Journey to Hershey—So Sweet! Pam Dillie
Students in Pam Dillie’s second level class at Baker created the Hershey banner from Hershey Candy bar wrappers and every Baker student signed it. The banner made the trip to Hershey Park with the team. What community spirit!
The Upper St. Clair High School
boys’ soccer team has high expectations when they begin a season—in fact, Mounds of expectations. The Panthers routinely contend for the Section 5 championship and often fare well in the WPIAL championships, winning a WPIAL title as recently as the 2000 season. When this year’s squad came in second in their section to perennial
Tony Robino sets the ball in motion.
rival Peters Township and followed that performance with a strong WPIAL playoff run, the general belief was that the season was successful. But when the Panthers bowed out of the WPIAL playoffs with a loss to highly ranked Fox Chapel, the best part of their season was still in front of them. Upper St. Clair’s journey to the PIAA State championship was as sweet as the candies that made Hershey famous. The Panthers’ run that ended with a huge PayDay in Hershey began with a game against State College High School from Huntingdon. The game was closely contested from beginning to end. Trailing 2-1 with time running short, senior Jeff Rickel scored a Whopper of a goal with just 16.9 seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime. A goal by junior Scott Dillie with 7.9 seconds remaining in the fourth and final overtime turned the Little Lions into Kit Kats and sent the Panthers onto the second round. The next opponent for the Panthers was Hampton, who advanced by defeating WPIAL champion Peters Township
Upper St. Clair School District Report Card In accordance with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, the Upper
St. Clair School District presented its first annual School District Report Card. This report, mailed to families registered in the Upper St. Clair School District, provides detailed information about student achievement under the NCLB provisions. It contains data from the 2002 and 2003 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests given to students in grades five, eight and 11 in mathematics and reading and was mailed this past fall. If you would like to review a copy of this report contact School District administration offices at 412-833-1600, extension 2202 or visit the District’s website: www.uscsd.k12.pa.us and click on to District Information where the USCSD Report Card link can be found. 34
UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY
Spring 2004
in the first round. As always, Upper St. Clair’s defense was Good, and Plenty of the credit for the win went to junior goalkeeper Andrew Baldasare for a key save on a penalty shot in the first half. Goals by junior Brett Fackenthal and senior Jeff Rickel made the Panthers Jolly Ranchers, and sent them onto a showdown with another rival—Mt. Lebanon. The Mt. Lebanon game was a rematch of the previous year’s WPIAL championship game. Brett Fackenthal’s second tally of the match was on a Bazooka of a shot, and was the game winning goal. The game’s final score was 3-1 and avenged a loss by the same score in the 2002 WPIAL championship. The victory over Mt. Lebanon sent the Panthers to Hershey to meet West Chester East in the PIAA championship game. In another closely fought
Cole Conboy, Mike Walters-Slezak and Mitch Minerd are all smiles after the winning goal.
battle the Panthers used 80 minutes of regulation time and over two minutes of overtime to decide the match. At the 2: 40 mark of overtime, a corner kick by senior captain Tony Rubino was settled just outside the goalie box by junior Mitchell Minerd. Minerd sent the ball towards goal where it was deflected by Scott Dillie before junior Andy Machi scored the championship goal off a beautiful header. When the ball hit the back of the net the Upper St. Clair stands were full of Hugs and Kisses. The Panthers’ journey to the chocolate capital of the world proved that they are the best boys’ soccer team in the state— bar none!