Team History
The Orchard Park Crossfire were formed in the Spring of 2007 when Robbie Young, Kendall Kerr, Keith Reeher, John-Thomas Baird, and Justin Kirkwood made the decision to enter a team into the New Castle YMCA Dek Hockey High School league. When the team was first formed Robbie Young was the captain, Keith Reeher and Kendall Kerr were the Alternate Captains, and Kendall Kerr was the General Manager. Soon after the team was formed they added a goaltender in Patrick Young, younger brother of captain Robbie Young, a stout defenseman in Colton Meals, and a future all-star talent in Chris Papp. The name "Crossfire" was decided on, the city name of Orchard Park came from the name of the housing development where the frequently practiced, and the original team colors were dark blue, yellow, and light blue.
The team won its first ever game against the Warriors, but followed that with a dismal performance resulting in a 23-2 blowout at the hands of the Gang Green, solidifying a rivalry that is still fiery today. From that point on the Crossfire competed well enough throughout the regular season to earn a spot in the Championship game. Their opponent should have been the Gang Green, but due to a scheduling issue, the Gang Green were forced to forfeit their spot in the finals, so the match-up for the game was the Orchard Park Crossfire vs. The Warriors. The Crossfire would go on to win the game handily, but it left the team feeling unfulfilled, knowing that it could have been a different story should the Gang Green have played.
The Crossfire wanted to create a new look going into th 2008 season of the New Castle YMCA Dek Hockey High School League, so they came up with the idea for a jersey that has become known as the "Easter Egg" jersey. This jersey was supposed to pull out the bright light blue from the original jerseys, but due to a miscommunication with the manufacture the jerseys came out an ugly shade of off-green. The team returned all of the team from the previous season, but made no new additions. The team was improved and it showed as the team competed closely thoughout the season with the Gang Green, even defeating the powerhouse team once in the regular season. The Crossfire once again earned a spot in the championship game, and were very enthused about the new format for the game, as it now became a best of three championship series. The Crossfire fought hard, both literally and figuratively in the first game, as Alternate Captain and General Manager Kendall Kerr got into a scrum behind his the Gang Green net with Kevin Zubasic. This fight quickly escalated before the referees broke it up and awarded penalty shots to both teams, neither of which scored and the Crossfire eventually dropped the first game 4-2. In the second game, the Crossfire jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but the Gang Green, powered by the play of Scott McKee stormed back to take the game 4-3 and, in turn, the Championship as well.
Following the disappointing loss to the Gang Green, the Crossfire went through an off-season of turmoil. Certain members of the team wanted to bring in other players, change the name, and even at one point split the team. At one point in time, talks occurred that dissolved the team into two new teams: The Volant Fighting Amish and the Eastbrook 69ers. Eventually most of the team came back together and it was decided that the Orchard Park Crossfire would continue. After the off-season talks and due to unrelated work issues, many team members were lost before the start of the Summer of 2009 season. Kendall Kerr and Robbie Young both left the team for the summer, promoting Keith Reeher to team Captain and General Manager. Defensive talent Colton Meals suffered season ending knee surgery, Justin Kirkwood had decided to retire, and John-Thomas Baird ran into contractual problems with the YMCA and forced to only play a limited schedule. To deal with the man-power shortage, Reeher brought in some unknown talents in brothers Mark and Joe Deems, as well as Justin Aller, Clayton Deems, and Kyle Hartle. At one point in the season, the team also brought in former rival and League MVP Scott Mckee. Due to the age of the team, the Crossfire were forced to move into the most competitive League in the county, The New Castle YMCA Dek Hockey Adult League. The competition that this league brought was much tougher than that of the High School League and the the Crossfire would struggle in their first few games. However, after the addition of Mckee, and some continued cohesion amongst the team, they found themselves in the playoffs yet again. Due mainly to the fact that the Adult League had more teams, there was not just a championship game, but rather a single-elimination playoff format. Once again, the Crossfire lost a close game, and were unable to pick up the post-season win.
When the fall came around in 2009, General Manager Keith Reeher had made the decision to attend the Pennsylvania State University along with original team members John-Thomas Baird and Robbie Young. Robbie decided that if they were able to form a team in State College as well he would come back and play for the team again. After searching though different leagues that the school had to offer, Reeher, in collaboration with Young and Baird, made the decision to join the Penn State Club Foot Hockey League. From the free agents availible before the season, the Orchard Park Crossfire claimed talented players Buddy Doyle, Beau Bachman, Peter Koffler, Ben McClay, Lee Hartle, and Mitch Good. It took a little bit of learning all of the new players but by the end of the season the team was playing pretty well and was pleased with the fourth seed the team had managed to attain going into the playoffs. The luck of the draw was not on the side of the team however, as they had to play Ryan Gannon is God, a team that consisted of many of the Penn State Ice Hockey players and who were very talented. The Crossfire once again put forth a valiant effort but fell short and lost the game 4-2.
Loosing only a couple of players and adding Josh Joll and Andy Grzywacz made the team a much more difficult out in the Spring Season of the PSCFHL. Supported by a defense that held the Mifflin 4ce to a mere four shots in one game, a tenacious forecheck that caused a benchclearing brawl against team rival Dick Justice, and the scoring of Beau Bachman who lead the team through the course of the season with seven goals, the Orchard Park Crossfire pushed their way to a 3-2-2 record which was good enough for a spot in the playoffs. Unfortuently for the Crossifre they were matched again against the reining champions, Ryan Gannon is God, who eeked out a tough win over the Crossfire 3-2.
The Summer Season of 2010 was a break-out season for the Crossfire. The Crossfire added talents such as John Domin and the Filer brothers Greg and John. Also, the team moved Robbie Young to goal, and he became a rock that the team would realize they could not win without. After a big first win against the league's reining champions, the Rebellion, the Crossfire were matched up against an old foe. The Gang Green had changed their name to the Ripsticks, and all-star Scott Mckee was back leading them again. The game was chippy and hard-nosed. About halfway through the third period, frustrated with the fact they were loosing 5-2, Keith Reeher took a run at a Ripstick, and a brawl ensued. In the end, Reeher was only given a two minute minor, but goaltender Robbie Young, forward Kendall Kerr, and forward John-Thomas Baird were ejected from the game along with three Ripsticks. The game was then called because the Crossfire did not have a backup goaltender, and suspensions were then handed out. Kendall Kerr received three games, and thus decided to end his season. Robbie Young also received three games but decided to return, and John-Thomas Baird recieved only a one game suspension. Without their goaltender for three games, the Crossfire dropped three straight games and it looked as thought they might not even make the playoffs. However, after about a week break, and with Young coming back in net, the Crossfire won six of their last seven and five straight to close out the season. During this stretch, Mark Deems and John Domin exploded, with Deems setting Crossfire single season records in goals and points. Keith Reeher and John-Thomas Baird also got in on the record breaking, with Reeher breaking the single season assist record and Baird breaking the single game assist record. However, even this new high-powered machine was not enough to get the team out of the first round of the playoffs, as the team fell short to eventual league runner up Unskilled, 8-7 .
Back in Penn State in the fall, the team welcomed back most of the team from the fall, and brought in Austin Maddox, who would find his scoring touch with a four goal game in the fall, and Ryan "Beef" Brennan, a power forward who never managed to tickle the twine but defiantly made other teams feel his physical presence. Mitch Good had his best season statistically in net, posting four shut-outs throughout the course of the season and a 1.50 GAA. The defensive foursome of Keith Reeher, Beau Bachman, Buddy Doyle, and Josh Joll came into their own having the teams best year collectively on defense. The team achieved a record of 5-3 and attained a third seed in the playoffs. This year the Crossfire picked up a playoff win against The Third Reich due to forfiet. The Third Reich did not show up after the Crossfire dismantled them in the regular season 10-0. In the semi-finals of the playoffs the Crossfire were faced with playing That's What She Said. TWSS's high-powered offense took it to the Crossfire's stalwart defense that was only allowing a goal and a half a game, posting four goals on the squad, defeating them 4-2 on route to an eventual championship.
And that all lead to the spring 2011, and with new addition of Dan McGarvey, the Crossfire are on a mission for their second Championship, and their first since their inaugural season.
