Mar 21, 2015 4 min read

UNIVERSITY PARK – Holy Ghost Prep’s players tossed their gloves in the air and mobbed their goalie as the final buzzer sounded.

While the attention of fans was drawn toward the championship celebration, a brawl broke out between two Canon-McMillan players and a forward for the Firebirds at the opposite end of the ice. Punches were exchanged, a stick was snapped and then thrown and both Big Macs players were escorted off the ice.

It was not the first time C-M lost its composure during the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup.

Canon-McMillan was called for seven penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct, and Holy Ghost capitalized with two power-play goals on the way to a 6-4 victory at Penn State University’s Pegula Ice Arena Saturday .

The Big Macs’ season ends with a 14-8-1 record and their first Penguins Cup since 2010, but they failed to win the program’s first state championship. Holy Ghost Prep won its first Pennsylvania Cup after finishing as a runner-up in Class AA and Class AAA in previous years.

Senior Nicholas Bohatiuk had four goals and freshman Kyle Peters scored two for the Firebirds, who scored three times in the second period, including two power-play goals and one shorthanded.

“We knew coming in here that (Holy Ghost) was a more physical team. They’re a big team, but that’s no excuse,” Canon-McMillan head coach Terry Virtue said. “They let their emotions get away from them. 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.”

The Big Macs trailed 4-1 entering the third period, but seniors Colman Slain and Austin Tonkovich scored to draw C-M to within one goal with 5:20 left in regulation.

Bohatiuk completed a hat trick when the Big Macs committed a turnover in the neutral zone, sending Peters and Bohatiuk in on a two-on-one opportunity. Peters held the puck until they reached the slot, then dished it to Bohatiuk, whose wrist shot went under the cross bar to make it a 5-3 lead.

Canon-McMillan added another goal when Zach Mansmann scored with under two minutes remaining, but Bohatiuk’s empty-netter sealed the state title.

“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.”

The score was tied 1-1 entering the second period when Slain hit a Firebirds player from behind against the boards. Slain received two minutes for boarding and a 10-minute misconduct.

Peters followed by one-timing a centering pass from Nolan Jones for a 2-1 lead. Jones was called for a penalty less than two minutes later and the Big Macs thought they tied the game when Tonkovich’s wrist shot snuck into the net.

Officials disallowed the goal because a C-M forward displayed a kicking motion in front of the net. Bohatiuk scored a power play goal with 5:09 remaining in the period for a 3-1 lead and Peters scored shorthanded to extend the lead to 4-1.

“It was huge for our team,” Holy Ghost Prep head coach Gump Whiteside said. “We rallied and found a way to get that goal. They find a way to get big goals. It was so huge.”

Virtue could not have drawn up a better start.

Sophomore center Jack Clendaniel gave Canon-McMillan a 1-0 lead when he fired a wrist shot that snuck under the glove of Holy Ghost goalie Alexander Taylor with 12:36 left in the first period.

Less than five minutes later, Bohatiuk gathered a loose puck in the neutral zone, wove around several C-M players then his wrist shot went over the blocker of Big Macs goalie Conor Hartnett and into the top-left corner of the net to tie the score, 1-1.

The Big Macs went more than 10 minutes without a shot on goal and unlike the Penguins Cup victory over Butler, drew too many penalties.

The officials called seven penalties in the first period, often drawing the ire of C-M’s players.

“I thought the refereeing was fine,” Virtue said. “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.”