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Brady Baehser, Kieran Mulholland, and Zach Pers all scored two goals as Holy Ghost Prep defeated North Allegheny 6-3 Thursday night outdoors and under the lights at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh.
Baehser’s second goal of the game with 3:25 left in the second period broke a 3-3 tie, Mulholland made it a 5-3 game with his second goal with 4:25 left in the third period. Pers finished the scoring with an empty net goal in the final seconds.
Click HERE for a link to tonight’s game between North Allegheny and Holy Ghost Prep.
Final North Allegheny 4 Holy Ghost Prep 3—North Allegheny scores the winning goal with 38 seconds left in regulation.
End second period Holy Ghost Prep 2 North Allegheny 1
End first period: Holy Ghost Prep 0 North Allegheny 0
Snow falling through the period making for a slow-paced game. North Allegheny had the puck in the offensive zone much of the period.
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Holy Ghost Prep will begin its post-holiday hockey schedule with a trip to western Pennsylvania. The Firebirds will face Shady Side Academy on Wednesday (6:30) before taking on North Allegheny, last year’s Class AAA state runner up, in an outdoor game on Friday at Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park (7:00 start).
Senior forward Brian Butler one of his team’s captains, is looking forward to the trip.
“It’s such a great experience,” he said, “especially for us, and the younger guys to get to know each other even more.
“I know we’re playing two high-caliber teams. And it’s important for us to compete, and that’s what we do well. And that’s what we’re looking forward to doing; just go and compete.”
Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside was a prep-school teammate of Mike Bagnoto, his counterpart at North Allegheny.
“Mike Bagnoto, and I were teammates at Northwood Prep back in 1981,” Whiteside recalls, “and we’ve created a friendship over the years. And North Allegheny competes in the Jamestown (N.Y.) tournament (a fixture on the Holy Ghost Prep schedule) as well. So, when this opportunity came up, I reached out to Mike and he said “Let’s do it.’”
Apart from the two hockey games, the Firebirds will also be participating in a seminar organized by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation entitled Finding Your Dream in Pittsburgh.
The student-athletes will explore how to use their passion for hockey to create relationships with marginalized students. They will also learn how professional sports teams use their influence to lift up communities in need.
The seminar is part of the Spiritan Immersion Program and, along with the outdoor game, the brainchild of Holy Ghost Prep graduate Jim Britt Jr. who heads the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” Whiteside said. “It’s another opportunity for our hockey program and our school to just find out a little bit more about other schools.”
CLICK HERE for more about Holy Ghost Prep
Semifinals
Holy Ghost Prep 3, North Allegheny 2 OT—Brady Baehser scored in overtime to give the Firebirds the win in Jamestown, N.Y. Luke Panepresso and Landon Stout scored goals in regulation.
Culver Academy 5, Bethel Park 3
Culver Academy from Culver, Indiana, will face Holy Ghost Prep for the tournament title at 1:00
Jeff Mauro has written a book on the history of the Pennsylvania state high school hockey championship. To find out more and/or order a copy CLICK HERE
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Jack Constabile scored two goals and Quinn Dougherty and Jimmy Kirk added one each as Malvern Prep defeated North Allegheny 4-2 Saturday evening in the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup championship game at the UPMC Sports Complex In suburban Pittsburgh.
It marks the third time the Friars (15-1) have won a state title; the previous two came in 1990 and 2004.
Nate Spak opened the scoring for North Allegheny (16-6-1) when he found the back of the net 3:17 into the first period. Quinn Dougherty tied the game for the Friars with a shorthanded goal at the 7:09 mark.
“I thought that was probably a huge goal,” Dougherty said. “We were down 1-0, we were on a penalty kill, things weren’t really going out way.
“Then we scored on the penalty kill and that just gave us a bunch of life because it was. a hard-work goal and it just showed we weren’t going to quit right away.”
Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan said Dougherty’s goal was the turning point in the game.
“We were down 1-0, we end up on a penalty and there’s a chance would go down 2-0,” he said. “We were able to put one in the back of the net to make it a 1-1 game and then a couple seconds later, Jack scores a goal and it changed the whole momentum of the game. We were able to settle down a little bit and get into our rhythms and our game plan and play through the rest of the game.”
Constabile put his team in front for good at 7:35 before scoring his second goal of the game at 9:31 to put Malvern Prep up 3-1 after one period.Malvern Prep’s Jimmy Kirk and the Tigers’ Connor Chi exchanged goals in the second frame to complete the scoring.
Anthony Perti got the win in goal
Malvern Prep 3 1 0—4
North Allegheny 1 1—2
First-period goals: Nate Spak (NA) 3:17; Quinn Dougherty (M) 7:09 (sh); Jack Constabile (MP) 7:35; Constabile (MP) 9:38;
Second-period goals Jimmy Kirk (MP); Connor Chi (NA) 2:39
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Sam Lipkin and Michael Casey combined for five goals as LaSalle defeated North Allegheny 6-3 Saturday afternoon to win the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh.
Daniel Sambuco scored a goal and added three assists as LaSalle won its sixth state championship, scoring three times in the third period to do it.
LaSalle’s top line of Lipkin, Casey, and Sambuco, the Explorers’ top line all season, accounted for just all six goals but four of the team’s five assists.
“The Casey, Lipkin, Sambuco line was clutch again,” said LaSalle coach Wally Muehlbronner.
Lipkin gave the Explorers (23-6) the lead just 20 seconds into the opening period on his team’s first shot of the game. Tyler Putnam tied the game for the Tigers 8:50 into the opening frame but Casey answered back just 28 seconds later to give LaSalle a 2-1 lead after one period.
Casey scored his second goal of the game at the 3:24 mark of the second period to give LaSalle a 3-1 lead but Aaron Miller scored twice for North Allegheny in a span of 2 minutes, 10 seconds to tie the game. His second goal came on a breakaway off a LaSalle turnover in the neutral zone to make it a 3-3 game with 1:40 left in the second period.
At the start of the third period, LaSalle picked up its intensity level. ““The start of the third period was key,” Muehlbronner said. “We came out hard and confident. We played a simple game in the third period. And (goaltender Aidan) McCabe was solid.”
Lipkin’s shorthanded goal at 7:39 of the period proved to be the game winner. It came while Sambuco was in the box serving a cross-checking penalty. The Tigers coughed up the puck behind their own net and Sambcuco was on hand to score on wraparound.
The sophomore completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 1:07 left before Sambuco did the same thing with 18 seconds remaining.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” Muehlbronner said. “We battled hard the past three weeks (through the Flyers Cup tournament) and showed a lot of character when facing adversity.
“I’m very happy for all the players, especially our four seniors (Zach Baker, Brandon Leer, Sean Keaveney, Bryan Evans).
Notes: LaSalle’s previous state titles came in 1998, 2008, ’09, 2012, and 2015 …LaSalle’s six Class AAA Titles put it second on the all-time list in that class, behind Meadville, which has won seven … The Tigers won a state title of their own in 2007 … In Saturday’s other Pennsylvania Cup games, West Chester Rustin won a record sixth consecutive Class A title 11-3 over Montour. Pine Richland defeated Downingtown East 3-0 in the Class AA final.
LaSalle 2 1 3—6
North Allegheny 1 2 0—3
First-period goals: Sam Lipkin (L) from Daniel Sambuco, :20; Tyler Putnam (NA) unassisted, 8:30; Michael Casey (L) from Lipkin and Sambuco, 8:58.
Second-period goals: Casey (L) from Sambuco, 3:24; Aaron Miller (NA) from Haden Shimko, 13:10; Miller (NA) from Tyler Lamark and Luke Turkovich, 15:20.
Third-period goals: Lipkin (L) unassisted, 7:39, (sh); Lipkin (L) from Zach Baker, 15:53 (en); Sambuco (L) unassisted, 16:42 (en).
Shots: LaSalle 46, North Allegheny 34; saves: Aidan McCabe (L) 31, Rich Karapandi (NA) 40.
When we’re not covering high school hockey, we’re providing a full line of writing services. Contact us HERE and let us help you publicize your upcoming event, your team, your conference or league.
We also provide a wide range of voice services; narrations, commercials, documentaries, telephone message greetings, plus public address and other voice work. E-mail us for more information.
The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. We recently celebrated our 5th year at the shop but owner, Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!
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