Franklin Regional gets re-do; Plum finally makes it back

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Franklin Regional had a rough outing last year in its first Pennsylvania Cup championship game.

Now the Panthers have a rare opportunity for a doover.

“We’re a different team,” Franklin Regional coach Brian Kurtz said. “We’ve been there once and I think they’re more prepared mentally and I think our speed up front is different this year. We’re excited about the matchup.”

Franklin Regional (20-1-0), which defeated Indiana Tuesday to win its second consecutive Class 1A Penguins Cup title, will get a rematch against three-time defending state champion West Chester Bayard Rustin (18-2-2) at noon Saturday at the RMU Island Sports Center. The two teams also played last year and the Golden Knights rolled over the Panthers, 6-0, at Pegula Ice Arena in University Park.

“This year was unfinished business and we wanted to get them again,” Franklin Regional sophomore forward Oldrich Virag said.

Virag has been the finisher for Franklin Regional in the playoffs and leads the team with six goals in three games. The threesome of Virag and seniors Jamie Mauro and Nicholas Caretta have accounted for 13 of the team’s 18 postseason goals.

Class 2A

Plum was the first team to win a Class 1A state championship, but since winning that title in 1989 the cupboard has been bare.

For 28 years, Plum (19-2-1) has scratched and clawed its way back up the ladder, first in the WPIHL and then in the PIHL to win a Penguins Cup title and have an opportunity to add another Pennsylvania Cup to its resume. Even having future NHL player R.J. Umberger on the Mustangs roster wasn’t enough to win them an elusive title.

Now, after defeating Latrobe in the Class 2A Penguins Cup finals, Plum has come full circle and will once again vie for the Pennsylvania Cup.

This time, the Mustangs will take on Flyers Cup champion Downingtown East (19-3-2) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Island Sports Center, a school that is 0-2 in its only state finals appearances, losing to Latrobe in 2010 and Cathedral Prep in 2015.

Because of the two dynamic offenses, this has the potential to be a high-scoring game. Downingtown East averaged 7.5 goals per game in the Flyers Cup tournament led by Luca Pisani, who has hit the back of the net nine times in the postseason.

Plum can counter with solid scorers of its own with senior forward Anthony Borriello leading the way with six goals, Nolan Puhala comes in with three goals and nine points and Dillon Joyce has only one goal, but leads the team with nine assists 10 points in three games.

Class 3A

Peters Township finished off an improbable run to the Penguins Cup championship, rolling through the top three seeds to capture the school’s sixth title.

What made it even more incredible was the Indians had gone 0-5-1 against No. 3 Canon-McMillan, No. 2 North Allegheny and topseeded Central Catholic during the regular season yet beat all three in the playoffs.

It was only the second three-game winning streak of the season for Peters Township (13-8-2), but if the team is to win its fifth state title, it will have to win four in a row for the first time this year. And it won’t be an easy task as the Indians will have to face a Holy Ghost Prep squad at 5 p.m. Saturday that is only two years removed from a state title of its own.

And these teams have a history as Peters Township defeated Holy Ghost Prep (20-2-1) in 2003 to win its second Pennsylvania Cup.