Pittsburgh Hornets U12 Hockey Team drive toward the USA Hockey National Championship Tournament

2007 Districts - Tier I - 12U - Mid-Am
By Daniel Casciato

March 19, 2007

Special to usahockey.com

The Pittsburgh Hornets’ 4-3 win Sunday against the Cleveland Barons gave Coach Chuck Fink and manager Julie Sweeney their first trip to USA Hockey's National Championships. “It’s an amazing feeling,” said an emotional Sweeney, moments after the clinching game in the Tier I 12 & Under Mid-American District tournament. “I never would have thought that, at the beginning of this year, we could have accomplished this. I am so proud of this team.” “I talked to the coach before the game and wished him good luck,” she added. “I told him to stay calm because he said he was really nervous before the first game.”

Sweeney credited the team for playing as a whole throughout the tournament, rather than thinking of only themselves. “I think the boys played unselfishly,” she said. “They really came together as a team and they wanted it for one another.”

Before the game began, Fink, who played with the Hornets for four years during his amateur playing days, told the players that it could be the last game in the program for some of them. “I did a ‘Win one for the Gipper’ speech and told them that some may not be Hornets after this game,” he said. “I told them that this was the biggest game of their lives right now, so make it count.”

This marked the first time in five tries that the team beat the Barons. “We won when it counted,” said Fink. “The boys showed a lot of heart. The Barons are a really strong, aggressive team. After scouting them, we totally overhauled our game plan for those guys. We played more back and let them come to us instead of us going to them. It made a big difference, actually.”

Forward Peter Karney said that playing the Barons more aggressively this time around was the difference. “We hit them more than we did before,” said Karney, who had three goals and an assist during the tournament. “We took them off the puck and the team did a good job of forechecking. We did what we had to do to win.”

The Hornets defeated the Pittsburgh Junior Penguins, 5-0, Friday to advance to the March 18 game against the Barons. The Barons beat the Penguins, 5-1, to set up the deciding game. The Hornets will play the LA Hockey Club on March 28 in Buffalo, N.Y., in the first game of the round-robin tournament for the Tier I 12 & Under title.

“We’ll prepare for Nationals the same way we did for our other games,” said Fink. “I practice my kids very hard. I bet they skate more than any team we play. It’s going to be one of those things where we’re going to work as hard as we can and transfer it onto the ice.” Forward Mike Gornall led the team with four goals and two assists during the Mid-American District tournament.

“It’s just an awesome feeling to go out and beat these guys,” he said. “This had to be our two best games we played all year. We can’t wait for Nationals.”

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.