PIHL High School Hockey All-Star Recaps 2012

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 22, 2012 | 11:37 PM

The top players in the PIHL were on display Sunday at Rostraver Ice Gardens during the annual high school hockey all-star games. Here are recaps from all four contests that you can listen to archived here on the MSA Sports Network anytime you want.

Thanks to Josh Rowntree, Bob Orkwis, Steve Nagler and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

PIHL CLASS AAA:

AAA Southwest All-Stars 6 – AAA Northeast All-Stars 5 in Overtime

The PIHL saved the best for last. The Southwest team would overcome a 5-0 deficit and defeat the Northeast 6-5 in overtime on a goal by Canon McMillan’s Zach McKown, winning a tale of a two halves game at Rostraver Ice Gardens. The Northeast would jump come out flying, netting four goals in the 1st period, with Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s James Pozycki scoring first. Michael Cheswick of Penn-Trafford would stop all 13 shots he faced in the period for the Northeast and would receive help from Shaler’s Jacob Hetz, Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Eric Smith and Butler’s Tanner Gilliand, who all scored in the first period for the Northeast. They would continue their onslaught in the second period, as Shaler’s Joe Dorow would push the lead to 5-0. However the momentum would switch as soon as Mt. Lebanon’s Trevor Nelson would strike for the Southwest’s first goal. Canon McMIllan’s Anthony Tonkovich and McDowell’s Alex Margraf would also score in the period for the Southwest, who cut the lead to 5-3 going into the locker room. Margraf would score again for the Northeast in the third period and would be followed minutes later by North Allegheny’s Jake Hubert, notching the game at 5-5, where it would remain for the rest of regulation. Only 2:13 into the overtime period, Upper St. Clair’s Michael Sweeney would create a turnover in the neutral zone and find McKown, who rifled a wrister past his own teammate, Ryan Christian, who was an alternate for the Southwest but had to play on the Northeast due to 11 Southwest players being unable to play for the designated home team. Canon McMillan, who has the best record in the entire PIHL, was well represented, having two of their players score goals. Their section rivals Peters Township were represented by 6 assists. Most impressively, the Vikings of Pittsburgh Central Catholic accounted for two goals and three assists, including the goal by Smith that was assisted by two Vikings players.

Score by Period:
NE- 4-1-0-0=5
SW-0-3-2-1=6

Shots:
NE- 23
SW-42

Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
(7:05) NE: James Pozycki (Kevin Kline) (1-0 NE)
(10:21) NE: Jacob Hetz (Dan Petrovay) (2-0 NE)
(11:34) NE: Eric Smith (Kline, Travis Cully) (3-0 NE)
(12:30) NE: Tanner Gilliand (Unassisted) (4-0 NE)
2nd Period:
(7:53) NE: Joe Dorow (Unassisted) (5-0 NE)
(8:36) SW: Trevor Nelson (Luke Reed, Jason Hartman) (5-1 NE)
(11:21) SW: Anthony Tonkovich (Taylor Cox, Aaron McDonough) (5-2 NE)
(14:48) SW: Alex Margraf (McDonough) (5-3 NE)
3rd Period:
(6:06) SW: Margraf (2) (Jake Hubert, McDonough) (5-4 NE)
(9:59) SW: Hubert (Joe Griffin) (5-5)
Overtime:
(2:13) SW: Zach McKown (Michael Sweeney) (6-5 SW)

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PIHL CLASS AA:  

Southwest Conference All-Stars 8 – Northeast Conference All-Stars 2

A pair of Chartiers Valley Colts combined for 5 of the Southwest Conference’s 8 goals as the blue shirts rolled to a convincing victory at the Rostraver Ice Gardens. Senior forward Bryan Pustay was the main man, netting a hat trick and adding an assist in the victory. Pustay’s teammate senior Justin Sabilla, the leading goal scorer in the classification, also tickled the twine twice for the Southwest Conference stars. Pustay scored the only two goals of the opening period in tight on Gateway goaltender Tyler Perhac and then beat Plum net minder Taylor Cestra with a wrist shot from the left wing near the end of the second period to complete his hat trick. Sabilla showed off his wicked wrist, scoring both of his goals top shelf in the second and third periods. Sabilla, making his second straight All-Star appearance, has scored 3 times and 2 assists for 5 points in the last two AA All-Star contests. West Allegheny senior forward Patrick Coburn, an alternate selection, filled in for Indians teammate Jonathan Levitt and acquitted himself quite well, assisting on three Southwest conference goals. Defending Class AA champion Bishop Canevin also had a string showing, as four Crusaders combined for 6 points. Senior forward Pete Karney scored just (2:08) with teammates Randy Unger and Matt Walsh getting the assists. The sophomore Unger and the senior Walsh, who leads Class AA in points, also assisted on a third period goal by Erie Cathedral Prep’s Alec Zaphiris. Defenseman Marc Slomiany assisted on Putsay’s game opening goal. Bishop Canevin’s sophomore goalie Nikita Meskin started for the Southwest Conference and stopped all 5 first period shot’s he faced. The Southwest Conference win snapped a two-game Class AA All-Star winning streak for the Northeast Conference.

Southwest Conference 2 – 3 – 3 = 8
Northeast Conference  0 – 1 – 1 = 2

(First Period)
SW – Bryan Pustay (Chartiers Valley) – Patrick Coburn (West Allegheny), Marc Slomiany (Bishop Canevin) (4:29)
SW – Putsay 2nd – Trevor Handlovitch (Moon), Coburn (10:06)
(Second Period)
SW – Pete Karney (Bishop Canevin) – Randy Unger (Bishop Canevin), Matt Walsh (Bishop Canevin) (2:08)
NE – Scott McAliney (Pine-Richland) – Luke Wagner (Pine-Richland), Clint Loney (Pine-Richland) (4:16)
SW – Justin Sabilla (Chartiers Valley) – Coburn (6:28)
SW – Putsay 3rd – Jimmy Bufalino (Erie Cathedral Prep) (12:36)
(Third Period)
SW – Alec Zaphiris (Erie Cathedral Prep) – Unger, Walsh (1:14)
SW – Brett Berner (North Hills) – Pustay (12:09)
SW – Sabilla 2nd – Unassisted (12:38)
NE – Shawn Welsh (Kiski Area) – Robert Vasinko (Greater Latrobe) (14:55)

Shots-on-Goal
Southwest Conference 9 -14 – 9 = 32
Northeast Conference  5 – 12 – 10 = 27

Goaltenders
Southwest Conference – Nikita Meskin (Bishop Canevin) 5 Shots/5 Saves, Noah Stevenson (Chartiers Valley) 12 Shots/11 Saves, Jason Kumpfmiller (West Allegheny) 10 Shots/9 Saves
Northeast Conference – Tyler Perhac (Gateway) 21 Shots/17 Saves, Taylor Cestra (Plum) 11 Shots/7 Saves

Power Plays
Southwest Conference (0-for-1)
Northeast Conference (0-for-1)

MSA Three-Stars
#3) Noah Stevenson (Chartiers Valley) 12 Shots/11 Saves
#2) Patrick Coburn (West Allegheny) 3 Assists
#1) Bryan Pustay (Chartiers Valley) 3 Goals, 1 Assist

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PIHL CLASS A:

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE 6 – SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE 5

The Northeast Conference All-Stars shrugged off a 3-goal deficit in the first period en route to a 6-5 win in the Class A PIHL All-Star Game at the Rostraver Ice Garden on Sunday.  The Southwest Conference was galvanized early by some amazing goaltending from South Park’s Joe Rectenwald as he stopped all 16 shots that he faced in the first period including a penalty shot that was awarded to Class A’s leading scorer, Heinz Koster (Kittanning).  Southwest was able to score first when the Mars Planets’ line of Austin Heakins, Nick Blaney and Joe Bender connected perfectly.  Heakins got the goal but both Blaney and Bender figured in the assists at the 8:37 mark of the opening period.  Zach Schindler (Serra Catholic) and Ross Guidotti (South Park) scored the other goals in the first period for the Southwest Conference.  They appeared on their way to a laugher until the Northeast Conference All-Stars came to life in the second period.  Rectenwald finally showed to be human when he allowed a wrist shot in from the right point off of the stick of Bishop McCourt’s defenseman Nathan James at the 5:50 mark – it would be the only goal that Rectenwald would surrender before giving way to Mars sophomore Alex Stepke.  Northeast would eventually tie the score in the second period off of Stepke as Hunter Grafton (Kittanning) and Joe Vita (Hampton) scored in just over a 3-minute span near the end of the period.  Northeast would score the first three goals of the third period as well as Koster, Cole Hepler (Freeport) and Greg Newman (Freeport) all tallied in the first half of the period giving them a 6-3 advantage at the time.  The Southwest Conference All-Stars wouldn’t give up, however, as Joe Bender scored at the 11:16 mark and Luke O’Neill (Quaker Valley) scored with 0:47.2 left.  Southwest was able to pull Stepke in the final seconds and a last-second shot from Jake Pilewicz (Quaker Valley) deflected wide of the net.

Southwest          3  –  0  –  2  =   5
Northeast           0  –  3  –  3  =   6

1st PERIOD
Southwest – Austin Heakins (Nick Blaney, Joe Bender) 8:37
Southwest – Zach Schindler (Garner Kraemer) 10:37
Southwest – Ross Guidotti (Garner Kraemer) 14:49

2nd PERIOD
Northeast – Nathan James (unassisted) 5:50
Northeast – Hunter Grafton (Christian Miller) 11:28
Northeast – Joe Vita (Nicco Ravenna) 14:30

3rd PERIOD
Northeast – Heinz Koster (Luke Mitchell, Hunter Grafton) 1:40
Northeast – Cole Hepler (unassisted) 2:00
Northeast – Greg Newman (Noah McQuillan) 8:36
Southwest – Joe Bender (unassisted) 11:16
Southwest – Luke O’Neill (Ryan Dickson) 14:11

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PIHL OPEN CLASS:

Northeast Conference 6 – Southwest Conference 3

The Northeast Conference all-stars scored a pair of goals 18 seconds apart in the opening minute of the second period to take a 3-0 lead en-route to a 6-3 victory over the Southwest Conference stars in the first of the four PIHL all-star games. Patrick Kuta of Indiana scored the only goal in the opening period that was highlighted by big saves by Josh Brown of Carrick for the NE and John McFarland of Wheeling Central for the SW. But the Northeast stars took control with a bang-bang in the opening minute of the second period on back-to-back goals by Jesse Hoak of Ligonier Valley and Cody Austad of Greensburg-Salem. Kuta and Nico Aggazio of Carrick each picked up their second points with assists on the Austad goal. Doug Simon of Quigley put the Southwest stars on the board less than two minutes later, but Aggazio put the Northeast stars back up by three goals just over two minutes later. Each team scored twice in the third period including a shorthanded tally by the Northeast’s Jeremiah Rowe of Ford City and a power play goal with two seconds left by the Southwest’s Parker Henry of Wheeling Central, the lone sophomore in the game.

Southwest Conference : 0 – 1 – 2 = 3
Northeast Conference : 1 – 3 – 2 = 6

1st Period:
NE:  Patrick Kuta (Indiana) from Denny March (Greensburg-Salem) and Nico Aggazio (Carrick)  2:17  (1-0)

2nd Period:
NE: Jesse Hoak (Ligonier Valley) from Timothy Brown (Connellsville)  :43  (2-0)
NE: Cody Austad (Greensburg-Salem) from Patrikc Kuta and Nico Aggazio  1:01  (3-0)
SW: Doug Simon (Quigley) from Issac Fitzpatrick (John Marshall)  2:47  (3-1)
NE: Nico Aggazio from Zach Alaimo (Baldwin)  4:55  (4-1)

3rd Period:
SW: Joshua Green (Harbor Creek) from Nicholas Santiago (Quigley)  1:42  (4-2)
NE: Timothy Brown from Jesse Valasek (Ford City)  12:40  (5-2)
NE: Jeremiah Rowe from Billy Sutyak (Ringgold) and Logan Lazor (Indiana)  13:44  (6-2)  SHG
SW: Parker Henry (Wheeling Central)  14:58  (6-3)  PPG

Shots on Goal:
SW : 11 – 7 – 16 = 34
NE : 14 – 12 – 12 = 38

Three Stars:
#3 (SW) – Parker Henry (Wheeling Central)
#2 (NE) – Patrick Kuta (Indiana)
#1 (NE) – Nico Aggazio (Carrick)