What to watch for in Western PA high school sports on March 18, 2025: 2 more hockey titles to be decided

By: Don Rebel
Monday, March 17, 2025 | 11:06 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Four more area high school hockey teams take center stage as they play for the chance to raise the Penguins Cup and Division 2 trophy Tuesday.

The 2025 PIHL high school hockey concludes with the Class 2A and Division 2 titles decided at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry with both games video streamed on Trib HSSN.

The first game will decide the PIHL 2A Penguins Cup championship as top-seeded Fox Chapel (18-3-0-1) battles No. 2 Cathedral Prep (15-4-2-0) at 6:15 p.m.

The Foxes defeated Canon-McMillan in the PIHL 2A quarterfinals and squeaked by Penn-Trafford in the semifinals, 3-2.

Junior forward Hayden Ferra tallied the game winner midway through the third period for Fox Chapel, while senior forward Dominic Casile scored a pair of first-period goals.

The Erie-based Ramblers have registered consecutive shutouts in the postseason and have combined to outscore Armstrong in the quarters and Latrobe in the semis, 6-0.

Cathedral Prep senior goaltender Ian Brown has stopped all 48 shots he’s faced in the playoffs.

Fox Chapel finished three points ahead of Cathedral Prep in the PIHL 2A standings this season.

The Foxes swept the Ramblers in their two regular season meetings.

Fox Chapel won in Erie in November, 4-2, then won at home in January, 3-1.

Cathedral Prep is trying to win its fourth Penguins Cup and first in 10 years. The Ramblers skated away with gold in 1984, 1997 and 2015.

Fox Chapel has never won a high school hockey championship.

South of the border

A PIHL high school hockey title has been won by teams as far north as Erie and as far east as Johnstown, but on Tuesday, there is a chance it could go south of the state line for only the third time.

Top-seeded Morgantown (19-1-2-0) looks to bring gold back to West Virginia when it faces No. 2 Burrell (17-2-2-1) at 8:45 p.m.

Twice before the PIHL Division 2 hockey crown has been won by a school from West Virginia, by John Marshall in 2011 and Wheeling Central Catholic in 2008.

Thus far in the D2 playoffs, the Mohigans blanked Gateway in the quarterfinals, 11-0, and then came back to roll past Neshannock in the semifinals, 9-4, after trailing in the second period, 3-1.

Morgantown junior forward Cooper Cox registered a hat trick while adding two assists and freshman forward Dom Petrucci chipped in with two goals in the win over the Lancers.

The Bucs knocked off Elizabeth Forward in the quarterfinals, 7-3, then eliminated rival Deer Lakes in the semifinals, 5-2.

Senior forward Mike Morazcyzk scored twice, including a shorthanded goal, and senior defenseman Julian Kemp had a pair of assists for the Bucs against the Lancers.

Morgantown won the Gold Division with 55 points and Burrell captured the Blue Division crown with 50 points in the regular season.

The teams only played once in the regular season and the Bucs edged the Mohigans in Morgantown in early October, 6-5.

Luke Mink had two goals and an assists for the Bucs and Ayden Shepard scored three times for the Mohigans.

Both schools are looking for their first PIHL high school hockey championship.

Beaver County baseball bash

Two years ago, both Hopewell and Riverside were sitting on top of the district diamond mountain.

Hopewell had just stunned the masses as a No. 14 seed in upsetting 2022 winner West Mifflin, North Catholic, Indiana and Latrobe to win the 2023 WPIAL 4A championships.

There were no surprises for undefeated Riverside as the top-seeded Panthers outscored their four opponents 35-4 to win the 2023 district 3A title.

Both programs enter this season with high hopes as they meet Tuesday in a nonsection game at Hopewell.

The Vikings expect to contend in Section 1-4A, while the Panthers are hoping for a third straight trip to the finals as they are the preseason Class 3A top-ranked team.

Hopewell lost its season opener Friday at Shenango, 2-1.