Quaker Valley stifles Pine-Richland for PIHL Penguins Cup semifinal win

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | 11:30 PM

Quaker Valley's Daniel Fagan didn't want to go to overtime for the third playoff game in a row.

So, the Quakers forward scored late on a breakaway Wednesday night to seal a 3-1 win over Pine-Richland in a PIHL Class 2A Penguins Cup semifinal at the RMU Island Sports Center.

The win puts Quaker Valley (12-10) in Tuesday's Penguins Cup championship game against top-seeded Armstrong (17-3) at 5:30 p.m. at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

“We lost in the semifinal last year, so it's really nice to win this year and get to the championship,” Quaker Valley goaltender Philip Gagne said. “If everyone does their job, I think we have a good chance to win.”

For the second game in a row, the Quakers did their jobs nearly flawlessly. They opened the postseason with a 4-3 overtime win against Shaler. After beating Latrobe, 1-0, in overtime in the quarterfinals, Gagne and the Quaker Valley defense remained almost unbeatable against the Rams (11-10).

“The defense has stepped up,” Gagne said. “They are blocking way more shots. They are clearing pucks off the glass and making plays to the offense. They are the reason why we're winning.”

Ben Kuzma got Quaker Valley's offense going early. He settled a bouncing pass and tapped it into the net for a 1-0 lead 6 minutes, 29 seconds into the contest.

“The first goal is always big,” Kuzma said. “Phil is playing outstanding right now and we weren't worried about that, but it's always great to get the lead right off the bat. I had confidence in our team the whole way through.”

Beau Tomczak's short-handed goal gave the Quakers a 2-0 lead with 6:38 left in the second. He stripped the puck off a Rams player along the far boards, broke in alone on net and fired a shot that slipped past goaltender Daniel Stauffer.

Pine-Richland broke the shutout with 2:48 to go when Jacob Matelan deflected Brandon Kashur's slapper past Gagne to trim the deficit to 2-1.

Fagan answered for Quaker Valley 39 seconds later when a long pass off the boards found him skating through the neutral zone. He got behind the defense and roofed the puck into the net for a 3-1 advantage.

“It was nice to put away the game,” Fagan said. “When it was 2-1, we were kind of nervous because it happened against Shaler — we were up against them by a goal and they ended up tying it and then I got the goal in overtime. It's a lot nicer to win games in regulation than overtime.”

Gagne finished with 27 saves to earn the win in goal.

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley