Cassidy, Finn lead USC to PIHL playoff win
Austin Cassidy registered a hat trick and supplied an assist while Matt Finn recorded four assists and a goal as Upper St. Clair (7-14) coasted to victory, 7-1, against Shaler (6-15) in a preliminary round Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League playoff game at the Center Ice Arena.
Cassidy scored his first goal, off an assist from Finn, 5:15 into the contest. He also closed out the scoring with two, third-period goals. Finn and Alex Gialames assisted the first tally, which came 40 seconds into the final frame. Kasey Colcombe managed the other assist on a goal at the 7:13 mark.
After the Titans knotted the contest on a goal by Braedon Harbison at the 6:37 mark in the first frame, the Panthers reeled off four unanswered scores. Finn and Jacob Puccetti completed the first-period scoring while Zac Lazur and Matt Boyd supplied goals in the second stanza.
Boyd added two assists while Michael McCombs, Matt Woomer and Jacob Puccetti were credited with one each.
In goal for the Panthers, Tyler Finn stopped 21 of 22 shots.
Despite the two-goal performance of Reed Farber, Mt. Lebanon fell to Pine-Richland, 5-4, in overtime of a first-round Class AAA Penguins Cup playoff game at Ice Connection.
The Blue Devils trailed the Rams, 4-2, before Farber exploded for goals at the 14:56 and 16:31 marks of the third period to tie the contest and force overtime. Carl Nassar and George Farrell assisted the goals.
Kyle Cunningham scored 77 seconds into the extra period to lift the Rams to victory. A defenseman, Cunningham scored twice in the game. He tied the match, 2-2, at the end of the first frame.
Griffin Nelson and Stephen Sramac scored goals in the first period. Nassar and Thomas Kang assisted.
Andres Binotto posted the only tally in the second stanza and Ryan Cole’s power play goal 2:54 into the third period thrust the Rams into the lead, 4-2, before Farber’s heroics.
Lebo fired off 29 shots against Isaac Stephen. Joel Kirschner faced 33 shots and made 28 stops for the Blue Devils, who finished the year at 6-14-1 overall.
While Bishop Canevin topped North Hills, 7-2, at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Arena, Chartiers Valley (11-12) dropped a 7-4 decision to Eric Cathedral Prep (17-4-2) at the Mercyhurst Rink during first-round Class AA action.
After playing even with the Indians, 1-1, the Crusaders held a 4-1 edge in the second stanza before tacking on two more tallies in the third period.
Blaine Adams recorded a hat trick, scoring a goal in each period. Thomas Krivak, Randy Unger, Garrett Godlewski and Alec Bosnic also supplied tallies for the Crusaders, who improved to 21-2 overall.
Unger also dished up three assists. While Walsh collected two assists, Brennen Adams, Augustin Peponidis, Bosnic and Krivak each registered one.
In goal for the Crusaders, Nikita Meskin stopped 20 of 22 shots.
In the Colts’ loss to ECP, Cullen McMahon recorded a hat trick. While Tyler Stevenson managed two assists, Anthony Franks duplicated that effort and also scored the other goal, which afforded CV a brief, 1-0 advantage in the first period.
Benjamin Hartman and Dominic Slovic had single assists each.
In Class A action, South Fayette (4-18) succumbed to Quaker Valley, 8-1, at Airport Ice Arena.
Jordan Timmons scored the Lions’ lone tally off assists from Anthony Vallelunga and Michael Saunoras at the 6:01 mark of the third period to prevent the shutout
Wesley Sprecher was bombarded by 42 shots by the Quakers, who received two goals each from Ryan Lottes and Connor Quinn. James Perkins racked up three assists in addition to a score.