HAVERTOWN, Pa. -- Moments after Beaver senior Dustin Hawthorne scored what appeared to be his third goal of the Class AA Pennsylvania Cup championship game, a Bobcats fan tossed a shoe onto the ice at the Skatium.
No, it wasn't a new form of celebration for a three-goal performance, at least not according to the goal scorer.
"I guess they ran out of hats," said Hawthorne, who later had a goal taken away by the scorekeeper. "We scored a couple of them."
Thanks to senior Dan Miller, the Beaver student section was out of hats to throw. Miller did get a hat trick -- a natural one in the first period -- and Beaver scored the game's first five goals on its way to an 8-4 victory against Archbishop Carroll.
It is the first Pennsylvania Cup title for Beaver (21-4-1) since 1991. Archbishop Carroll (16-4) lost in the final for the second consecutive year. Thomas Jefferson won the title last season.
"It stunned me how fast [we came out]," Beaver Coach Bob Hawthorne said. "They made some turnovers, and we capitalized on them, which was good because they picked it up in the second and third periods."
Beaver scored its first five goals in an eight-minute, 47-second span in the first period. Dustin Hawthorne, who finished with two goals and two assists, gave Beaver an early lead with a breakaway goal at 3:13. Anthony Spagnola made it 2-0 only 43 seconds later with a sharp-angle shot between the legs of Patriots goalie Salvatore Tecce.
That's when Miller took over. He weaved through the Patriots' defense before flipping a shot over Tecce's glove at 11:30, and then beat Tecce with a screened wrist shot two minutes later. He completed his hat trick on a breakaway with a quick deke and a backhand shot to the stick side with three minutes left in the period.
"I saw him cheat to the forehand on Dustin's breakaway, so I thought he'd bite on mine, too," Miller said. "We got those first five goals and knocked a lot out of them."
Despite being outshot, 12-5, in the first period, the Patriots did not quit. Archbishop Carroll scored consecutive goals by David Moccia, Tai Ung and Stefano Tecce to cut the lead to 5-3 at 5:01 of the second period, but the Patriots couldn't get any closer.
Beaver's Brian Cary gave the Bobcats some breathing room a minute later, deflecting home a pass from Brian Thel near the crease, and Doug Miller and Hawthorne extended the lead to 7-4 with 4:49 left.
E-mail this story 
