PIHL Notebook – 02/24/2014

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, February 24, 2014 | 4:19 PM

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 a busy week for Freeport in Class A with mixed results along with some wild Open Class action to close out the regular season. Last but not least, we round things out with a preview of two network games coming up this week in Class AAA and Class A. So, let’s light the lamp on this edition of “PIHL Notebook.”

*Note: We did not forget about the Open Class Playoffs getting started last night. We have that covered separately elsewhere. Check link below for the latest.*

http://www.msasports.net/articles/2014-pihl-open-class-playoffs-update

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

Class AAA: Canon-McMillan (4-0-0); Pine-Richland (4-0-0); Bethel Park (3-0-0); North Allegheny (3-0-0); Butler (3-0-0)

Class AA: Erie Cathedral Prep (9-0-0); Bishop Canevin (8-0-0)

Class A: Quaker Valley (14-0-0); Thomas Jefferson (3-0-1)

Open Class: Baldwin (15-0-1); Harbor Creek (14-0-0); Wheeling Park (4-0-0); Ringgold (4-0-0); McDowell (3-0-0)

SCOREBOARD WATCH:

Class AAA

2/17/14 – Section 2: North Allegheny 1-1-2=4, Mount Lebanon 1-0-1=2

Shots on Goal: ML 35, NA 30

Game-Winner: Cameron Fisher (Joseph Zappia, Erik Chidester) @ 3:29 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Reed Farber, ML (2 G); #2 Dawson Richard, NA (3 A); #1 Joseph Hubert, NA (33 SV)

2/18/14 – Section 1: Peters Township 1-2-3=6, Upper St. Clair 1-2-0=3

Shots on Goal: USC 30, PT 26

Game-Winner: Adam Alavi (Sam Barnes) @ 3:35 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Austin Cassidy, USC (1 G, 1 A); #2 Brian Baker, PT (27 SV); #1 Alavi, PT (2 G, 1 SH, 1 A)

2/18/14 – Non-Section: Butler 0-2-1=3, Fox Chapel 1-0-1=2

Shots on Goal: BU 45, FC 24

Game-Winner: Connor Scott PP (Unassisted) @ 3:35 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Chad Veltri, FC (42 SV); #2 Benjamin Friedland, FC (2 G, 1 SH); #1 Scott, BU (2 G, 1 PP)

Class AA

2/17/14 – Non-Section: North Hills 0-2-2=4, Plum 1-1-1=3

Shots on Goal: NH 50, PL 25

Game-Winner: Anthony Pelligreno (Jordan Gayso) @ 14:14 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Pelligreno, NH (2 G); #2 Joe Randazzo, PL (2 G, 1 SH, 1 A); #1 James Borriello, PL (46 SV)

2/20/14 – Non-Section: Armstrong 2-2-3=7, Chartiers Valley 1-2-3=6

Shots on Goal: AR 40, CV 15

Game-Winner: Nicholas Long (Christian Miller, Cody Toy) @ 15:41 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Long, AR (2 G); #2 Miller, AR (2 G, 1 SH, 1 A); #1 Anthony Franks, CV (3 G, 1 PP, 1 PS, 2 A)

2/21/14 – Section 4: Latrobe 4-1-1=6, Franklin Regional 0-1-1=2

Shots on Goal: LA 51, FR 20

Game-Winner: Dan Johnson (Tanner Shaffer, Chris Johnson) @ 14:47 of 1st

Three Stars: #3 Timothy Ruppen, LA (18 SV); #2 Dan Johnson, LA (GWG, 2 A); #1 Adam Ferguson, LA (2 G)

Class A

2/20/14 – Section 4: Freeport 4-4-1=9, Deer Lakes 0-1-2=3

Shots on Goal: FR 34, DL 17

Game-Winner: Michael Frazetta (Brendon Zack, Cole Hepler) @ 13:56 of 1st

Three Stars: #3 Frazetta, FR (GWG, 2 A); #2 Mitchell Rupprecht, DL (3 G); #1 Hepler, FR (2 G, 1 PP, 2 A)

2/21/14 – Non-Section: Thomas Jefferson 1-0-3-0=4, Westmont Hilltop 1-2-1-0=4 (OT)

Shots on Goal: WH 37, TJ 31

Game-Tying: Zach Uhlyar, TJ (Tommy Kimmick, Nicholas Tamburi) @ 14:26 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Uhlyar, TJ (2 G); #2 Stephen DeMarco, WH (2 PPG, 1 A); #1 Brandon Leech, WH (PPG, 3 A)

2/23/14 – Non-Section: Quaker Valley 1-3-1=5, Freeport 2-0-2=4

Shots on Goal: QV 38, FR 21

Game-Winner: Scott Weston (James Perkins, Alexander Quinn) @ 4:11 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Stone Haberstroh, FR (1 G, 1 A); #2 Perkins, QV (1 G, 3 A); #1 Quinn, QV (1 G, 4 A)

Open Class

2/19/14 – Section 2: McDowell 1-4-0=5, Blackhawk 1-2-0=3 (MSA)

Shots on Goal: MC 53, BL 46

Game-Winner: Max Swahn (Mitchell Reichert) @ 12:27 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Nathan Lundy, BL (2 G, 1 PP); #2 Evan Szablewkski, MC (43 SV); #1 Reichert, MC (3 G, 1 PP, 1 A)

2/20/14 – Section 3: Altoona 3-2-2=7, Greensburg Salem 1-1-3=5

Shots on Goal: GS 25, AL 19

Game-Winner: Austin Myers (Garrett Madigan) @ 4:10 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Jacob Russo, AL (1 G, 2 A); #2 Logan Davis, GS (2 G, 1 PP, 1 A); #1 Myers, AL (4 G, 1 A)

2/20/14 – Non-Section: Ringgold 5-3-2=10, Gateway 2-3-4=9

Shots on Goal: RI 30, GA 22

Game-Winner: Aarron Major (Unassisted) @ 14:50 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Cullin McGinnis, RI (2 PPG, 2 A); #2 Luke Fossati, GA (3 G, 2 A); #1 Major, RI (7 G, 2 PP, 1 SH, 1 A)

UPCOMING MSA BROADCASTS

2/24/14 – Class AAA – Section 4: Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings (10-7-0) vs. Pine-Richland Rams (11-7-0) AT Pittsburgh Ice Connection in Valencia at 7:10pm (Matt Vandriak and Josh Rowntree) … The Vikings are 4-1-0 in their last five and coming off back-to-back victories. Their 77 goals for and 61 allowed place them middle-of-the-pack in the class, which is not necessarily a bad thing given the competition. Jesse Yeckel has keyed the Central attack with 11 goals and 15 assists while Brian Burger has been the number one goaltender with a 7-2-0 ledger, 3.16 GAA and 0.888 save percentage. The Rams, meanwhile, have been a bit more explosive, winners of four in a row with 91 goals placing ranking third and 56 allowed good for fourth. Pine-Richland’s attack is led by Nicholas Matelan with 21 goals, nine on the power play, and 18 assists. Isaac Stephen has been the leading backstop with a 6-5-0 record, 2.88 GAA, 0.878 save percentage and one shutout. The Vikings took the previous meeting in a wild 7-6 affair back on November 12 with Yeckel netting the winner and adding two helpers while Ryan Cole notched a hat trick in the losing effort. Central doubled up the Rams in shots by a 40-20 count.

2/27/14 – Class A – Non-Section: Freeport Yellowjackets (13-4-2) vs. Thomas Jefferson Jaguars (13-5-2) AT Bladerunners in Bethel Park at 8:20pm (Adam Hoerner and Lou Rood) … The Yellowjackets just had their 11-game winning streak snapped, but they remain a top contender in the class with 116 goals for and 47 allowed both ranking third. Cole Hepler continues to lead the attack with 29 goals, 11 of them on the power play, and 21 assists. At the other end, Katie Hill has built up quite the resume with a 7-0-0 record, 1.66 GAA, 0.884 save percentage and two shutouts. For the Jaguars, as noted above, they are unbeaten in the last four, ranking just behind Freeport in the goals for (113) and against (59) categories. They boast three 20-goal scorers in Zach Uhlyar (24), Nicholas Tamburi (23) and Tommy Kimmick (20). At the other end, Nick Ripepi has played most of the minutes with a 10-5-2 mark, 2.94 GAA and 0.896 save percentage. Thomas Jefferson took the previous meeting 5-4 back on December 5 with Tamburi posting a four-point night (2 G, 2 A), including the game-winner, while Ripepi made 24 saves.

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. Guest slate to be determined based on Open Class playoff results on Tuesday as the guys will preview the Chiefs and Nailers Cup Finals to be played this Thursday. Your home for the 2014 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!