Peters Township coasts to PHIL title
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP – When a hockey team scores eight goals in a championship game, it is easy to credit the offense for the victory, but Peters Township head coach Rick Tingle puts his stock in the adage that defense wins titles.
Although the Indians jumped all over Upper St. Clair, scoring from the get-go, nine seconds into the PIHL final, they won their second straight Class 3A title Monday at the UPMC-Lemieux Sports Complex, 8-1, on the strength of their defense.
The Panthers came into the game having upset the No. 2 seed Central Catholic as well as No. 6 Pine-Richland. They had totaled 12 playoff goals.
“The most important thing was shutting down St. Clair because they have a potent offense and they have shown that in the last couple weeks in the playoffs,” Tingle said. “That was our real focus.”
While the Indians bombarded the Panthers’ goal with 34 shots, the PT defense held USC to 18.
Koby Ringwald anchored the defense. He had assistance from Richie Woods, Joey Wateska and Wesley Forester. Kyle Thomas excelled in the nets, managing a .944 save percentage.
“It’s the whole team. All five guys in the zone. The (Ryder) Mertens line. The (Will) Tomko line,” Tingle said, “but Koby was really the star of the game in my mind. He just had an unbelievable effort of shutting them down out there with Wateska, Woods and Forester. Those four took the lion’s share of the ice. They did what we needed them to do.”
The Peters Township offense did what it needed to do, too. The Indians wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.
Nine seconds into the contest, Austin Malley scored off an assist from Ringwald.
USC coach David Stock said there was an element to that early goal setting the tone, but he credited Peters Township and their experience of playing in title matches.
“They have been here before and they played like it,” he said. “They were faster out of the hop. We found our legs but they did a great job of taking them out at the very beginning.”
Peters Township took the wind out of USC’s sails completely as they steamrolled ahead, scoring six unanswered goals.
Troy Jones scored the first of his two goals 4:35 later. Mertens assisted.
The lead swelled to 4-0 before the first period ended. Cole Neupaver and Ben Kovac had even-strength goals. Will Tomko picked up two assists. Kovac also assisted on Neupaver’s tally.
The Indians stretched their margin to 7-0 on a pair of Kovac goals, at 6:05 and 12:12, as well as a score by Tomko. Malley collected two assists while Tomko and Kovac had one each.
Colin Ruffner snapped Kyle Thomas’s shutout bid when he registered USC’s lone goal at the 13:21 mark in the second period. Zachary Hardy and Gregory Timmons were credited with assists.
“We had two choices,” Stock said. “Either fight or not fight. We were going to go out and shoot the puck and see what happens. You can hurt in there (the locker room) but don’t let anybody else see it. We are family. That was the message and they did a good job with it.”
Jones picked up his second goal of the game and capped PT’s scoring 2:27 into the final period. Camden Martin and Wesley Forester assisted.
Jones said, the Indians clicked, because they did all the little things right.
“Putting pucks on the net. Working harder. Shooting. Testing the goalie and scoring goals and playing defense,” he said. “Defense is a big part and we did that. We got the job done and we won. I am proud of my team and happy for everyone. I am happy we could come out here and win.”
While it was the first title for Jones – he was not on the variety last year – Kovac was happy to win a second Penguins Cup. He finished with three goals and two assists.
“We stepped on them early and kept scoring. Our line was just buzzing, making great passes,” he said. “We were prepared for them but I did not think we would score that many that quick.
“We are really deep though and we can play all four lines. They can all contribute both offensively and defensively. That makes this team special and two titles means a lot but we still have the state championships. We want to go back-to-back there.”
Tingle agreed. He noted the team has been playing exceptionally well the last several weeks. “It’s obviously part of our DNA right now,” he said.
“Back-to-back doesn’t mean anything right now. It means nothing until Saturday.”
Peters Townhship will play at 5 p.m. Saturday in the state championship game at Robert Morris University Island Sports Center.