PENGUINS CUP SCOUTING REPORT
Class 3A
Leading scorers: J.C. Bele, Bethel Park (14g, 18a, 32 pts); Jacob Kruszewski, Cathedral Prep (18-14-32); Wyatt George, Mt. Lebanon (19-10-29); Ryan Luppe, Peters Township (16-9-25); Torrey Schwartz, Peters Township (17-8-25). Leading goaltenders (Mininum 9 decisions): Richard Karapandi, North Allegheny (12-3-0, 1.67 GAA); Aidan Campbell, Seneca Valley (5-3-1, 2.07 GAA); Nicholas Guimond, Bethel Park (13-3-0, 2.22 GAA); Alex Wilbert, Peters Township (9-1-0, 2.32 GAA); Bradley Weaver, Mt. Lebanon (5-4-0, 2.91 GAA).
Top seeds: Peters Township first, North Allegheny second, Bethel Park third, Mt. Lebanon fourth.
The scoop: This classification is anyone’s guess. Peters Township could easily win it all or get knocked off in the semifinals by either Mt. Lebanon or Cathedral Prep, both of which have a win against the Indians. No team has repeated as the Penguins Cup champion in the highest classification since Bethel Park won three in a row from 2000-02, but Seneca Valley once again has a goaltender in Aidan Campbell who could steal the title like Logan Johnson did last year. North Allegheny has the best defense and top goaltender in all-star Richard Karapandi and the Tigers have had their fair share of heartbreaks since their previous win in 2013. Bethel Park would have to be a team to watch as it split with potential semifinal opponent North Allegheny during the regular season.
Winner will be: Cathedral Prep. There’s starting off the season slow and then there’s what the Ramblers did. Yes, every team in the classification made the playoffs so playing well start to finish wasn’t a priority, but opening the season 0-7-0 and finishing up on an 8-3-0 tear to move from dead last to the No. 5 seed is an accomplishment. Cathedral Prep also gets a date with Central Catholic in the first round, a team it beat, 5-2, in the regular-season finale and defeated No. 1 Peters Township, its potential semifinal opponent, 5-3, on Jan. 29.
Class 2A
Leading scorers: Devin Rohrich, Upper. St. Clair (33g, 18a, 51pts); Anthony Carone, Upper St. Clair (19-31-50); Michael Orban, Hampton, (21-27-48); Benjamin Leslie, Penn-Trafford (22-21-43); Alexander Walker, Latrobe (11-30-41); Quinn Giacobbe, Upper St. Clair 17-24-41). Leading goaltenders (Min. 10 dec.):
Daniel Stauffer, (18-0-1, 1.68 GAA); Danny Mitchell, Mars (12-3-0, 2.27 GAA); Gage
Handwork, Latrobe (7-4-1, 2.67 GAA); Lucas Konecsni, Moon (9-8-1, 2.72 GAA); Jacob McGee, Hampton, (7-3-1, 3.06 GAA).
Top seeds: Pine-Richland is first in the Northwest, Mars is second in the Northwest. Upper St. Clair is first in the Southeast, Latrobe is second in the Southeast.
The scoop: Though the positions have changed, three of the top four seeds are the same as last year. Upper St. Clair and Latrobe swapped positions in the Southwest, Pine-Richland moved up from second to first in the Northeast and Mars replaced defending champion Armstrong. Upper St. Clair has three of the top six scorers in the classification, including the top two in Devon Rohrich and Anthony Carone, but the Panthers have been unpredictable, losing to a fifth-place Baldwin team twice yet twice beating Latrobe in one-goal games. Hampton was the only team to beat Pine-Richland this season, but both Mars and Latrobe have been in one-goal games with the Rams late in the season. And the Wildcats were the only team besides the Talbots to take the Rams to overtime.
Winner will be: Pine-Richland. It’s really difficult to pick against a team that has not lost a game in regulation all season. The Rams have outstanding goaltending with Danny Mitchell, led the classification in goals scored with 112 and have a balanced attack with 11 players who have at least 10 points and 18 with at least one goal.
Class 1A
Leading scorers: Richard Froelich, Montour (37g 52a 79 pts); Nicholas Frantz, Meadville (42-27-69); Michael Felsing, Montour (27-27-54); Hayden Hintemeyer, Thomas Jefferson (24-25-49); Ryan Eisel, Montour (28-20-48).
Leading goaltenders (Min. 10 dec.):
Bruce Hardman, South Fayette (14-1-0, 1.20 GAA); Joshua Ferry, West Allegheny (12-3-0, 1.80 GAA); Madison Barker, Indiana (12-4-0, 2.71 GAA); Ethan Islay, North Hills (9-5-0, 2.89 GAA); Eddie Kaufman, Meadville (6-3-0, 2.56 GAA).
Top seeds: Montour is first, South Fayette is second, West Allegheny is third, Thomas Jefferson is fourth.
The scoop: Bishop McCort is the defending champion and won the East Division but because it had three foreign exchange students on the team, it opted against participating in the playoffs rather than cutting one of the players. It also pushed Indiana up a spot in the seeding. South Fayette has never won a championship and played in the title game only once — in 2016 when it lost to Franklin Regional. But the Lions have already shown their postseason moxie with a South sion-clinching win against Thomas Jefferson in their last regular-season game. West Allegheny and Meadville finished even in the North Division (15-3-0), but the Indians defeated the Bulldogs in both of their regular-season meetings. The earliest they would meet in the playoffs is in the finals. With how the brackets fall, Meadville and Montour could meet in the semifinals. Six teams broke 100 goals scored this season — Montour (189), West Allegheny (159), Meadville (137), Thomas Jefferson (113), Bishop McCort (101) and, somewhat surprisingly, Norwin (100), which was the only one of the six not to finish with at least 10 wins (9-9-0).
Winner will be: Montour. It took an allstar game injury to the Spartans top defenseman, Ethan Diffendal, the day before they played Meadville for them to lose their only game. Diffendal has not played since the all-star game, which could be a factor as the playoffs go on, but since losing to Meadville, Montour is 3-0 and has outscored its opponents, 28-2. The Spartans also have three of the top five scorers in the classification and shutting down a team that scored 181 goals and averaged 10.0 per game will be a chore.