Seneca Valley ends Peters Township’s reign as PIHL champions
Eleanor Bailey/Almanac
Conrad Deemer controls the puck despite defensive pressure from a Seneca Valley defender during PIHL Class AAA championship action.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Torrey Schwartz grimaces as he realizes Peters Township’s opportunity to become the first Class AAA club to repeat at Penguins Cup champions since Bethel Park accomplished the feat from 2000-02 will not happen because Seneca Valley defeated the Indians, 4-2, in the PIHL final played March 20 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
A disappointed Alex Wilbert waits to congratulate Seneca Valley players after the Raiders unseated Peters Township as Penguins Cup champions. As a freshman, Wilbert helped the Indians claim the PIHL Class AAA title but his attempts to aid them in their attempts to repeat failed as the Raiders scored a 4-2 win in the championship game played March 20 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Wilbert handled 30 shots on goal.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Cal Raymore maneuvers his way between Seneca Valley defenders Will Hohman and Nate Lenze on his way to scoring a goal for Peters Township. Despite his tally, the Indians lost to the Raiders, 4-2, in the PIHL Class AAA championship game.
Eleanor Bailey/Almanac
Seneca Valley’s Giovanni Sarachine (No. 87) and Peters Township’s Mitchell Creehan watch as the puck soars in their direction during PIHL Class AAA championship action. Seneca Valley defeated Peters Township, 4-2.
The end of Peters Township’s reign as ice hockey champions came swiftly.
In all of 13 ticks of the clock, Seneca Valley dethroned the Indians as Penguins Cup champions when the Raiders scored a pair of second-period goals on their way to a 4-2 victory in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League’s Class AAA championship game played March 20 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
With the game deadlocked, 1-1, Tyler Draper took a pass from Bryce Korner and deposited the puck into the PT net at the 7:41 mark of the second period. At 7:54, Michael Spokane provided a two-goal cushion for the Raiders when he scored off an assist from Noah Watkiss.
Though Jack Underwood narrowed the gap to 3-2 with a tally four minutes later, the Raiders controlled the remaining action. Geoffrey Poon assisted Underwood’s goal, which came at 11:07 in the second frame.
With under a minute to play, the Raiders iced their triumph with an empty-netter scored by Giovanni Sarachine.
The Raiders dominated the action from the get-go. They catapulted into the lead, 1-0, when Jackson Blucher stuffed the first goal of the game into the net. Korner assisted the score, which occurred at 8:57 of the first frame.
Less than four minutes into the second-stanza, Cal Raymore netted the equalizer for the Indians. Underwood and Conrad Deemer assisted on the power-play goal.
Aside from Seneca Valley’s second-period scoring flurry, which came four minutes after PT’s equalizer, the teams managed a near-even assault on the other’s net.
The Raiders put 30 shots on goal against Alex Wilbert, who last year as a freshman was heroic in the nets as the Indians won the PIHL title as well as the Pennsylvania state championship. The Indians managed 28 shots on goal against Logan Johnson.
In addition to attempting to defend their titles, the Indians were trying to become the first Class AAA club to repeat as Penguins Cup champions since Bethel Park accomplished the feat, capturing three titles in a row from 2000-02 when they scored first.
Instead, the Indians ended the year on a sour note after having won the Class AAA regular-season championship with a 14-4 record, which included a 2-1 overtime thriller against Seneca Valley. In the league standings, the Raiders finished in a tie for second place with Cathedral Prep, whom they defeated in the semifinals.