Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins

Write up from Grosse Pointe News Bob St. John.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood's Sydney Sakwa scored with 1:12 left in double-overtime, sending the favored Blue Devils home with a 2-1 loss.  Sakwa's harmless shot found a way by senior goalie Maggie Miller, who was screened on the play and didn't see the puck until it was too late.  She got a piece of the puck, but it had enough steam to elude her glove and fall behind the goal line.
"(Colleen) Jacoby was the difference in the game," head coach Bill Fox said. "She played well and we bit ourselves a couple of times that cost us. We outplayed them for the most part, but they won the game."  They did everything in their power to win the game, outshooting the Cranes 51-21, but Sakwa (two goals) played the heroine and Jacoby (50 saves) was the most valuable player.
"I knew my goaltender would keep us in the game," Cranbrook Kingswood head coach Terry Brooks said. "We're a well-conditioned team and it showed tonight. We wouldn't quit and beat a great team."
The Blue Devils were seven seconds from losing in regulation play, but senior Ana Harris tied it with a slapshot from 10 feet away. Fellow seniors Rae Sklarski and Shannon Gianino assisted on the goal that came with 7.1 seconds left.
Fox's squad outshot the Cranes 13-7 in the first overtime and 6-5 in the second.
Grosse Pointe South finished the season 21-1 and Cranbrook Kingswood was 19-3.

Hot on the heels of the biggest game in team history, the Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins took Cranbrook-Kingswood down to the wire Tuesday in a Division 1 state girls hockey playoff quarterfinal.

Cranbrook-Kingswood (19-3) built an early 2-0 lead but had to hang on over the final two periods while PCS peppered goalie Colleen Jacoby — outstanding with 33 saves.

With freshman goalie Cortny McAdoo (20 saves) pulled for the extra attacker, the Penguins finally got on the board with just 44 seconds remaining.

A shot from the left point by senior defenseman Jordyn Moore was stopped by Jacoby, as was a rebound try by forward Jenny Fedon. Finally, senior defenseman Shauna Siebert swept the puck in while falling to the ice.

PCS (13-10) was unable to threaten for the equalizer after that.

“We had a little bit of a slow start and that kind of hurt us at the end of the game,” said Johnson, finishing her first year as coach in excellent fashion. “If we had 17-minute periods it probably would have been another story.

“We really took it to them starting the middle of the second period and just ran out of time.”

Cranbrook-Kingswood opened the scoring in the Michigan Metro Girls Hockey League contest with about eight minutes to go in the first. Sydney Sakwa finished a centering feed from Caley Chelios.

Sakwa then batted in a rebound just 24 seconds into the second period for a 2-0 Cranes lead.

But that seemed to wake up the Penguins, who wound up firing 19 shots on Jacoby — who displayed a quick glove hand all night.

Siebert was outstanding, with a handful of top-quality shots that she just could not get past the goalie.

“All three of the seniors (Moore, Siebert, defenseman Kara Bongiovanni) played a fantastic game,” Johnson added. “I think they realized this could be the last game and they went all out and they proved to everybody they deserved to be here and it wasn't a fluke.”

Bongiovanni arrived at the arena on crutches after injuring her foot late in the upset win over Port Huron at St. Clair Shores Arena, but still managed to compete.

“She played very well for not being 100 percent,” Johnson said.

In the third period, the Penguins continued to press Jacoby while their goaltender, McAdoo, kept the score close with a sparkling glove save against Sakwa with about three minutes to go.

The Penguins, by winning the D2 playoffs, moved up into the D1 single-elimination tournament. Both the championship and strong showing against Cranbrook-Kingswood bodes well for the future of the program.

“I've already gotten a few e-mails from girls who are interested,” Johnson said. “... that big win on Saturday will go a long way for us I think in the history of the Penguins.”

If Port Huron is a powerhouse girls hockey team, the Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins pulled the plug Saturday night at St. Clair Shores Arena.

Freshman goalie Cortny McAdoo’s outstanding effort helped get the Penguins through regulation of the Division 2 Michigan Metro Girls Hockey League playoff final. And then, senior defenseman Jordyn Moore’s goal at 6:33 of overtime finished a 1-0 shocker over the D2 regular season champion Lady Icehawks.

The victory advanced PCS (13-9) up the rung into the Division 1 playoffs, which began Tuesday night at Detroit City Arena.

First-year head coach Mary Beth Johnson said her team was up to the challenge of facing Port Huron — a team that romped PCS 7-0 early in the year.

She pointed to how her team defeated Detroit Country Day on Thursday in the D2 semifinal, despite McAdoo being sick. Backup goalie Ellexus Montoya (only one previous game all season) stepped in and the Penguins prevailed 8-3.

“Nothing has been easy for us this year, but the girls have proved that they can take on adversity and pull through as a stronger team,” said Johnson, whose coaching leadership turned the program around. “Having Ellexus play in net Thursday night was the best thing that could have happened to this team. The girls knew what had to be done to win the game against Country Day with our backup goalie in net.”

Then with a nothing-to-lose attitude Saturday night, and the diminutive McAdoo playing flawlessly in net, the Penguins never gave in to the Lady Icehawks (who came into the game with a 19-1 record).

McAdoo made 25 shots, including several in the closing seconds of regulation, displaying the poise of a junior or senior.

That led to the winner. Defenseman Shauna Siebert sent a pass over to Moore, who cut across the front of the goal and roofed the puck over the Port Huron goaltender’s right shoulder.

When Moore hit the twine with her shot, Johnson said gloves and sticks flew into the air and her players celebrated in a big pile in the middle of the ice.

Johnson pointed to an excellent penalty kill, spearheaded by Mallory Rojo, as instrumental in the victory. The Penguins were called for four penalties, while Port Huron only needed to kill off one.

With a fill-in goaltender stepping into the crease due to an illness and defenseman Shauna Siebert scoring four goals, the Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins took one more step toward winning the Division 2 girls hockey playoffs.

The Penguins improved to 12-9 with Thursday night’s 8-3 victory over Detroit Country Day at St. Clair Shores Arena. That advanced the team into Saturday’s D2 finals of the Michigan Metro Girls Hockey League playoffs against Port Huron. Results were not available as of press time.

One more victory will move PCS into a single-elimination Division 1 tournament set for next week.

Making the victory over Country Day even sweeter was head coach Mary Beth Johnson called upon forward Ellexus Montoya to play goal due to freshman starter Cortny McAdoo being ill.

Montoya earned the win in her second ever game in net, as her teammates provided plenty of offensive and defensive support.

Siebert paced the attack, but there were many contributors. Defenseman Jordyn Moore collected a goal and three assists; forwards Mallory Rojo (1 goal, 1 assist) and Jenny Fedon (2 assists) also earned multiple points.

Helping the cause were Rhianna Fleisher and Kara Bongiovanni (1 goal each) and Sarah Coleman, Marissa Sullivan and Becca Majszak (1 assist each).

Meanwhile, Johnson said she expects McAdoo to be ready for Saturday’s final.

PCS PENGUINS 8, BLOOMFIELD 0: On Tuesday night at St. Clair Shores, the PCS Penguins romped to a mercy victory over the Bloomfield Knighthawks in the Penguins’ D2 playoff opener.

Stopping two shots for the shutout was Cortny McAdoo, but she had the chance to watch quite a show at the other end — with her teammates actually scoring 11 goals (only the first eight goals count in a mercy game). The game ended after the second period.

“I thought the girls looked great and I felt like it was a good building block for the rest of the tournament,” Johnson said. “The girls were able to work the puck around and work out any nerves or anxiety they may have had heading into playoffs.”

PCS built a 4-0 lead after the opening period. Registering two of the first three goals was Moore with Coleman and first-year player Beth Johnson also finding the back of the Knighthawks’ net.

In the second frame, the rout continued as Fedon scored an unassisted goal to make it 5-0.

Soon thereafter, Coleman scored again, with assists to Siebert and Rojo. Goals 7-8 were tallied by Sullivan (unassisted) and Fedon.

The Penguins added three more goals that didn’t officially count on the scoreboard. They were unassisted goals by Sullivan and Siebert and a marker by Majszak on an assist from Coleman.

Including all 11 PCS goals, Coleman led the way with two goals and two assists while Siebert chipped in with one goal and three assists. Also with multiple points were Moore, Fedon and Sullivan (each 2 goals) while Rojo assisted on three goals.

Other Penguins with points were Johnson (goal), Majszak (goal), Bongiovanni (assist) and Ellexus Montoya (assist).