PIHL to crown new champions
Peters Township, South Fayette toppled
The PIHL will crown new Penguins Cup champions in Class AAA as well as AA when the league hosts the finals March 18-19 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Pine-Richland and Penn-Trafford saw to that as the Rams and Warriors toppled the defending champions during recent PIHL playoff action.
Pine-Richland (17-4-1) used a three-goal, third period to topple two-time Class AAA champion Peters Township, 4-2, in the semifinals played March 11 at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center.
It was the third meeting this season between the two squads, but the first time this winter the Rams triumphed. They did so by overcoming a 2-0 deficit and reeling off four unanswered tallies to post the victory.
With 2:44 to play in third period, Josh Lanyard notched the game-winning goal. Zack Howard added an empty-netter for an insurance tally.
Peters Township jumped off to a 2-0 lead, scoring goals within 29 seconds of each other in the first frame. Brady Holleran registered the initial tally at 2:31 while Charlie Caputo followed at 2:40. Caputo’s goal was assisted by Zach Palmieri.
Pine-Richland cut the lead in half, 2-1, when Benjamin Baileys scored on a power play at 7:53 of the second stanza. Zachary Howard and Cullen Campbell assisted.
In the third period, Aj Verszyla tied the contest, 2-2, with his even-strength goal at 5:45.
The Indians outshot the Rams, 30-26, but Brett Sudac stopped 21 attempts on goal after the Rams fell behind by two scores. Kyle Thomas turned away 22 shots for the Indians, who finished the season at 15-5-1 overall.
Peters Township reached the semifinals by edging Upper St. Clair, 3-2, in overtime during a first-round playoff game held March 5 at Printscape Arena in Southpointe.
Camden Martin scored the game-winning goal nearly five minutes into the extra period.It was his second score of the game.
Martin registered the first goal of the game. Joey Wateska assisted before Eli Rankin evened the score two minutes later for the Panthers. Dylan Yealy assisted Rankin’s goal coming at 11:41 of the first period.
After a scoreless second stanza, Cavan Fisher put Peters Township in the lead again. Bryce O’Donnell and Brady Holleran assisted the tally at 10:53.
Yealy provided an unassisted even-strength goal at 12:45 to tie the contest in the third period and push the teams to overtime.
In Class AA, Penn-Trafford toppled South Fayette, 4-3, in a first-round PIHL playoff game March 4 at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center.
After trading goals in the first period, the Warriors broke open the game with single tallies in the second and third stanza. Gavin Paterson scored the tie-breaking goal at 16:16 of the second period. Robert Thatcher added the insurance, and game-winning tally, at 16:14 in the third period.
Twenty-one seconds later, Jackson Brandebura scored off an assist from Robert Chiappetta but Tyler Funk thwarted South Fayette’s comeback attempt, making 31 saves in the net.
Tyler Brandebura scored the first goal of the game to give the Lions a 1-0 advantage. Trevor Dalessandro and Nolan Murphy assisted the tallied, which occurred at 6:11.
After Ben Zierski’s equalizer 18 seconds later, Bennett Malky put South Fayette back into the lead at 10:18. Eli Petter and Brady Fleck assisted.
Cam Kiste tied the contest at 16:44.
Grayson Sarnowski and Zachary Bender shared time in the nets for the Lions, facing 34 shots on goal.
OTHER GAMES
Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon’s run in the playoffs was short. Both dropped out of the action in the first round. The Black Hawks lost to Pine-Richland, 3-1, while the Blue Devils succumbed to Seneca Valley, 3-0, in games played March 4 at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale.
Ryan Tierney registered the lone goal for Bethel Park. Dough Hartman assisted the second-period power-play goal.