Seeking state crown, La Salle suffers OT loss

Shortly before their Pennsylvania Cup Class AAA final against Upper Saint Clair on Saturday, a handful of half-dressed La Salle ice hockey players ventured out of the locker room and watched Bishop Canevin celebrate winning the AA state title.

A mere two hours later, the Explorers were limited to the observer role again.

They watched Upper St. Clair players throw their equipment into the air in celebration at center ice after edging La Salle, 4-3, in overtime Saturday at Ice Line in West Chester.

The Explorers, winners of the Class AAA Flyers Cup, entered the third period trailing, 2-1, the exact situation they had rallied from in their last two games.

And they seemed to find that magic again, as they tied the game twice in the third period.

But C.J. Murray scored his third goal of the game midway through the overtime period to give the Panthers the title.

"We never quit. This just wasn't our night," La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner said. "We have to learn from it and we only have six seniors, so there's a lot of guys in that room that will be back here next year and remember that feeling."

The game was the finale of a state-final tripleheader at Ice Line. The Flyers Cup winners - Springfield (Delco) and Council Rock South being the others - lost all three games to the Penguins Cup titlists.

A minute and a half after Upper St. Clair (17-6-1) took a 3-2 lead, with a little less than three minutes remaining in the third period, Ron Greco scored a power-play goal off a pass by Sean Orlando to tie the score, 3-3.

Senior defenseman Frank Trocino said the Explorers (23-6-2) believed they had captured the momentum, and he called the overtime goal a "crushing blow."

Freshman goaltender Nick DeSimone stopped 35 shots, including a hard chest save that almost led to a transition goal early in the overtime. Muehlbronner had turned to DeSimone at the start of the Flyers Cup tournament.

Trocino called the switch a surprise.

"It was kind of weird that Wally would call up a freshman who's never played with us. But I think he proved himself on this team," Trocino said.

La Salle   1 0 2 0 – 3

Upper St. Clair   1 1 1 1 – 4

Goals: L-Nick Popoff, Sean Orlando, Ron Greco; USC- C.J. Murray 3, Stephen Gielarowski.

Saves: L-Nick DeSimone 35; USC-Michael Ambrose 29.