USC Wins the Penguins Cup

In the early minutes after Sunday night has turned into Monday morning a tall, gangly teenage boy with blond hair -- matted with sweat after playing the most exhilarating 48-minutes of hockey in his life -- walks through the bowels of the CONSOL Energy Center carrying a small silver cup and yells to a group of people waiting in the hallway, “We did it!”

And at that moment, it’s undeniable: Captain C.J. Murray and the Upper St. Clair hockey team are on top of the world.

A clutch save by sophomore goaltender Michael Ambrose on a breakaway in overtime and sophomore forward Michael Sweeney’s goal at 3:10 of the extra period gave the Panthers a 4-3 victory over Canon-McMillan to win the PIHL Class AAA Penguins Cup.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal,” head coach Larry Marks said after the game. “The kids played their heart out and they played awesome down the stretch.”

The win is the biggest of late in an eight-game unbeaten streak that dates back to February 3 when, ironically, they lost to Canon-McMillan, 4-3, in overtime.

Upper St. Clair outshot Canon-McMillan, 43-13, in the game and the Big Macs didn’t record their first shot on net until 4:35 remaining in a scoreless first period.

Senior forward Michael Segerdahl deflected a shot by defenseman Ryan Haleski into the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead at 1:37 of the second.

Canon-McMillan needed only 14 seconds to take advantage of a hooking penalty against Steve Gielarowski when Brett Oldaker came off the half wall and wristed a shot past Ambrose for a power play goal to tie it.

Oldaker struck again seven minutes later, racing out on a breakaway to beat Ambrose on a backhand shot for a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.

“[Ambrose] was real upset that he didn’t poke-check [the puck away from Oldaker],” Selep said. “I just told him, ‘You’ll get him next time.’”

Murray took the game into his own hands when he weaved through three Big Mac defenders and beat goaltender Ryan Palonis on the stick side to tie the game at 1:39 of the third.

”I knew we needed to score and I knew I was due,” said Murray, the team’s leading scorer who tallied his first postseason goal. “I [felt like] I had to score, and I did.”

”He’s just a phenomenal offensive talent,” Marks said. “He’s that special of a person. Just like Oldaker is with Canon-Mac, C.J. is that way with us.”

Less than a minute later an Andrew Schmitt cross-checking penalty gave Canon-McMillan a chance to respond, and it was Zack McKown with a power play goal to regain the lead for the Big Macs.

“We tried to just keep everything positive because we were clearly outplaying them,” Sweeney said. “We just tried to keep our focus and kept playing the way we were playing because that’s what got us this far.”

Ryan Haleski was sent to the penalty box for holding with 4:46 left in regulation, meaning Upper St. Clair had to keep an efficient Canon-McMillan power play at bay in order to stay alive. But Ambrose and the Panthers rose to the challenge, making a key pad save with a few seconds remaining in the penalty, and then Sweeney cleared the rebound down the ice to end the threat.

Canon-McMillan was charged with a penalty for too many men on the ice at 12:35, giving Upper St. Clair a golden opportunity that Justin Selep seized with a deflection off a Gielarowski slap shot from the point to tie it with 1:47 left in regulation.

”When I stepped on the ice, I didn’t think I was going to score the game-tying goal, but I wanted it,” Selep said. “When a team works hard the puck finds of the back of the net, and it was just fortunate that I put it in.”

Oldaker had two chances to win the game in overtime, but he was turned away both times. The first time he had an open shot from between the face-off circles, but Murray hustled into the slot, dropped to his knees and blocked it off his torso.

Oldaker’s second chance came on another breakaway opportunity, but this time Ambrose used the poke check to beat him in what might have been the play of the game.

”I knew he was going to go to the backhand the first time,” Ambrose said. “I could’ve poke-checked him, but I didn’t. I told myself during the intermission if he gets it again I should poke-check him, and it worked.”

Ambrose’s save set the stage for the game-winner: sophomore forward Luke Stork got the puck behind the net and got it in front to Sweeney, who back-handed it into a wide open net for his second game-winning goal in back-to-back postseason games.

”When the puck got dumped in I was just trying to get it to the front of the net,” Sweeney said. “All of a sudden Stork just fell and the puck came right to me. [Palonis] thought his defenseman was going to bring up the other side and it was just a wide open net.”

“He must be on cloud nine right now,” Marks said of Sweeney. “He’ll remember that the rest of his life.”

Sweeney’s goal clinched the first Upper St. Clair hockey title since 1990, a few years before the seniors on this team were born. It was also their first championship game appearance since 1996, likely before any of them had laced up skates for the first time.

“This is incredible,” Selep said. “I can’t wait to see that banner hanging up in the gym.”

The Panthers will advance to the state championship game, where they will face Flyers Cup champion LaSalle College for the Pennsylvania Cup on Saturday in West Chester, Pa.

When asked what it will take to bring back a state title, Marks said, “An effort like we had tonight.”

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