South Fayette, TJ collide with first place on line
South Fayette coach Frank Certo stood along the corner boards at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center earlier this week and got a good, long look at the Lions next opponent, Thomas Jefferson.
Not that he really needed to.
“They knocked us out of the playoffs two years ago, we knocked them out last year. We see them in the preseason and we play them twice a year,” Certo said. “We know them about as well as we know anybody.”
If they forgot, both teams will get a mandatory refresher course at 9:10 p.m. Monday at Mt. Lebanon when Thomas Jefferson (14-20) will take on South Fayette (15-2-0) for first place in the PIHL Class 1A South Division.
It will be the regular-season finale for the Lions, and the Jaguars will have one game remaining on Wednesday against Wheeling Park (3-12-0).
“It determines seeding and I think we’re guaranteed the second seed, so it’s important in that sense that we’d love to be No. 1, but it’s not the end of the world,” Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Crousey said. “I just hope that it’s nice and packed like it should be and the kids get a great environment to play in.”
South Fayette won the first meeting between the two, 2-0, on Oct. 29 when Ian Kumar notched power play goals in the first and third period to account for all the scoring. Lions all-star goaltender Bruce Hardman stopped 36 shots for one of his classification-leading six shutouts to outduel fellow all-star netminder Luke Ripepi for the victory.
Cathedral Prep
Don’t look now, but Cathedral Prep is gearing up to make a run at the Class 3A Penguins Cup.
That might not sound like much of a surprise. After all, the Ramblers were in the semifinals last season and only lost to champion Seneca Valley, 3-2, in their elimination game. And that came on the heels of winning the Class 3A title in 2016 and Class 2A in 2015.
No, what makes this particular run a shock is that Cathedral Prep, which came into the week 5-10-0 and just a point ahead of last-place Canon-McMillan, dropped its first seven games of the season and was all but written off.
Since that dreadful start, however, the Ramblers won five of their past eight, including victories against first-place Peters Township and second-place North Allegheny. They were also only two points behind Butler for seventh place in the nineteam division.
That may not sound like much, but considering that every team makes the playoffs and the eighth and ninth seeds will have a play-in game, moving up a spot could be huge come playoff time.
Moon
There are very few teams that could have done what Moon did last season in fielding a team at the last minute after nearly folding because of a lack of participation and winning the Division 2 championship.
Then again, not many could have done what the Tigers have done this year, either.
Not only did they move out of Division 2 after a oneyear sabbatical, they eschewed playing in Class 1A, went back to Class 2A and have qualified for the Penguins Cup playoffs.
Not only that, Moon (8-71), with a win in any of its final three games, will clinch at least a .500 record.
Not bad for a program that was on the brink less than 18 months ago.