By JOE SAGER, PIHL Network
CORAOPOLIS – Finally, a state championship banner.
It’s something that’s been missing from the Council Rock South hockey team’s collection over the last few years.
The Golden Hawks captured it Sunday night with a 4-3 win over West Allegheny at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center’s 84 Lumber Arena.
“It’s unbelievable. The team played great,” Council Rock South goaltender Justin Houk said. “We knew it was going to be a close game coming in. Pittsburgh always has such strong teams. We worked really hard.”
The Golden Hawks (24-4-2) have won three of the last four Flyers Cup championships, but fell in their previous two state title game appearances. Greater Latrobe beat them in 2009 and Bishop Canevin prevailed last year.
“After four years and two previous state championship games, this is an unbelievable feeling,” Golden Hawks senior captain Dan Ufberg said. “I am just so happy.”
Jonathan Levitt got West Allegheny (21-4-0), which won its first Penguins Cup title on Saturday, on the scoreboard 3:26 into the game. He blocked a shot at the blueline and raced past a defender for a breakaway. He flipped a backhander into the net for the 1-0 advantage.
Council Rock South knotted it at 1-all 15 seconds into the second period. Stephen Junod, standing at the top of the crease, banged in Nick Keck’s pass from the near corner.
Matt Grebosky put the Indians back up, 2-1, just 55 seconds later with a power-play goal. At the bottom of the near circle, he roofed a shot into the top of the cage.
Keck connected for a power-play goal 3:55 later. He converted a second-chance rebound from the far post to tie the game at 2-2.
West Allegheny’s Pat Coburn put the Indians back up, 3-2, when he jammed a loose puck past Houk for a power-play tally with 7:24 left in the second.
Council Rock South had a two-man advantage late in the second and for the first minute of the third. Paul Cloud cashed in with a goal 46 seconds into the period when he wristed a shot past Jason Kumpfmiller to tie the game at 3-3.
The Golden Hawks went on another two-man advantage shortly after that. Ufberg gave them a 4-3 lead when he took Cloud’s cross-ice pass and wristed into the net 6:49 into the period.
“I kept telling our guys to keep their heads and they did,” Ufberg said. “Paul Cloud gave me a great pass on the power play and I scored. I am speechless. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
West Allegheny had a chance to tie in the final minutes as it went on a power-play. However, Houk denied three strong scoring chances.
“My defense did a great job letting me see the puck,” he said. “Our defense and offense played a great game.”
Kyle Walter, a sophomore forward, factored in on all of the Golden Hawks’ goals.
“I am not a big goal scorer, but I like to set up guys and my line has good chemistry,” he said. “I thought we got a couple lucky bounces and whistles going our way at the end. It’s great we got those calls; they were huge. It was important they didn’t get that two-goal lead, either. Once that happens, it’s tougher to come back.
“We’ve won the Flyers Cup a couple years in a row, but there’s nothing like a state championship game. It’s awesome.”
The Indians were hoping to secure their first state championship. However, penalties plagued them in the third as Council Rock South came back for the win. West Allegheny was called for four penalties in the first 6:22 of the third period.
“It’s a shame it ended that way, but I am proud of them. You can’t win them all,” West Allegheny coach Tim Veach said. “We felt pretty confident that, if we got that two-goal lead, we’d be in pretty good shape. We couldn’t get that goal. Their goalie played great today. I thought we didn’t do a great job of getting shots to the net, but he did a great job stopping the ones we got there.
“I feel bad for my seniors. They were fantastic all year long. They really led these younger guys by example. They had a great attitude and work ethic all year. They did what we asked them to do. They’ve been great leaders.”
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