Central Bucks West Bucks

MONROEVILLE - Two weeks ago, Franklin Regional had only one win to its credit and four losses to start the season. The Panthers looked like they would fall back to Gateway and Plum. What a difference a couple of weeks has made. Gateway has stumbled of late and Plum, who is the division lead lost to Meadville on Tuesday. Conversely, Franklin Regional has not lost in its last four and a win over Penn Hills would put the Panthers just a game out of first place. After a scoreless first period, FR's Mark Gigliotti scored on the breakaway at 9:20. Mike Roth added to the Panther lead as he redirected a Mike Mento pass by Justin McCullough to make it 2-0. Not to be outdone, Luke Baughman scored with only 48 seconds remaining in the second and Frankin had a commanding 3-0 cushion. Penn Hills came out in the third with a vengence and Ryan Jones scored from the right point to cut the lead to 3-1. The Indian pest Jimmy Jackson showed why opposing teams hate playing against him as he scored on the rebound and all the sudden it was 3-2. Franklin was able to hold on and even its record to 4-4-1 at the X-Mas break.

NEVILLE ISLAND - North Hills coach Jimmy Black has witness some wild finishes this season as his team has won a couple of overtime contests over Franklin Regional and Upper St Clair. North Hills left nothing to chance in its game against Fox Chapel as the Indians won 4-0, led by a pair of goals by Ryan Costello and singles from Derek Stein and Nick Mueller. Casey Dudt-Mulzet got the shutout as NH outshot the Foxes 36-16.

NEVILLE ISLAND - Montour coach Paul Bonetti knew the mental aspect of the battle of division leaders would have to result in his Spartans scoring on Peters Twp early. Especially after Montour was manhandled by the Indians in a preseason exhibition matchup. Montour went toe to toe with the very balanced Indian attack in the first half of the first period, but the Indians struck as talented freshman Chris Clackson broke past the Spartan defense and wristed on by Jeff Milnarcik to make it 1-0. Montour then tried to exercise puck control, which led to chances, but a turnover at the Peters blue line resulted in transition and a Brandon Rubeo breakaway and a 2-0 Peters Twp lead. Peters Twp goaltender Kyle Kittleberger then displayed why he is one of the top goaltenders in the PIHL, robbing Joe Federoff with 20 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Montour carried the pressure into the second and missed several chances as Supan, Dugan and the F-Troop tried to crack Kittleberger, but to no avail. Then Peters, like a cat in an alley, saw an opening, a loose puck on the doorstep and an opportunistic Matt Schwartz pounced on it and chipped it by Milnarcik.... 3-0 Peters. Christian Hanson, only a minute and a half later, picked up another rebound and deposited it as the Indians were taking care of business at this point. Montour was determined in the third and again pressured but no score ! Meanwhile, Christian Minella took a beautiful pass in stride from Mike Papciak and bombed a shot in for a 5-0 runaway. The whole game could have been summed up at the 2:17 mark of the third, when Montour was on the power play and Joe Federoff grabbed the puck out of the air and threw it past Kittleberger, which was of course disallowed, but exemplified the frustration of the Spartans inability to beat Kittleberger. Fianlly, Dave Strobel took a nice pass from Federoff and scored with :28 left to break the shutout. Peters went on to win outshooting Montour 50-24 on the evening.

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