Peters Township reaches Penguins Cup finals
Peters Township (16-5-1) will battle for its seventh Penguins Cup trophy and first since 2017 when the Indians face Seneca Valley (13-7-2) in the PIHL Class AAA championship game being played at 6:30 p.m. March 21 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
The Indians advanced to the championship match by blanking Pine-Richland, 5-0, in a semifinal contest played March 15 at the RMU Island Sports Center on Neville Island. The Rams finished 16-6 overall.
Since the turn of the century, the Indians and Rams have battled for seven titles. The Indians won four titles from 2002-06 while the Rams won PIHL crowns from 2007-09.
Additionally the Rams had beaten the Indians twice during the regular season, winning the opener in October, 8-1, and the second encounter in December, 5-4, before the tables were turned.
Nolan Hilbert earned the shutout in goal for Peters. He turned back 21 shots.
Chase Stauffer and William Tomko propelled Peters into the lead, 3-0.
After Stauffer scored an even-strength goal at 6:06 in the first period, he and Tomko notched back-to-back tallies, 12 seconds apart in the second period.
At 7:34, Stauffer collected the rebound from a shot by Ryder Mertens and flipped a shot passed Daniel Mooney. Cooper Slavin also earned an assist on the play.
At 7:46, Tomko scored off an assist from Austin Malley.
In the third period, Slavin and Ben Kovac scored empty-netters at 13:52 and 15:19. Slavin’s goal was short-handed.
Tomko and Malley assisted on Kovac’s goal.
On Stauffer’s initial strike, Mertens and Carson Alexander assisted.
The Raiders reached the finals by toppling No. 1 seed and two-time defending champion North Allegheny, 2-1. The Tigers, who beat the Indians in the 2019 final, finished the year at 18-3-1. They had beaten Seneca Valley twice during the regular season.
SF fallsFor the second time in the AA playoffs, South Fayette had to work overtime.
Unlike a positive result in the quarterfinals, however, the Lions lost their bid to compete in the Penguins Cup final when they dropped a 3-2 decision to Franklin Regional.
In the semifinal clash played March 15 at the RMU Island Sports Center, Matty Knizer scored the game winner for the Panthers at the 7:08 mark in overtime.
The tally vaulted FR into the finals for the second straight year. The Panthers will play Thomas Jefferson in the PIHL Class AA championship game set for 6:30 p.m. March 22 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.
The Lions staked a 1-0 lead when Trent Dalessandro scored 17 seconds into the contest. Brayden Imler assisted.
After a scoreless second period, Chase Williams tied the game 77 seconds into the third period. Williams also scored the equalizer at 13:15.
In between the goals by Williams, Wes Schwarzmiller scored for the Lions, giving them a 2-1 edge at 8:26 in the third period. Dylan Walsh and Brady Fleck assisted on the even-strength goal.
In the nets, Brandon Timmins faced 26 shots on goal, stopping 23. The Lions put 30 SOG against Alex Dauber.