Peters Township, South Fayette advance in PIHL playoffs
Peters Township (15-5-1) defeated Baldwin, 6-2, while South Fayette (17-3) edged Armstrong, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals in the Penguins Cup hockey tournament.
The Indians will face Pine-Richland at 8:45 p.m. March 14 while the Lions will take on Franklin Regional at 9 p.m. on March 15.
Both semifinal matchups will be held at the RMU Island Sports Center.
Winners advance to the PIHL finals scheduled for March 21-22 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
In a PIHL Class AAA quarterfinal game played at the Printscape Arena at Southpointe in Canonsburg, the Indians dispatched the Highlanders, who were PIHL and state champions at the AA level in 2021. They also avenged two regular-season losses to Baldwin.
Though the Indians jumped off to a 2-0 advantage on first-period goals by Ben Kovac and Austin Malley, the Highlanders fought back, pulling within a goal on Ryan Sulinski’s tally at 2:23 in the third period.
Peters Township, however, scored three unanswered goals to put the game away. During the spree, Cooper Slavin, Chase Stauffer and Kovac scored even-strength goals.
William Tomko finished with a goal and two assists for the Indians.
Malley also garnered two assists in the win. Slavin and Ryder Martens had single assists.
Nolan Hilbert got the win in the nets, stopping 20 of 22 shots on goal. The Indians put 38 shots on goal.
In a PIHL Class AA matchup at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center, Brandon Timmins and Trevor Dalessandro propelled South Fayette to its overtime victory.
Timmins excelled in goal, stopping 22 of 23 shots, and Dalessandro scored the game-winner at 1:48 in overtime.
Wes Schrwarzmiller assisted on the even-strength goal. His second-period goal at 19:05 snapped a scoreless tie.
Armstrong’s Lance Quinnell scored at 19:56 of the third period to knot the contest and force the extra period.
Lebo falls
Seneca Valley eliminated Mt. Lebanon, 3-1, in a Class AAA game played at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center.
The Raiders constructed a 2-0 advantage before Conner Ribstein ended their shutout bid with an even-strength goal at 13:04 of the third period.
Jack Portman and Liam Byrne racked up assists on the play.
The Blue Devils put 31 shots on goal but goaltender Jonathan Nichols had the hot hand for the Raiders.
In the nets for the Blue Devils, Tommy Schubert faced 26 shots.
The Blue Devils finished the year at 12-8 overall after finishing fourth in the Class AAA standings. They had beaten the Raiders twice during the regular season, 3-1 and 4-2.
BP ousted
Bethel Park (8-11) dropped a 8-1 decision to North Allegheny in its PIHL Class AAA playoff game on March 8 at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale.
After the Tigers mounted a 6-0 lead, Matt Lucido found the net for BP’s only goal. Colin Nebel assisted on the tally that came at the 6:20 mark in the third period.
BP put only 11 shots on goal while Luke Duda was bombarded by 34 shots by the Tigers.