Winning decisively

JOHNSTOWN — Thursday night’s Laurel Mountain Hockey League championship started off like a heavyweight bout between Central Cambria and Forest Hills.

The Red Devils struck first 11 seconds in before the Rangers responded a couple of minutes later. Both sides then scored in a matter of 22 seconds.

Then, in the second period, Central Cambria found itself on the penalty kill once again, but this time lighting struck not once, but twice, and from there it felt like the first time the Red Devils would be champions from there on out.

Much like its semifinal win on Tuesday night against Altoona, top-seeded Central Cambria scored short-handed — this time twice — and the levee broke as they doubled up No. 2 Forest Hills, 11-5, to win the Ann Harris Smith Cup for the first time in school history at the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial.

“The shorthanded goals, just like Tuesday night, those just jumped the gun for us and we were off and running after that,” Central Cambria coach Bryce Boring said. “I’m proud of these guys. They put in the work all season long and they deserve it. (I’m) very proud of them.”

This gives the Red Devils the season series as well after having beat the Rangers 7-6 back on Feb. 3, and after falling in a 9-2 route on Nov. 12 in the clubs two regular-season meetings.

Austin Semelsberger once again powered the Red Devils scoring, with the initial goal that recorded another hat trick in back-to-back playoff games. He finished with five goals and two assists.

“I couldn’t really tell you,” Semelsberger said of the initial score. “I just chipped in and looked over to my buddy Zach (Lockard) and it’s in the back of the net.”

Connor Wolfhope, though, responded following some tic-tac-toe action to tie the game up at 1-1.

Semelsberger, on a feed from Lockard, struck again about five minutes in before Chase Secriskey responded with one from Wolfhope and Andrew Wilson to tie the game at 2-2 at the first intermission.

Semelsberger — along with his linemate Lockard who scored three of his own and added two helpers — had a simple way to describe their chemistry.

“We click,” Lockard said. “It’s a rare connection we have. If he’s not scoring, I am. If he is, I’m not. It’s incredible.”

“We played a couple of times at Indiana, but we just have a great chemistry and we finally got to play on the same (high school) team,” Semelsberger said. “I’m really grateful.”

Along with Brayden Rado who had an assist, Boring couldn’t have been more proud of the efforts of their explosive line.

“It was unreal stuff,” he said. “Rado and that red line, those two guys especially were just on tonight. Every phase of the ice, they were on, especially in the offensive zone.”

In the second period, the Red Devils flipped the momentum for good as T.J. Smith and Lockard scored in just under a minute to make it 6-3 at the second intermission.

“I don’t know what’s in the water down here, but it seems to work anytime we’re killing,” Boring said. “We take advantage of it somehow. It shows the dedication these guys have and the trust in each other.”

“It was like a bad bounce that came out quick and our guys were expected to be at the blue line,” Forest Hills coach John Kubas said of the back-to-back shorthanded goals allowed. “They got passed us. It was two bad bounces. That’s what kind of killed us.”

The Red Devils outshot the Rangers by an impressive 23-6 margin during the second stanza and finished with a 50-21 advantage.

While the Red Devils were celebrating, it was also a night where they were attempting to send one of the original members of the program out on a high note.

Tom Eckenrod has been with the Red Devil program since its inception. This season he stepped down to the assistant coach position. He decided that this would be his final game behind the bench.

Boring couldn’t be happier to send out the long-time former head coach of the Red Devils, and one of the guys who helped build the program, out on a high note.

“This means a lot to us, especially Tom Eckenrod,” he said. “He’s been here 18 years, so he’s built this program up and this is for him. We wanted our players to have this so bad, this is the first in program history. Tom, he’s been around forever. I couldn’t be more excited for him.”

SCORE BY PERIOD

Forest Hills 2 1 2 – 5

Central Cambria 2 4 5 – 11

First Period: 1,) CC – Semelsberger (Lockard), :11; 2,) FH – Wolfhope (I. Dibble, Wirfel), 3:29 PP; 3,) CC – Semelsberger (Lockard), 4:55; 4,) FH – Secriskey (Wolfhope, Wilson), 8:56 PP

Second Period: 5,) CC – Semelsberger (Stormer), 6:12; 6,) FH – Wolfhope (Secriskey), 6:34; 7,) Smith (Park), 8:05 SHG; 8,) CC – Lockard (Park), 9:00, SHG; 9,) CC – Williams (Martin), 15:18

Third Period: 10,) CC – Park (Smith), 2:07; 11,) CC – Lockard (Rado, Semelsberger), 4:18; 12,) CC – Lockard (Rado, Semelsberger), 4:46; 13,) CC – Semelsberger (unassisted), 9:25; 14,) FH – Dibble (unassisted), 10:09 PP; 15,) FH – Secriskey (unassisted), 11:40; 16,) Semelsberger (unassisted), 12:46.

Power Play: Forest Hills 2-for-3, Central Cambria 1-for-3

Goalies: Valko, FH, 38-48, Smiach, FH, 1-2; Jorinscay, CC, 16-21

Records: Forest Hills (15-5), Central Cambria (17-3)