Mar 23, 2015 3 min read

Because Canon-McMillan couldn’t keep its cool, the Big Macs’ dreams for the program’s first state hockey championship melted away. Saddled with seven penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct, Canon-Mac lost, 6-4, to Holy Ghost Prep during the Pennsylvania Cup’s Class AAA final played at Penn State University’s Pegula Ice Arena.

“They let their emotions get away from them,” head coach Terry Virtue said of his players. “I’ve been saying to win a championship, you can’t get too high or too low. They couldn’t control the emotions to the very end.

“I thought the refereeing was fine,” he added. “They called what was there and they were all penalties. There weren’t any complaints about penalties. They were right every time. We just couldn’t keep it together and the guys got frustrated.”

Frustration was never more apparent than in the second period when the Big Macs surrendered three goals, two on power plays and the other a short-handed tally.

Nicholas Bohatiuk excelled for the Firebirds. The senior scored four times while Kyle Peters pitched in the other two tallies. Both dished up assists.

Though Jack Clendaniel gave the Big Macs the early lead on a power-play goal, assisted by Austin Tonkovich, Bohatiuk scored the equalizer with 7:25 remaining in the first frame.

Shortly after Colman Slain was slapped with the boarding and misconduct penalty, Peters responded with the go-ahead goal for Holy Ghost 97 seconds into the second stanza.

With 8:33 to play in the second period, Tonkovich was denied the tying goal for the Big Macs. Officials ruled the puck had been kicked, disallowing the goal.

Four minutes later, Bohatiuk widened Holy Ghost’s lead, 3-1, with another power-play goal. Peters added the short-handed tally with under a minute to play in the period.

With 11:42 to play, Canon-Mac narrowed the gap, 4-2, on Slain’s score. Shane Morgan drew an assist on the goal. Tonkovich added a goal on the power play, making it 4-3, but two minutes later, at 13:06, Bohatiuk registered the hat trick as Robert Freiling collected his second assist.

Although Zachary Mansmann, assisted by Clendaniel and Tonkovich, scored off a power play, to pull the Big Macs within 5-4 with 1:37 to play, Bohatiuk iced the outcome with an empty-netter. Peters assisted the tally, which came in the waning seconds of the game.

“I said it to these guys that it (stinks) that the best team didn’t win,” Virtue said. “We just didn’t show up the first two periods. That was more of our game in the third period. We played harder. We just didn’t the first two periods.”

Instead of walking out of the arena with the first Pennsylvania Cup in Big Mac history, Holy Ghost Prep had snagged its first championship. The Firebirds, who had been runners-up in Class AA and Class AAA the previous seasons, finished the season at 16-8-1 overall.

The loss did not negate a sensational season for the Big Macs, who emerged as the Penguins Cup champions after sweeping through the PIHL playoffs, knocking off tournament top seeds such as North Allegheny and blanking Butler in the finals at Consol Energy Center. The Big Macs finished the season with a 14-8-1 record.

Observer-Reporter staff writer Lance Lysowski contributed to this story.