Mars And Quaker Valley To Meet Again For Class A Penguins Cup Title

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, March 11, 2013 | 10:31 PM

It's a rematch for the Class A Penguins Cup championship next Wednesday at Consol Energy Center as the defending champion Quaker Valley Quakers and Mars Planets both punched their tickets on Monday night.

Mars defeated Westmont Hilltop 4-1 in the opening game and Quaker Valley won by the same 4-1 score over Kittanning in the nightcap. The Quakers beat the Planets 4-2 in last year's title game.

Here are recaps and scoring summaries of both of the Semfinals games:

Mars Planets 4 – Westmont Hilltop Hilltoppers 1

The Planets will make their sixth straight trip to the Penguins Cup final with the victory over the Hilltoppers at the RMU Island Sports Center. Maxwell Master and Ed Schwadron each had a goal and an assist as the Planets head to Consol Energy Center next Wednesday night.

The Hilltoppers jumped out to an early lead as J.J. Cavrak went behind the net and flipped the puck in front, it went off Mars goalie Christian Knapp and across the goal line. The Planets had three power play chances in the opening 17 minutes but could not convert, but outshot the Hilltoppers 10-4.

Mars had the better of the play in the second and were able to take advantage with two goals in less than two minutes. With Zachery Nedrewski off for tripping, Reed Salada fired a slap shot from the top of the circle past Sebastian Ragno to knot the game, Michael McCann connected with the back of the net from the high slot to put the Planets up 2-1 with 11 minutes left in the second. Salada had a chance to make it 3-1 but hit the post on the short side, with a blister from the blue line. Westmont Hilltop got a scoring opportunity of their own late in the period, Zac Nedwreski missed a break away attempt.

The Planets again had a chance to add to the lead, Beau Heakins made a nifty move at the blue line but shot high over the cross bar with 10:30 remaining. Westmont Hilltop had their opportunity when Jason Schwartz was called for tripping a minute later. But they could not solve Knapp, hitting him with three shots, but he stood tall in the net for the Planets.

T.J. Smith had another drive down the center slot for the Hilltoppers, he could not convert but Maxwell Master was sent off for hooking with 4:55 left in regulation time. Coach Art McQuillan used his timeout to try and get the tying goal. Ian Campbell had two shots from the point, a slap shot that was directed wide and a wrister that sailed high. That was the last chance for Westmont Hilltop as after an icing call, the Planets controlled the faceoff and Ed Schwadron beat Ragno for the insurance goal. The Planets iced the win with a Master goal on a lead pass from Ian Houk-Graves in the final minute.

Scoring Summary:
Mars Planets  0 – 2 – 2 = 4

Westmont-Hilltop Hilltoppers 1 – 0 – 0 = 1

1st Period:
WH:  J.J. Cavrak(1)  (Brian Yost)  :18
 

2nd Period:
M:  Reed Salada (1) ppg  (Maxwell Master/Ed Schwadron)  4:14
M:  Michael McCann (1) (Beau Heakins)  6:00
 

3rd Period:
M:  Schwadron (1)  (Nicholas Berteotti)  14:38
M:  Master (1)  (Ian Houk-Graves)  16:10

Quaker Valley Quakers 4 – Kittanning Wildcats 1
The Quakers got two goals from Ryan Dickson and three helpers from Connor Quinn to attempt to defend their 2012 championship. Quaker Valley has won 32 consecutive games and are now unbeaten in 45 games over the last two plus seasons.

Quaker Valley got on the board first as Jimmy Perkins scored on a rebound almost four minutes into the game. Perkins was robbed by the post later in the period. The Quakers also had two chances to add to the lead in the final minute, Connor Quinn had a one on none breakaway but was stopped by Cameron Langham, Otto Schaefer missed on a rebound attempt on the door step in the final ten seconds.

The Quakers left off where they started in the second, Ryan Dickson missed on a loose puck in the slot in the opening thirty seconds. Kittanning would get the first man-advantage of the night with Connor Quinn off for boarding, but Quaker Valley got two short-handed chances. The power play was negated when Micheal Kelly took a hooking minor. Clayton Bouchard made it 2-0 when he scored on a shot that was juggled by Langham. It took QV just three minutes to extend the lead, Ryan Dickson broke in on Langham, his shot was high but Otto Schaefer got control of the puck behind the net and found Dickson in the far circle, he beat Langham with a slap shot to make it 3-0. Kittanning had two chances to get on the board in the final minute of the period, Cody Toy could not get a stick on a loose puck in the crease, Christian Miller was robbed on the doorstep by Parker Sherry.

Hunter Grafton had a great opportunity to start the third period, Sherry made a skate save to keep Kittanning off the board. Perkins had an opportunity to put the game away, he was hauled down by Nathan Grafton and a penalty shot was awarded to the dismay of Kittanning coach Jaime King. Perkins lost his edge on the attempt and Kittanning dodged a bullet.

The Quakers got a 5 on 3 power play with 4:50 remaining, Quaker Valley had the puck in the Kittanning zone for three minutes, Dickson finished the QV scoring on a rebound goal. Grafton was able to score on the power play with 1:37 remaining to break the shut out.

Quaker Valley is now 24-0 on the season, the last loss suffered by the Quakers was to the Planets on December 3rd of 2011. Since that loss the Quakers have beaten the Planets four times, including 4-2 in last year’s Penguin Cup championship.

Kittanning ends their season 14-9-1, the Wildcats have now bowed out four straight years in the semifinals.

Scoring Summary:
Quaker Valley Quakers  1 – 2 – 1 = 4
Kittanning Wildcats  0 – 0 – 1 = 1

1st Period:
Jimmy Perkins (4) (Adam Pilewicz/Connor Quinn)   3:43

2nd Period: 
QV:  Clayton Bouchard (2)  PPG (Pilewicz/ Connor Quinn)  4:45
QV:  Ryan Dickson (4)  (Otto Schaefer)  7:35

3rd Period:
QV: Dickson (5)  (Bouchard/C. Quinn)  14:22
K:  Hunter Grafton (3) PPG (Cody Toy/Zane Wichowski)  15:23