GCC stars conspicuous by their absence

Two Greensburg Central Catholic all-stars were conspicuous by their absence Sunday at the PIHL Class AA game at Bladerunners in Warrendale.

Forward Paul Jonnet missed the game with a torn muscle in his shoulder and was replaced by Kittanning's Ty Heller. Jonnet will have an MRI on Tuesday to determine the severity of the injury.

Defenseman A.J. Wassenaar was at the game, but he was sporting a cast as a result of a broken ankle. Matt Mattei of Greensburg Salem took his place.

Wassenaar would have shored up the defense for the Northeast Conference, which lost 12-7 to the Southwest stars. Jonnet would have provided some added scoring punch.

'There's no doubt they would have helped us,' Northeast coach Ron Hellen said. 'It's unfortunate that they couldn't play.'

'A.J. would have been the best defenseman on the ice,' Northeast assistant and Greensburg Central Catholic coach Butch Marietta said. 'He can bring the puck up the ice, and that's something we needed.'

This was the first all-star selection for Wassenaar, a senior. Jonnet, also a senior, was on the squad last season.

'I feel bad for A.J. because this was his first year here,' Marietta said. 'It must be just killing him that he can't play.'

Wassenaar's injuries gave Mattei, a senior blueliner for the Golden Lions, his first all-star appearance.

'This (past) Friday, somebody called and said that a player from Central was hurt and that I was going to play,' Mattei said. 'I was shocked at first, but then I was pretty excited.'

Hempfield Area forward Ty Musa did not play in the Class AAA game and was replaced by Fox Chapel's Boo White. Ryan Cetti of Deer Lakes, Quigley's Matt Puntureri and Center's Dan Pollack sat out the Class A game. They were replaced by Adam Becker of Richland Cambria, Bobby Beckart of Mars and Jeff Midgely of West Allegheny.

THE SHOWCASE
The Somerset trio of Brandon Brant, Chad Ziegler and Kyle Mosholder impressed many in the Class A game. Brant scored a goal and had two assists, Ziegler had a goal and Mosholder stopped nine shots as the Northeast team won 6-2.

Playing for Somerset, which has never won more than five games in a season before this year but is 12-3-1 in 2000-01, often means playing in obscurity. But these three are out to change that.

'This is the first year that we've been on that kind of streak,' Mosholder said. 'A lot of good things have happened this year that people weren't expecting us to do.'

Brant leads the PIHL with 87 points, while Ziegler and his younger brother, Brett, had contributed 60 and 55 points, respectively.

'We play really well together,' Brant said. 'We've been playing so long together we really know each other and what each other can do.'

So, can upstart Somerset compete in a classification that boasts Quigley and Serra• These three seem to think so.

'I think we have a good shot,' Ziegler said.

Defenseman Tyler Shumaker also represented Somerset in the game.

LOCAL UPDATE
Matt Shipley of Greensburg Central Catholic scored two goals in the Class AA game. 'It's always good to score,' he said. 'But it was fun. You play with the guys growing up. I played with 10 or 15 of them.' Shipley's teammate from the Centurions, Tom Ward, added an assist. ... Greensburg Salem forward Ryan Silvis scored his first all-star goal in the first period on the AA contest. It was a power play marker. 'When I scored I was really excited,' he said. 'It was exciting just being here. Two years ago, I thought I was going to make it but I didn't. I'm just glad to be here.' ... Also in the AA game, Greater Latrobe's K.C. Hahey had two assists, while Nathan Slafka of Norwin scored a goal and added a helper. In the Class AAA game, Franklin Regional's Matt Gallagher tallied a goal and an assist, and his brother Matt registered an assist.