Fox Chapel defeats Norwin, Kiski beats Greensburg Salem in PIHL semis

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 | 10:22 PM

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Fox Chapel is hoping the third trip to the PIHL finals is a charm.

The top-seeded Foxes reached the Penguins Cup Class A finals for the first time since 1997 by defeating returning champion Norwin, 7-3, on Wednesday at Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center. Fox Chapel never has won a title.

Liam Wiseman led the Foxes with three goals.

Fox Chapel, which dropped a heartbreaker in overtime during the 2022 semifinals, will face Kiski, which defeated Greensburg Salem, 3-1, at 8:45 p.m. Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

“We were in the same position last year with this group, and we suffered the heartbreak,” Fox Chapel coach Cameron Raidna said. “This one was special for us. We knew it would be a close one no matter what the scores were in the first two meetings. We wanted to get pucks deep and put shots on goal. We played our game.”

Added Wiseman: “This feels great after what happened last year. Getting a hat trick and Mason (Heininger) getting two goals was great. Once we got that short-handed goal (by Wiseman), the game was pretty much over.”

Kiski punched its ticket to the PIHL finals for the first time by defeating Greensburg Salem, 3-1, in the second game of a doubleheader.

Greensburg Salem, the second seed, defeated Kiski, 7-1, and 5-2, early in the season, but Kiski has been hot in the playoffs, winning three close games.

Greensburg Salem goaltender Ethan Patrick stopped 14 of 16 shots, including three breakaways that kept the Golden Lions in the game.

The Golden Lions failed to score on a two-man advantage early in the third quarter.

For Kiski, Ethan George scored three goals, and goalie Evin Brice stopped 21 of 22 shots. George scored the clinching goal with 13 seconds on an empty netter.

Greensburg Salem leading scorer Owen Tutich snapped a wrist shot that beat Brice with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left to make it 2-1.

In the earlier game, Fox Chapel jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period on goals by Sam Smith in the first period and Wiseman and Alex Macek early in the second period. It was Smith’s and Macek’s first goals of the playoffs.

“A three-goal deficit is not a good feeling,” Norwin coach Mike Robinson said. “We battled back and had the fight, but the bounces didn’t go our way. It’s hockey.”

Norwin, which dropped 7-3 and 9-2 decisions to Fox Chapel during the regular season, didn’t fold the tents. Unassisted goals by high-powered forward Alex Thomas and Dominik Costantino trimmed the lead to 3-2 heading to the third period.

“I told the players that we had to dig deep,” Raidna said. “The two quick goals were a wakeup call. We just had to get them to believe in themselves, and they came out and performed. They are a great group of guys.”

Early in the third period, Fox Chapel’s Heininger chipped in a bouncing puck, and Wiseman tallied his second goal to push the lead to 5-2.

Thomas tallied his seventh goal of the playoffs on the power play with 5:13 left to make it 5-3, but the Foxes iced the game with a short-handed goal and empty netter.

“Fox Chapel played a super-great game,” Robinson said. “I honestly think they are deeper than they were last year.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.