CRANBERRY TWP, Pa. — The Armstrong River Hawks and Quaker Valley Quakers faced off Tuesday night in a showdown of offense versus defense.
In one corner, the Armstrong River Hawks, who had shown their offensive prowess with an 11-4 dismantling of Upper St Clair the week before. That same night, Quakers goaltender Philip Gagne saw a 105-minute playoff shutout streak come to an end, but still preserved his teams semifinals victory to advance to the Double-A Penguins Cup Championship.
But the Quakers didn’t have an answer for Easton Hooks, who had two goals and two assists as the RiverHawks soared to a 5-0 victory and claimed the Double-A 2018 Penguins Cup.
The showdown between the two clubs was evenly matched into the second period, with each team putting 14 shots on goal, but neither finding the back of the net. That was until Ethan Prugh managed to find the goal during a RiverHawk power play just over five minutes into the period. Five minutes later, Giovanni Romeo added another power play goal. Hooks capped the second period scoring just over two minutes later to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
In the third period, Gagne was continually harassed, giving up another goal to Hooks midway through and then one to Jesse Toy with just under five minutes to go.
Armstrong will go on to face Flyers Cup Champion Downington East on March 24 for the state championship.
MAJOR FOCUS
