Pittsburgh Hornets U14 to Compete in USA Hockey National Championships

2007 Districts - Tier I - 14U - Mid-Am
By Daniel Casciato - March 23, 2007

Special to usahockey.com

The Pittsburgh Hornets advanced to USA Hockey's Tier I 14 & Under National Championship after shutting out the Cleveland Barons, 7-0, in the Mid-American District tournament March 18. The tournament begins March 28 in Buffalo, N.Y. “It’s a tremendous feeling to go back and play for the national championship,” said Hornets’ coach, Jim Lilja, after the game. “We were there two years ago and fell short.” The Hornets are making their second trip in three years to Nationals.

In 2005, they finished in third place at the Tier I 12 & Under event held in Anchorage, Alaska, after losing in the semifinals to the New Jersey Avalanche, the eventual champion. “This team has been together for five years now,” said Lilja. “Some have come and gone, but the nucleus of the team has been here. We’re excited to go back.”

It didn’t start out easy for the Hornets. They squeaked out a 3-2 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Junior Penguins to open the district tournament Friday. “The competition was tough this year,” said Lilja. “The Penguins have gotten better throughout the year and they battled us hard Friday. And the Barons have played some great games this season. We had our hands full, but we made some defensive adjustments, which helped us.” Lilja stressed to his players about playing a more disciplined game. “We got into some penalty trouble in our last few games,” he said. “We talked about being disciplined, staying out of the penalty box and just sticking to our game plan.”

Goaltender Michael House had a 0.95 goals against average during the tournament and stopped 95 percent of the shots he faced. “It was a great win for us. Leaving here on Friday, we didn’t play that great and we knew we had to turn it around and get the big win Sunday,” House said. “Our coach told us about the mistakes that we made Friday and how to fix them. Penalties were obviously a big one. We had to work better on the power play, too.”

House said he is looking forward to going back to Nationals and hoping for a better outcome. “Our coaches have motivated us all year long,” he said. “We were close two years ago and we’re ready now.” Forward Brandon Sadd led all players with three goals and two assists in the tournament. “I think we need to work a little harder once we get to Buffalo,” he said. “We could have played better and were lucky to win Friday. But we won our [final] and it feels great. This was our dream all year. After the second period, coach told us to keep working hard and don’t let up.”

The Hornets will play their first game at Nationals against the LA Hockey Club. “We’re going to continue to work hard, focus on the fundamentals and stick to the game plan,” said Lilja. “We have some fast guys moving the puck. We forecheck and put a lot of pressure on the other teams. The keys to our success so far have been just getting a lot of quality shots on net and [looking for] rebounds.”

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.

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.

Mid American Hockey District Tier 1 District Championships - March 17, 2007

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Hornets U12 and U14 teams, the Cleveland Barons U16 Team and the Predators U18 team on winning the District Championships in your age groups and best of luck in representing our MidAm District well at the USA Hockey National Championships !


FLASH UPDATE ON SCORES

U 18 Scores
Hornets 5 Predators 6
Indiana 7 Phantoms 1
Predators 5 Phantoms 1
Hornets 4 Indiana 3
Predators 7 Indiana 1
Hornets 6 Phantoms 5
SUNDAY - PREDATORS ADVANCE TO NATIONALS

U 16 Scores
Hornets 1 Vipers 0
Barons 4. Vipers 0
SUNDAY BARONS 4 HORNETS O - BARONS ADVANCE TO NATIONALS

U 14
Hornets 3 Pens 2
Pens 3 Barons 1
SUNDAY - HORNETS BEAT BARONS - HORNETS ADVANCE TO NATIONALS


U12
Hornets 5 Pens 0
Barons 5 Pens 1
SUNDAY HORNETS 4 BARONS 3 - HORNETS ADVANCE TO NATIONALS