PIHL Notebook – 01/13/2014

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, January 13, 2014 | 10:23 AM

Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook,” your weekly companion to “The PIHL Power Play” on the MSA Sports Network. First up, “Melting the Ice” provides your weekly thermometer of streaking teams around the league. Meanwhile, this week’s “Scoreboard Watch” includes the end of Peters Township’s long winning streak in Class AAA along with a pair of overtime battles in Class AA. Last but not least, we round things out with a preview of this week’s broadcast schedule, a double-header in Class AAA. So, let’s light the lamp on this edition of “PIHL Notebook.”

MELTING THE ICE (Records listed indicate current unbeaten streak):

Class AAA: Bethel Park (8-0-0); North Allegheny (4-0-1); Shaler (3-0-0)

Class AA: Chartiers Valley (4-0-0)

Class A: Quaker Valley (5-0-0); Freeport (4-0-0)

Open Class: Harbor Creek (8-0-0); Baldwin (7-0-0); Wheeling Park (3-0-0); Altoona (3-0-0)

SCOREBOARD WATCH:

Class AAA

1/7/14 – Non-Section: Seneca Valley 0-1-2=3, Peters Township 0-0-1=1

Shots on Goal: SV 32, PT 29

Game-Winner: Peters Kipin (Christopher Marziotto) @ 15:33 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Brian Baker, PT (29 SV); #2 Marziotto, SV (2 G, 1 EN, 1 A); #1 Tanner Pfeffer, SV (28 SV)

1/9/14 – Non-Section: State College 1-2-1=4, Upper St. Clair 0-1-2=3

Shots on Goal: USC 25, SC 18

Game-Winner: Christopher Rodgers EN (Andrew Moscone, Robert Waite) @ 15:57 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Jake Reinheimer, USC (2 G, 1 PP); #2 Chris Rosselot, SC (22 SV); #1 Lucas Michael, SC (2 G)

1/10/14 – Section 3: Penn-Trafford 1-4-4=9, Norwin 0-1-1=2

Shots on Goal: PT 44, NO 21

Game-Winner: Jacob Lapiana (Gary Scott, Michael Granata) @ 10:31 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Jacob Proskin, PT (19 SV); #2 Jordan Eisenstat, PT (4 A); #1 Jacob Miller, PT (5 G, 2 SH, 3 A)

Class AA

1/9/14 – Non-Section: Latrobe 1-2-1=4, West Allegheny 1-1-0=2

Shots on Goal: WA 24, LA 23

Game-Winner: Daniel Staffen PP (Brendan Johns) @ 16:57 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Paul Hughes, WA (2 A); #2 Chris Johnson, LA (2 G); #1 Timothy Ruppen, LA (22 SV)

1/9/14 – Non-Section: Armstrong 1-0-2-1=4, Bishop Canevin 1-2-0-0=3 (OT)

Shots on Goal: AR 34, BC 22

Game-Winner: Christian Miller (Hunter Grafton, David Contrael) @ 2:42 of OT

Three Stars: #3 Nikita Meskin, BC (30 SV); #2 Grafton, AR (4 A); #1 Miller, AR (4 G)

1/9/14 – Non-Section: Chartiers Valley 1-2-2-1=6, Moon 2-2-1-0=5 (OT)

Shots on Goal: CV 34, MN 30

Game-Winner: Tyler Stevenson (Alex Stevenson, Ray Lindow) @ 2:56 of OT

Three Stars: #3 Cullen McMahon, CV (2 G, 1 PP, 1 A); #2 Anthony Franks, CV (1 G, 3 A); #1 Dustin Egenlauf, MN (3 G, 1 PP, 2 A)

Class A

1/7/14 – Non-Section: Freeport 0-2-2=4, Mars 0-1-1=2

Shots on Goal: MA 34, FR 21

Game-Winner: Hunter Kepple PP (Michael Frazetta, Ethan Waddell) @ 7:52 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Frzetta, FR (2 A); #2 Kepple, FR (GWG, 1 A); #1 Matthew Huston, FR (32 SV)

1/8/14 – Section 3: Westmont Hilltop 0-0-2=2, Bishop McCort 0-0-1=1

Shots on Goal: WH 60, BM 8

Game-Winner: Adam McQuillan PP (Brandon Leech) @ 15:04 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Anthony Formica, BM (PPG); #2 McQuillan, WH (GWG); #1 John Bradley, BM (58 SV)

1/9/14 – Section 1: Thomas Jefferson 1-5-3=9, South Fayette 1-0-3=4

Shots on Goal: TJ 51, SF 37

Game-Winner: Brady Parkinson (Zach Uhlyar) @ 11:08 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 John Lipovich, SF (3 G, 2 PP); #2 Brendan Mason, TJ (2 G, 2 A); #1 Uhlyar, TJ (4 G, 1 A)

Open Class

1/7/14 – Non-Section: Peters Township 2-2-1=5, Beaver 2-1-1=4

Shots on Goal: PT 34, BE 33

Game-Winner: Williams Barnes (Tristan Wagner, Kelson Pizzuti) @ 16:19 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Ryan Hartman, BE (2 G, 1 A; #2 Caden Shell, PT (29 SV); #1 Barmes, PT (GWG, 1 A)

1/9/14 – Section 2: Harbor Creek 2-4-0=6, Blackhawk 0-3-0=3 (MSA)

Shots on Goal: HC 42, BL 28

Game-Winner: Logan Conboy (Nick Manna) @ 5:16 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Jamie Collins, HC (2 G, 1 PP); #2 Tyler Manna, HC (25 SV); #1 Ryan Markiewicz, HC (2 G, 1 EN, 1 A)

1/10/14 – Non-Section: McDowell 1-2-0=3, John Marshall 1-0-1=2

Shots on Goal: MC 27, JM 15

Game-Winner: Max Swahn (Aaron Parry) @ 3:25 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Kyle Patrick, JM (24 SV); #2 Parry, MC (2 A); #1 Zach McClure, JM (2 G)

UPCOMING MSA BROADCASTS

1/13/14 – Class AAA – Non-Section: Canon-McMillan Big Macs (5-6-1) vs. Butler Golden Tornado (6-5-0) AT Pgh Ice Connection in Valencia at 7:10pm (Bob Orkwis and Josh Rowntree) … The Big Macs have hit a 1-3-1 skid with a goal differential of plus-two for the season, so inconsistency has been the watchword, particularly of late. Austin Tonkovich and Lucas Lavella have posted matching eight-goal, 12-assist campaigns while James Oddi leads the squad with 11 goals. The Golden Tornado has not been much better recently, currently on a 2-3-0 run. Connor Scott is atop the team’s leaderboard with 13 helpers and 19 points while Joseph DiMartino has been the sniper with 11 markers. Butler’s Logan Rothbauer has been the best goaltender between the two schools so far, going 6-5-0 with a 3.34 GAA, 0.888 save percentage and one shutout.

1/14/14 – Class AAA – Non-Section: Pine-Richland Rams (6-5-0) vs. Peters Township Indians (9-2-0) AT Ice-O-Plex at Southpointe at 6:50pm (Sam Hall and Pete Blais) … The Rams are coming off a win, part of a 3-2-0 stretch. Nicholas Matelan has paced the team with 16 goals, eight of them on the power play, and 26 points while Ryan Cole is the top playmaker with 13 assists. As you read above, the Indians just had an eight-game winning streak snapped, success due in large part to their third-ranked defense with 23 goals allowed. Jesse Borne and Brian Baker have split the goaltending duties, with each picking up four victories, Borne posting the better GAA with a 2.00 while Baker’s save percentage has been a bit better at 0.926. As for the offense, Adam Alavi is first in all categories with 11 goals, four on special teams (2 PP, 2 SH), nine assists and 20 points.

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” this Wednesday night at 8:00. Joining us this week will be Westmont Hilltop goaltender Sebastian Ragno, Shaler head coach Curt Hetz and Baldwin bench boss Jim Brown. Your home for the 2014 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!