PIHL High School Hockey Notebook – 02/04/2013

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 4, 2013 | 12:37 PM

Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook,” your weekly companion to “The PIHL Power Play” on the MSA Sports Network. As usual, have your weekly thermometer of streaking teams in “Melting the Ice.” Plus, the “Scoreboard Watch” includes some intriguing upsets in Class AAA and Class AA. Finally, our upcoming broadcast preview spotlights a big rivalry in Section 1-AAA. So, let’s light the lamp on this edition of “PIHL Notebook.”

MELTING THE ICE:

Class AAA: North Allegheny (7-0-1), Peters Township (7-0-0), State College (5-0-0)

Class AA: Latrobe (8-0-0), Bishop Canevin (4-0-0)

Class A: Quaker Valley (15-0-0), Mars (12-0-1), Serra Catholic (3-0-0), Kittanning (3-0-0)

Open Class: Blackhawk (16-0-1), Indiana (5-0-0), Keystone Oaks (5-0-0), Morgantown (4-0-0), Greensburg Salem (4-0-0), Harbor Creek (3-0-1)

SCOREBOARD WATCH:

1/28/13 – Class AAA – Section 3 – Penn-Trafford 9, Norwin 6 … The Warriors (3-12-0) and the Knights (9-8-0) skated to a 2-2 tie through 17 minutes of action, and Norwin seemed to have things in hand with a 4-2 lead just 3:12 into the second. However, Penn-Trafford would score the next six goals en route to victory. Jonah Graffius (3 G, 2 SH, 1 A) paced the PT attack, Jacob Miller also netted a hat trick and Tyler Wyckoff scored twice on the power play, including the winner at 3:12 of the third. For Norwin, Dan Merz (1 G, 3 A), Marc Swankler (2 G, 1 A) and Tim Palmer (1 G, 2 A) all registered multiple points. As for the goaltending, Jacob Proskin did make 37 saves to earn the victory.

1/29/13 – Class AAA – Non-Section – Peters Township 4, Seneca Valley 1 … The Indians (11-4-0) got all the offense they would need with two goals in the first. The Raiders (10-4-1) cut the lead in half just 27 seconds into the third, but Alex Debolt (3 G, 1 PP, 1 A) would seal the deal with a power play goal at 7:49 and an empty-netter at 16:49. Adam Alavi (1 PPG, 2 A) got the winner at 6:17 of the first while Brad Tylenda and Trevor Recktenwald each set up two goals. Seneca Valley got its lone goal from Chris Marziotto while Tanner Pfeffer made 27 saves. For Peters Township, Jesse Borne only had to make 13 stops to pick up the win.

1/30/13 – Class AA – Non-Section – Latrobe 6, Erie Cathedral Prep 3 … The lone varsity contest on this day turned into a statement for the Wildcats (12-1-0) in defeating the Ramblers (9-4-0), last year’s silver medalist. Dalton Hunter recorded a hat trick in the opening period, including a power play goal, and Latrobe never trailed in the hockey game. Josh Singley would go on to net the winner on the man advantage at 8:02 of the second, and Adam Ferguson had two assists. Trevor Faulkner paced the Erie Prep offense with one goal and one assist.

1/31/13 – Class AA – Non-Section – Gateway 3, Pine-Richland 1 … After a scoreless first period, the Gators (6-9-0) scored three in a row, including two in the second, to pull off a huge upset over the Rams (10-4-1). Jake Dehass put home the winner at 2:08 of the second while Dillon Kessey scored the lone Pine-Richland goal at 13:03 of the third. The real credit for Gateway’s win goes to Tyler Perhac, though, who was absolutely brilliant with 43 saves.

2/1/13 – Class A – Non-Section – Mars 3, Thomas Jefferson 2 … The Planets (14-2-1) scored all their goals in the first period, including two on the power play, and luckily it was enough as the Jaguars (10-8-0) staged a rally late in the third. Jason Schwartz netted the winner for Mars at 12:33 of period one while Christian Knapp made 28 saves. Zach Uhlyar set up a pair of goals for Thomas Jefferson and Nick Ripepi stopped 34 shots despite taking the loss.

UPCOMING MSA BROADCASTS:

2/7/13 – Class AAA – Section 1 – Canon-McMillan (9-5-3) @ Bethel Park (11-4-0) … The Big Macs have gone 2-2-1 in their last five while continuing to lead the class with 91 goals. Carmen Dalesandro leads Canon-McMillan with 18 goals and 34 points while Ryan Christian (7-5-3, 2.84 GAA, 0.884 SV %, 2 SO) has been the number one goaltender. Meanwhile, the Black Hawks are 4-1-0 of late, but are coming off a loss. Chris Siak has paced Bethel Park with 29 goals, 39 points and eight power play tallies while Austin McGinty (10-4-0, 2.29 GAA, 0.889 SV %, 2 SO) has played most of the minutes between the pipes. Bethel took the previous meeting by a 3-2 count on January 7 with Siak scoring twice. The puck drops on the rematch at 8:20 PM with Don Rebel and Josh Rowntree on the call.

2/10/13 – All-Star Event @ RMU Island Sports Center – Exclusive MSA coverage featuring:

Open Class – 11:00 AM – Steve Nagler and Mark Schaas

Class A – 1:00 PM – Mike Sackley and Adam Hoerner

Class AA – 3:00 PM – Sam Hall and Lee Mohn

Class AAA – 5:00 PM – Bob Orkwis and Mike Azadian

That wraps up this edition of “PIHL Notebook,” but check back every Monday through March for more news from around the league. In the meantime, Adam Hoerner and Josh Rowntree host another episode of “The PIHL Power Play” on Wednesday night at 8:00. Joining us this week will be Zecharia Medved of West Allegheny High School, He is one of the nominees for “Positive Athlete, ” plus we welcome Erie Cathedral Prep head coach Jeff Cross and Mars head coach Steve Meyers. Your home for the 2013 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!