BREAKING DOWN THE PIHL PLAYOFFS
Class 3A
Leading scorers: Mitchell Geinzer, Upper St. Clair (21 goals, 26 assists, 47 points); Tyler Lamark, North Allegheny (15-27-42); Devin Rohrich, Upper St. Clair (25-14-39); Joshua Hrip, Canon-McMillan (23-1339); Mark Lehman, Peters Township (21-14-35).
Leading goaltenders (Min. 10 GP): Alex Wilbert, Peters Township (10-3-0, 2.01 goals-against average, .919 save percentage); Tyler Boyles, North Allegheny (10-3-0, 2.30 GAA, .923 sv. pct.); Daniel Stauffer, PineRichland (11-6-2, 2.51, .896 sv. pct.); Mario Eafrati, Canon-McMillan (11-7-1, 2.55 GAA, .909 sv. pct.)
Top seeds: North Allegheny first, Upper St. Clair second, Peters Township third, Canon-McMillan fourth.
The scoop: Only one team that qualified for the playoffs — Bethel Park — finished with a sub-.500 record and lost four of its past six heading into its season finale Thursday night against Pine-Richland. This is about as even as the classification has ever been as the teams that finished 2 through 7 were separated by only six points. Any team can win it all. Cathedral Prep rebounded from an understandably slow start after the death of one of its players to finish 8-0-1 with its loss coming in overtime in the finale against Peters Township. Upper St. Clair and Pine-Richland are looking to win titles in their first year after moving up. The Rams are the reigning Class 2A champions and the Panthers, who went 7-1-1 in their final nine, played in the final last year. They also led Class 3A with 101 goals.
Winner will be: North Allegheny. This would have been a much easier pick a month ago when the Tigers were just rolling through the competition, but that is not the case now. North Allegheny stumbled mightily down the stretch, going 5-4-0 in its last nine including a season-ending, 2-1 loss to Pine-Richland. The Rams, in fact, beat the Tigers twice in that span. North Allegheny is the defending Penguins Cup and state champion and no team has repeated in Class 3A since Bethel Park in 2001 and 2002. The Tigers had the best goal-differential (plus-51) in the classification and their 46 goals allowed was the fewest in Class 3A.
Class 2A
Leading scorers: Michael Felsing, Montour (20-30-50); Matt Traczynski, Hempfield (31-19-50); Dusty Geregach, Montour, (25-24-49); Cole Ferri, Latrobe (27-20-47); Alex Walker, Latrobe (12-29-41).
Leading goaltenders (Min. 10 GP): Greg Irons, Latrobe (8-2-0, 1.68 GAA, .910 sv. pct); Danny Mitchell, Mars (8-5-0, 2.22 GAA, .923 sv. pct); Tanner Cindrich, Baldwin (11-1-0, 2.36 GAA, .917 sv. pct.).
Division champions: Baldwin, Plum, Latrobe. Northwest champion was not decided until Thursday night.
The scoop: Baldwin was second in goals, goals-allowed and goal differential to Latrobe. The Wildcats scored 106, allowed 27, had a plus79 goal differential and were at times the most dominant team in the classification, except they lost to Baldwin, 5-3, on Jan. 30 in a game in which they overcame a 3-0 deficit to tie it in the third period. They also lost in overtime to a last-place Hampton squad. Hempfield is a team to watch after squeaking into the postseason after winning a battle with Franklin Regional. Plum has surprised a team or two this year, but has struggled against teams outside its division. The final postseason spot won’t be determined until Sunday when West Allegheny and Montour square off in a tiebreaker for second place in the Southwest Division.
Winner will be: Baldwin. The Highlanders have been steadily progressing over the past few years and have quietly become one of the better teams in the classification. Baldwin already has wins against every other division champion. Its only loss came against division-rival West Allegheny, a school whose postseason fate is still in doubt. Baldwin was second in the classification in goals (101), goals allowed (35) and goal differential (plus-68). About the only downside for a potential Purple Reign is the fact the team has not been there before. Baldwin has won two Penguins Cup titles, but they came in Class 3A in 1982 and 1988. The Class 2A winner that year … Allderdice.
Class 1A
Leading scorers: Adis Ultanbekov, Bishop McCort (39-18-57); Will O’Brien, Thomas Jefferson (32-2456); Riley Holzer, Thomas Jefferson (19-33-52); Nikita Zapolski, Bishop McCort (17-30-47); Hunter Fairman, Thomas Jefferson (21-25-46).
Leading goaltenders (Min. 10 starts): Chris McFayden, North Catholic (17-2-0, 1.83 GAA, .937 sv. pct.); Shawn Peremba, South Park (12-5-1, 2.33 GAA, .923 sv. pct.); Luke Ripepi, Thomas Jefferson (181-0, 2.37 GAA, .892 sv. pct.); Cole Bradley, Bishop McCort (17-3-0, 2.43 GAA, .894 sv. pct.)
Division champions: North Catholic, Thomas Jefferson, Kiski Area, Bishop McCort.
The scoop: North Catholic knows how to win the close games and was 5-1 in games decided by two goals or fewer. The Trojans have not won a Penguins Cup championship since 1995, but the program was on hiatus for several years and is in its first season back at the varsity level. North Catholic will get a tough test in the first round, though, as it will take on a South Park team it defeated, 21, back on Nov. 12. Norwin won 15 games and is having one of its best seasons. The Knights may have a slight advantage heading into their first-round matchup as they already have a 4-3 win against Kiski Area on Nov. 5. Bishop McCort sat out the 2019 playoffs because it had too many foreign exchange students on the team and would have had to sit players for the tournament. The Crimson Crushers won their seventh title in 2018.
Winner will be: Thomas Jefferson. There is little doubt the Jaguars have been the elite team in the classification this season with the only bump in the road being a mystifying 3-1 loss to Chartiers Valley on Oct. 21. Thomas Jefferson has cobbled together a 17-game winning streak in that time and has rolled over the other three division champions by a combined score of 18-3. The Jaguars also have something to prove after losing to eventual champion Montour, 6-5, in overtime in the semifinals last year when they blew a two-goal, third-period lead and allowed the Spartans to go 4 for 4 on the power play.