PIHL ponders real possibility of title sweep
Chartiers Valley seeks to end 38-year drought
It has been 13 years since the PIHL went into the Pennsylvania Cup finals and skated off with a sweep but the three representatives will have an opportunity to end that streak –— and a couple of others — when the finals are held Saturday at Skatium in Haverford, Pa.
First on the ice will be Chartiers Valley, which is seeking its first state title since 1986. The Colts ended their 38-year Penguins Cup drought when they slipped past Greensburg Salem in overtime to win the title.
Next up will be Class 2A Thomas Jefferson, which will be making its second appearance in the past three seasons. The Jaguars won three consecutive Class 2A titles from 19982000 but have since had a 24-year dry spell.
Then there is Pine-Richland, which won the Class 2A state championship in 2019 and will be making its first appearance in the Class 3A state championship since 2008.
A breakdown of these three finals.
Class 1A
Chartiers Valley is the second team in four years to go undefeated through the Penguins Cup finals. The other was Indiana in 2021. However, those Little Indians couldn’t close out their perfect season when they lost to West Chester East, 6-3, in the state final.
No PIHL team has completed an undefeated run to a state championship since Latrobe won the Class 2A title in 2009. Chartiers Valley (22-0-0) will take its shot at it when it takes on Hershey at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“I have watched a little bit of the Eastern playoffs in case something good might happen,” Chartiers Valley coach Paul Bonetti said. “I’m a little bit familiar with them, but I’m about to be a lot more familiar with them.”
Hershey had five different goal scorers in its 5-1 victory against Unionville in the Flyers Cup final. In their three games in the tournament, the Trojans had five goals in each game.
Hershey’s prolific scoring potential will put a lot of pressure on the Chartiers Valley defense which has been up to the challenge throughout the season. Colts junior goaltender Matthew Colberg led the PIHL with seven shutouts, including one in the playoffs, while the Colts, as a whole, have only allowed 26 goals in 23 games.
Offensively, Chartiers Valley has gotten its cues from freshman Noah Callender, who led Class 1A with 30 goals in the regular season.
Class 2A
It may have been two years ago, but Thomas Jefferson is still licking its wounds from a 4-3 loss to Pennridge in the final at Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester.
Now the Jaguars will have an opportunity for a huge amount of payback as they will once again square off with the Rams in a 2 p.m. matchup Saturday.
“We’re ready,” Thomas Jefferson coach John Zeiler said. “Our guys are hungry and they want to get the job done. We’ll see what happens.”
Thomas Jefferson will have to find a way to solve Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton, who stood on his head and made 49 saves in the team’s 7-3 victory against Council Rock South in the Flyers Cup semifinals. The last time the two teams faced off, the Jaguars peppered the net with 65 shots but still lost 43 in double-overtime on a Kevin Pico goal.
Pico is back for his senior season and has six goals in the playoffs.
In addition to Pico, Thomas Jefferson will have to be wary of Shane Dachowski, who has nine goals in the playoffs, including a hat trick in the semifinals.
Thomas Jefferson also has several players on its roster who were major contributors to that 2022 Penguins Cup championship team and who went through that gut-wrenching loss.
“We have one more job to take care of: winning the state championship,” Zeiler said. “They’re hungry. Us against Pennridge is a good story because they had a lot of good sophomores as well. It would be a battle like we’re right back at it.”
Class 3A
Pine-Richland will be making its fifth championship game appearance in program history and will be seeking its fourth title.
Here’s the thing. The Rams have won their previous three titles in Class 2A, but they lost in their only Class 3A appearance in 2008.
“We always talk about the next shift and the next situation, but this is a different situation to be honest,” Pine-Richland coach Jordan Yoklic said. “I wish the game was in another week so we could breathe and enjoy (winning the Penguins Cup). At some point we’ll have to reset and head out to Philly and start ramping up for Saturday 5 o’clock.”
In their way will be LaSalle, the defending state champion and — oddly enough — the team that beat Pine-Richland in that 2008 state final. The Explorers got to this point with a 6- 3 win against Malvern Prep as Cameron Ross scored a pair of goals and Grant LaGreca tallied the game-winner as part of a four-goal outburst in the first 7:04 of the first period.
Pine- Richland senior forward Zachary Howard led the team in regular season scoring with 17 goals and 31 points but has elevated his game in the last two postseason matchups has had a goal and an assist in both the semifinals against Peters Township and the final against North Allegheny.
Goaltender Brett Sudac has also taken control in the net and was dominant in the third period against North Allegheny with 15 saves on 17 shots when the Tigers were in desperation mode.