Championship 3A final set
Pine-Richland wins tight game late; N. Allegheny jumps out to early lead
Pine-Richland had every reason to collapse in the second period against Peters Township.
Not only had the Rams given up two goals 19 seconds apart to the two-time defending PIHL champions, they were having difficulty finding their way through an Indians defense that had already notched wins against them in both previous meetings during the regular season.
But that’s not how PineRichland is built.
“Peters is tough. They’re well-coached, they have a lot of skill guys and a lot of hardworking guys,” Pine-Richland coach Jordan Yoklic said. “But with our group, we just take it one shift at a time, believing in the group and understanding the situation.”
When it was all said and done, however, it was PineRichland moving on to play for a title while Peters Township’s reign came to an abrupt end Monday.
Junior forward Josh Lanyard scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal when he whipped a wrister from between the hashmarks over the left shoulder of Peters Township goaltender Kyle Thomas with 2:57 remaining in regulation as the top-seeded Rams (17-4-1) pulled out a 4- 2 victory against the No. 4 Indians (155-1) in a Class 3A Penguins
Cup semifinal at Robert Morris University’s Clearfield Arena.
It was the first time in their three meetings PineRichland had ever held a lead.
“I just saw the puck in front,” Lanyard said. “I just threw it to the net and good things happened.”
Peters Township scored two goals 19 seconds apart early in the second period and appeared to have control of the game. Brady Holleran opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 2:31, then Charlie Caputo knocked one home at 2:50 to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage.
That, however, was all the offense Peters Township could muster as Pine-Richland goaltender Brett Sudac stopped the next 21 shots he faced to halt a potential Indians runaway.
“We knew two goals Morris University’s and we just couldn’t get that third goal,” Peters Township coach Rick Tingle said. “We missed breakaways, hit posts and I think we outshot them (30-26), but we just couldn’t score.”
Pine- Richland began clawing back into it with a power-play goal from defenseman Benjamin Baileys at 7:53 of the second frame. It was a perfect play where leading scorer Zachary Howard took two Peters Township defenders into the right corner and snapped a pass into the low slot for Baileys, who pinched down from the left point for an easy one-timer into the open cage.
“Peters was doing a good job on the kill and taking away spaces, but it was just a bang- bang play,” Yoklic said. “The five that were out there saw what was given to them, were reading off each other and were able to finish.”
Both teams had opportunities in the third period, but Pine-Richland finally caught a break when junior forward A.J. Verszyla cut down the left-wing side, got almost all the way to the goal line and flipped a bad-angle shot that somehow snuck over Thomas’ right shoulder and tied the game at 5:45.
That was how it stayed until Lanyard gave PineRichland the lead and Howard tacked on the empty-netter at 15:45 to close it out.
Other semifinal
North Allegheny 4, Seneca Valley 2: Luke Walkauskas picked up exactly where he left off in the third period of the last time these two teams met in the regular season on Feb. 19.
Walkauskas had a goal at 11:59 of the first period that turned out to be the gamewinner and chipped in an assist later in the frame to help the Tigers open up a 3-0 lead after one and earn a trip back to the championship game for the first time since they won their most recent title in 2021.
In that Feb. 19 meeting, Walkauskas had a pair of goals, including the gamewinner, 1:16 apart in the third period.
Jacob Gilbert scored in the second period and Marshall Hewitt got the Raiders back within one at 2:49 of the third period.
The Tigers’ Marc Joyson put it out of reach with an empty-netter with 24.2 seconds left.
North Allegheny will face Pine-Richland in the final at 6:15 p.m. March 19 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.