PIHL Notebook

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, February 3, 2014 | 9:42 AM

Welcome to another edition of “PIHL Notebook,” your weekly companion to “The PIHL Power Play” on the MSA Sports Network. First up, “Melting the Ice” provides your weekly thermometer of streaking teams around the league. Meanwhile, this week’s “Scoreboard Watch” includes one-goal games all over the place, including some overtime action in Section 1-AAA and a Section 3-A battle heard right here. Last but not least, we round things out with a broadcast doubleheader preview set for Thursday in Class AAA and the Open Class. So, let’s light the lamp on this edition of “PIHL Notebook.”

MELTING THE ICE (Records listed indicate current unbeaten streak):

Class AAA: Peters Township (3-0-0); Penn-Trafford (3-0-0)

Class AA: Erie Cathedral Prep (5-0-0); Bishop Canevin (4-0-0)

Class A: Quaker Valley (9-0-0); Freeport (8-0-0); Westmont Hilltop (4-0-0)

Open Class: Baldwin (11-0-0); Harbor Creek (10-0-0); Morgantown (6-0-0); Indiana (5-0-0); Hempfield (5-0-0); Peters Township (4-0-0); Blackhawk (4-0-0); Altoona (3-0-0)

SCOREBOARD WATCH:

Class AAA

1/27/14 – Non-Section: Bethel Park 0-1-2=3, Pine-Richland 0-0-1=1

Shots on Goal: BP 30, PR 16

Game-Winner: Derek Lesnak (Louie McLinden) @ 12:24 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Spencer Bawcom, BP (1 G, 1 A); #2 William Lowe, BP (15 SV); #1 Lesnak, BP (GWG, 1 A)

1/28/14 – Section 4: Pittsburgh Central Catholic 2-3-1=6, Fox Chapel 1-2-0=3

Shots on Goal: PC 47, FC 28

Game-Winner: Eric Dunkel (Taylor Kirchneer) @ 3:55 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Benjamin Friedland, FC (2 A); #2 Kevin Dziubek, PC (25 SV); #1 Jesse Yeckel, PC (1 G, 2 A)

1/30/14 – Section 1: Canon-McMillan 1-1-1-1=4, Upper St. Clair 0-2-1-0=3 (OT)

Shots on Goal: CM 37, USC 22

Game-Winner: Jack Clendaniel (Austin Tonkovich, Lucas Lavella) @ 2:31 of OT

Three Stars: #3 Tyler Finn, USC (33 SV); #2 James Oddi, CM (PPG, 2 A); #1 Zachary Mansmann, CM (2 G, 1 PP)

Class AA

1/27/14 – Non-Section: Chartiers Valley 0-2-5=7, Hampton 2-4-0=6

Shots on Goal: HA 44, CV 32

Game-Winner: Benjamin Hartman (Anthony Franks, Tyler Stevenson) @ 12:48 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Alexander Chabala, CV (38 SV); #2 Franks, CV (3 G, 1 PP, 2 A); #1 Zachary Kosick, HA (4 G, 1 PP, 1 A)

1/27/14 – Non-Section: Bishop Canevin 2-1-1=4, Moon 1-0-2=3

Shots on Goal: BC 26, MN 23

Game-Winner: Alec Bosnic PP (Randy Unger, Garrett Godlewski) @ 2:20 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Justin Bioni, MN (2 A); #2 Godlewski, BC (1 G, 2 A); #1 Unger, BC (1 G, 3 A)

1/27/14 – Non-Section: Plum 5-1-1=7, Montour 2-0-1=3

Shots on Goal: PL 38, MR 24

Game-Winner: Joe Randazzo (Unassisted) @ 4:16 of 1st

Three Stars: #3 Brandon Eisel, MR (SHG, 2 A); #2 Dillon Joyce, PL (2 G, 1 PP); #1 Randazzo, PL (2 G, 1 A)

Class A

1/28/14 – Section 4: Freeport 2-0-2=4, Deer Lakes 0-0-1=1

Shots on Goal: FR 27, DL 26

Game-Winner: Cole Hepler PP (Unassisted) @ 7:20 of 1st

Three Stars: #3 Connor Dlubak, FR (2 A); #2 Hepler, FR (2 PPG, 1 A); #1 Matthew Huston, FR (25 SV)

1/30/14 – Section 3: Westmont Hilltop 1-1-1=3, Serra Catholic 0-1-1=2 (MSA)

Shots on Goal: WH 48, SC 26

Game-Winner: Ian Campbell (Christopher Campigotto) @ 2:29 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Brandon Leech, WH (PPG, 1 A); #2 Sebastian Ragno, WH (24 SV); #1 Ian Ritchie, SC (45 SV)

1/30/14 – Non-Section: Quaker Valley 2-3-0=5, Thomas Jefferson 0-1-3=4

Shots on Goal: QV 47, TJ 24

Game-Winner: James Perkins (Jacob Kuzma, Connor Quinn) @ 15:13 of 2nd

Three Stars: #3 Quinn, QV (3 A); #2 Nick Ripepi, TJ (42 SV); #1 Perkins, QV (2 G, 1 A)

Open Class

1/27/14 – Section 2: Blackhawk 1-1-2=4, McDowell 1-1-0=2

Shots on Goal: MC 34, BL 26

Game-Winner: Rombold (Devon Gabauer) @ 8:53 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Evan Szablewski, MC (22 SV); #2 Steinle, BL (32 SV); #1 Rombold, BL (3 G, 1 PP, 1 EN)

1/30/14 – Section 4: Ringgold 1-2-1=4, Keystone Oaks 1-1-1=3

Shots on Goal: KO 26, RI 23

Game-Winner: Cullen McGinnis PP (Aarron Major) @ 10:34 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Jack Malka & Stephen Plank, KO (1 G, 1 A each); #2 Riley Clineman, RI (23 SV); #1 McGinnis, RI (2 G, 1 A)

1/30/14 – Section 1: Morgantown 2-3-1=6, Wheeling Park 2-1-2=5

Shots on Goal: WP 38, MO 36

Game-Winner: Zac Lewis PP (Kienan Battin, Nate Frisbee) @ 7:17 of 3rd

Three Stars: #3 Caleb Richards, MO (1 G, 2 A); #2 Kyle Wensel, WP (2 G, 2 A); #1 Battin, MO (4 G, 1 A)

UPCOMING MSA BROADCASTS

2/6/13 – Class AAA –Non-Section: Shaler Titans (6-10-0) vs. Mount Lebanon Blue Devils (5-9-1) AT Mount Lebanon Rec Center at 7:10pm (Bob Orkwis and Adam Gusky) … Both teams are 2-3-0 in their last five, but the Titans are the colder of the two with three consecutive losses. Shaler has gotten it done with offense, featuring four 10-goal scorers and three 20-point producers, all led by Luke Grossman (13 G, 16 A). The Blue Devils are also coming off a loss, but have boasted the stingier defense of the two squads. Number one backstop Joel Kirshner may not love his 3-9-1 record, but a 3.59 GAA and 0.886 save percentage could be worse when weighed against it. Stephen Sramac has paced Lebo with 17 assists and 27 points while Reed Farber has been the sniper with 14 goals.

2/6/13 – Open Class – Non-Section: Wheeling Park Patriots (6-10-0) vs. Blackhawk Cougars (11-5-0) AT Beaver Ice Arena at 8:45pm (Pete Blais and Mike Azadian) … The Patriots are 1-4-0 in their last five, having dropped four in a row. The team’s 79 goals scored are a plus, but the 81 allowed are not. Five Wheeling Park players have cracked the 10-goal mark, and four of those have broken 20 points, led by Cameron Eberhard (13 G, 11 A). Meanwhile, the Cougars have flipped their opponent’s recent trend, going 4-1-0 in their last five while picking up four straight victories. They are one of four teams in the class to exceed 100 goals, and their 42 allowed is also a respectable number. Blackhawk is led by two 20-goal scorers, including Kyle Schaefer (21 G, 23 A) while Steinle has gone 7-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA, 0.918 save percentage and two shutouts as the starting goaltender

That wraps up this edition of “PIHL Notebook,” but check back every Monday through March for more news from around the league. In the meantime, Adam Hoerner and Josh Rowntree host another episode of “The PIHL Power Play” this Wednesday night at 8:00. Joining us this week will be Blackhawk forward Kyle Schaefer, Mount Lebanon head coach Yuri Krivokhija and Moon bench boss Richard Kubatka. Your home for the 2014 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!