Westmont Hilltop eliminates Chartiers Valley from playoffs
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Chartiers Valley spent most of the season in first place in the PIHL Class 1A West Division. That didn’t stop Westmont Hilltop from sending the Colts packing in the preliminary round of the playoffs.
Westmont Hilltop (11-62) forward Michael Lamison scored his second goal of the game at 1:14 of overtime to give the Hilltopppers a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Chartiers Valley (11-6-2) at Ice Castle in Castle Shannon.
Chartiers Valley’s Luke Vaughn scored a pair of second-period goals to help the team out to a 5-1 lead after two periods. But Westmont Hilltop scored four goals in the third, including two by Nathan Shorto, to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Westmont Hilltop is now undefeated in its last eight games (6-0-2), but the No. 5 seed from the East Division will have its hands full with its first round opponent, Franklin Regional (17-1-0) when the two meet on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at Center Ice in Delmont. The Panthers were 2-0-0 against the Hilltoppers this season and outscored them 11-1.
Montour 3, Kiski Area 2: Brandon Eisel had a goal and an assist and goaltender Mason Skeath stopped 24 shots to help the West Division fifthseeded Spartans to the preliminary round victory over the fourth place finisher from the East Division at Center Ice. Montour (11-7-1) will take on West Division champion Baldwin (12-4-2) in a first-round game on Thursday at 8:40 p.m. at Ice Castle. The Spartans were 0-2-0 against the Highlanders during the regular season, including a 6-4 defeat in their last meeting on Jan. 2.
Indiana 10, South Park 2: Mitchell Lewis scored a pair of first-period goals and the Little Indians never looked back as they cruised to an easy running-clock victory over the Eagles in their preliminary round matchup. Pat
Other Class 1A games
O’Neal, the PIHL’s regular season scoring leader, scored a natural hat trick in the third period and added five assists to help the East Division No. 2 seed Indiana (15-4-0) into the first round of the tournament, where it will host Sewickley Academy at a time and date to be determined.
Sewickley Academy 4, Bishop McCort 1: The Crimson Crushers came into the postseason as the hottest team in the PIHL, but the Panthers jumped out to a threegoal second-period lead and disposed of the only team to beat Franklin Regional this season. Bishop McCort (136-0) had won nine consecutive games coming into the playoffs, including a shocking 5-1 victory over East Division champion Franklin Regional, which opened the year 17-00. Sewickley Academy (10-90) goalie Cole Luther stopped 27 shots and Michael Hertzberg scored twice to help the West Division No. 6 to the upset and set up a first-round meeting with Indiana.