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ROSTRAVER - The 1998 Penguin Cup final between Thomas Jefferson and Peters Township was a defining moment in the hockey programs of both clubs. Coach Don Powell's Jaguars went on to win three consecutive state championships after defeating the Indians in that game. For Peters, it marked the furthest that any PT team had ever advanced in the Penguin Cup playoffs, until this years edition of the Indians rolled out, who are favored by many to go all the way. Mark Cooper knows better and he knew his squad would face a Jaguar team looking to put a blemish on PT's perfect record. Brandon Rubeo gave Peters a quick start at 14:21 tipping a shot from the point past Dan Hartman. Thomas Jefferson came right back and had several great chances and apparantly tied the game at 12:49 as a shot from Tony Mayotte beat Kittleberger, but the goal never went in and was waived off and it remained 1-0. Just 41 seconds later, Matt Schwartz found a wide open Christian Hanson in the slot, who deked Hartman and made it 2-0. Kyle Kittleberger, showed why he is consider one of Western Pa's top goaltenders as he stopped Wade Rhodes from in front and then made a spectacular save on Tony Mayotte after a 2 on 1 with 39 seconds remaining in the first. On to the second as Matt Monheim slipped a backhand on Kittleberger and Brandon School, while on his knees, jambed it home to cut the lead to 2-1 and all the sudden the Jaguars had new life at 12:52. That was shortlived as Mike Papciak capitalized on a TJ giveaway and went upstairs on Hartman to make it 3-1. Then at 10:27, Sam Mack extended the lead to 4-1 as he scored on the rebound. Kittleberger continued his brilliant goaltending as he robbed Daryl Nath from point blank range at the 10 minute mark and continued to hold the Jaguars off the board into the final period. Brandon School scored with 4:24 remaining on a great feed from Luke Warwarniak to give TJ a chance at 4-2. Then the Jaguars got the power play with a little over two minutes to go and came close hitting the post with 50 seconds left. But Christian Hanson closed out the Jaguars with an empty netter with 36 seconds left and a 5-2 final. Peters outshot TJ 40-38.

HARMARVILLE - Deer Lakes Coach Al Pawloski knows his team must win three of its last four to ensure a playoff berth in the upcoming Class A playoffs. The first task at hand would be a very high scoring # 4 ranked Freeport squad, who can light up the lamp and has scored 6 or more goals in eight games this season. Early on was a goaltending dual between Deer Lake's Richard Andemark and Freeport's Eric Gaworski. Andemark stopped Mike Bender twice from in close at 10:39 and 5:39, while Gawroski stoned the Lancers high scorers McIntyre and DiSanti on key scoring opportunities. Then Freeport's scoring machine freshman Nick DeCroo, who is a notable omission from the Class A PIHL all-star roster, went to work as he scooped up a Ryan Janoski rebound and shoveled past Andemark at 4:31 to give Freeport a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Deer Lakes fought back and tied the game on a goal by Tim Paul at 12:53. The Yellow Jackets answered in a big way 10 seconds later as Ben Lowry scored to put them back on top. Then building on the momentum, DeCroo scored again at 11:54 to begin a Freeport onslaught. Scott Gallagher scored on a beautiful shot upstairs at 3:05 on a Justin Gaworski feed to the slot. Then DeCroo took a nice pass from Gallagher and slipped a backhander past Andemark to make it 5-1 and complete the hat trick. Not to be outdone, DeCroo scored a nifty goal by banking his own pass off the goal around the Deer Lakes defender and backhanded a shot past Andemark on the short side for his fourth goal and to cap off a five goal Freeport second period. The Yellow Jackets outshot Deer Lakes 14-4 in the middle frame. Mike Bender closed out the scoring early in the third period and Freeport went on to a 7-1 victory. The win sets up a huge matchup with # 1 ranked Mars Thursday night at the Belmont Ice Complex.

Pa Hockey has released the much anticipated ....mouth watering ....and true blue list of the 2nd Annual Top 25 Players of Western Pa as chosen by our esteemed panel of hockey experts ! Also included: > Top 5 fans of Interscholastic Hockey in > Top 5 Future Young Studs (Freshman) > Top 7 Coaching Performances Only on Pa Hockey !

NEVILLE ISLAND - Upper St Clair has had a roller coaster season and head coach Warren Young's squad knew it had to come up big against a North Hills squad which has struggled of late. The Indians have not put the puck in the net which has led to a slump. David Andrews of USC looked to add to the North Hills frustration as the Panther goaltender thwarted some early chances by controlling his rebounds. Then the Panthers got the break they needed as Justin Lloyd found a seam in the Indian defense and beat Casey Dudt-Mulzet at 8:31 to give USC a 1-0 lead. North Hills came right back as Jake Congalton was part of a two on one and while the USC defender covered the back side, Andrews made the save against Congalton to preserve a one goal advantage at 7:04. Then it was Lloyd again on the off wing ring a wrister off the far post and Brandon Burns collected the rebound and fired it into an empty net to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Now in a hole, the Indians received several power plays chances throughout the 2nd and 3rd period, but Andrews came up with several key stops to preserve the shutout and give Upper St Clair a huge 2-0 victory and new life in the quest for the 12th and final PIHL AAA playoff spot.

Which Western Pa Hockey Schools have won the most division titles since 1971 Check out the champs of the PIHL, WPIHL, LKSHL and SHIHL on Pa Hockey History !