Peters Township edges North Allegheny in PIHL semifinals
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Cal Raymore breaks away from North Allegheny’s Matthew Morrison during PIHL semifinal playoff action. The Indians topped the Tigers, 2-1, to advance to the championship game for the second straight season.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Conrad Deemer chases down the puck despite the defensive pressure presented by Will Parreaguirre during Peters Township’s 2-1 victory against North Allegheny in the PIHL Class AAA semifinal playoff game.
For the second year in a row, Peters Township advanced to the finals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League playoffs. By virtue of a 2-1 victory against North Allegheny in the semifinals played March 15 at RMU Island Sports Center, the Indians earned the right to defend their Penguins Cup.
(Peters Township battled Seneca Valley for the Class AAA title at 8:30 p.m. March 20 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The results of the game were too late to be published in the printed edition of The Almanac.)
The Indians jumped on the Tigers immediately, recording two, first-period goals to vault into the lead they never relinquished.
Seven minutes into the semifinal contest, Conner Gielarowski put Peters on the scoreboard. Geoffry Poon and Mitchell Creehan were credited with assists.
Less than a minute later, at the 8:32 mark in the period, Mark Lehman provided the two-goal cushion with his unassisted tally.
Though the Tigers struck quickly to narrow the margin 52 seconds into the second stanza on a tally by Tyler Lamark, assisted by Aaron Miller and Bernardo Vieira, the Peters defense shut down any further rushes on the net.
In a relatively clean contest-only five penalties were accessed-the Indians relied on Alex Wilbert in the nets. The sophomore handled 21 shots while Peters Township fired off 32 shots against Richard Karapandi.
Meanwhile, Seneca Valley reached the finals and a showdown with Peters Township after the Raiders edged Cathedral Prep, 3-2. Tyler Draper scored the gamewinner at 8:16 in the third period. Giovanni Sarachine netted the assist. Sarachine also scored a goal as did Noah Watkiss.
The Raiders finished in a two-way tie with Cathedral Prep for second place in the PIHL Class AAA standings during the regular season with a 12-6 record. Peters Township won the division with a 14-4 mark. In head-to-head competition, Peters topped the Raiders, 2-1, back on Jan. 22.
The winner of the Class AAA championship game will advance to the Pennsylvania championships to be held March 24 at the Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester.
Other action
In other PIHL playoff action, Meadville dispatched South Fayette, 3-1.
In the Class A semifinal played March 13 at the RMU Island Center, John Trinkala tallied the goal for the Lions midway through the first frame but the Bulldogs had sandwiched two scores by Nick Frantz around that to edge ahead, 2-1, to start the second period. Alex Gizzie provided the two-goal cushion with his score at the 7:29 mark in the third period.
In Class AA, Upper St. Clair lost to Armstrong, 11-4.
Joseph Pulit, Devin Rohrich, Sam Sweet and Michael Daley III scored goals for the Panthers.
Quinn Giacobbe racked up three assists. Pulit, Daley, Rohrich, Willem Yongo and Jonah Manalo registered assists.
The Panthers advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a 1-0 forfeit win against Hampton. The Talbots had used an ineligible player in their 6-2 win against USC, resulting in the forfeiture.