A very improved Butler team battled Latrobe to a scoreles tie in a game that featured fine goaltending by both Matt Bloom of Latrobe and Eric Laska of Butler. Bloom made several spectacular saves in turning away 21 Butler shots.