Czartosky leads Canon-McMillan to Penguins Cup
Canon-McMillan celebrates its first PIHL championship since 2010. The Big Macs defeated Butler, 4-0, to capture the Penguins Cup. Canon-McMillan will now compete for the state title against Holy Ghost Prep March 21 at Penn State.
Canon-McMillan’s Austin Czartorsky (No. 17) scores the first of his two goals against Butler goalie Clay Bachman.
Jacob McClelland (No. 7) controls the puck for Canon-McMillan during PIHL action against Butler.
Austin Tonkovich (No. 81) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the first goal for Canon-McMillan in the PIHL Class AAA championship game. Tonkovich also earned an assist on the final tally in the Big Macs’ 4-0 triumph over Butler.
Thanks to Austin Czartosky, Canon-McMillan will compete for a Pennsylvania state championships in hockey. The Big Macs (15-7-1) will face Holy Ghost Prep (15-8-1) March 21 at Penn State’s Pegula Ice Arena.
While Holy Ghost Prep was beating LaSalle, 6-3, to claim the Flyers’ Cup, Czartosky did his best imitation of an NHL professional as the Big Macs claimed the Penguins Cup. On the Pittsburgh Penguins’ home ice at the Consol Energy Center, Czartosky scored two quick goals propelling Canon-Mac to victory, 4-0, against Butler in the PIHL Class AAA championship game.
“(Czartorsky) is a really good player for us,” said Austin Tonkovich, who then compared Czartorsky’s feat to that of Max Talbot’s accomplishment during the 20009 Stanley Cup finals. “It reminded me of Talbot against Detroit,” he said.
In game seven of the finals, Talbot scored twice to help the Pens win their first championships since 1992. Czartosky’s goals did the same for the Big Macs, but their time between titles was not as long. Canon-McMillan won its first Penguins Cup since 2010. They also competed in the 2011 final.
The 2015 Big Macs, however, remember those glory days and they yearned for their return.
“We’ve all been playing together for four or five years,” Tonkovich said. “We’re all great friends and that chemistry we built is great. It’s definitely exciting winning a title with guys you’ve known for a while.”
For a while now, Czartosky has known to be prepared when opportunity knocks. After scoring just four goals in 18 games and being demoted to the Big Macs’ fourth line early in the season, his chance arose within a 10-second span in the second stanza. On his first tally at 14:57, Brad Folino and Josh Miller assisted. His other tally at 15:07 was unassisted.
“I did not expect this to come out of that game,” Czartorsky said of the performance. “I honestly don’t even know what to say. When you get goals like that from your third line, it’s very good for the team. That was definitely a game-changer.”
Canon-Mac head coach Terry Virtue agreed. “Austin has been there the whole time,” he said. “He takes things in stride and is working hard no matter what. He showed up today and came through. Those two goals put Butler on their heels.”
Tonkovich put the Golden Tornado on its heels initially. Some 13 minutes into the contest, Tonkovich struck first for the Big Macs, off an assist from Luc Lavella. It was the 22nd goal of the season for Tonkovich.
In the third period, Tonkovich collected his 15th assist. On the power play with 4:44 remaining, he dished off to Jack Clendaniel for CM’s final score.
In the nets, Conor Hartnett excelled against a front line featuring Dustin Davis (21 goals) and Connor Scott (14 goals, 16 assists). The Big Macs’ goalie turned back 14 shots in registering the shutout. The Big Macs put 16 shots on goal against Clay Bachman.
The Big Macs and Butler reached the finals by knocking off the favorites. While the Golden Tornado disposed of defending champion Peters Township, 3-1, in the semifinals, Canon-McMillan upset No. 1-ranked North Allegheny, 7-0.
Against the Tigers, Tonkovich registered the hat trick. Shane Morgan, Jacob McClelland, Colman Slain and Lavella tacked on the other tallies. Czartorsky, Zachary Mansmann, Slain, Morgan, Clendaniel, Tonkovich and Lavella collected assists.
In recording the shutout, Hartnett turned back 23 shots. The Big Macs put 23 shots on goals against NA.
For Butler, which was attempting to win its first PIHL title, Kyle Madore turned back all shots against Peters Township except for one by Adam Alavi. Sam Barnes assisted Alavi’s tally.
Other members of the Canon-Mac team contributing to the PIHL title included: Zach Gebhart, Andrew Wuenstel, Jay Oravetz, Brett Smiley, Eric LaFrance, Christian Stewart, Trevor Barnes, Grant Rhoads, Nick Kiger, George Hart, Michael Trossman and Eric Podlaszewski.
Dave McKown, Nick Godfrey and Brian Czartorski assisted Virtue with the coaching details. Kim Wuenstal is the team manager.