High school roundup for March 3, 2025: Mars, Moon win thrillers in Penguins Cup playoffs

By: Triblive
Monday, March 3, 2025 | 11:59 PM

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Grant Weaver scored the game-winning goal with five seconds left in regulation, sending No. 2B Mars to a 5-4 victory over No. 3A Shaler in the PIHL Penguins Cup Class A quarterfinals Monday night.

Gavin Stevenson and Jack Tirch each had a goal and an assist and Garrett Myers and Keegan O’Leary also scored for Mars, which will meet No. 1A Chartiers Valley in the semifinals at 6:45 p.m. March 12 at RMU Island Sports Center. Brendan Fitzgerald had a goal and two assists and Matthew Stelitano added a goal and an assist for No. 3A Shaler.

Moon 3, North Hills 2 – Landon Watson converted a penalty shot in overtime to lift No. 1B Moon to a Class A quarterfinal win. Jordan Rieke had a goal and an assist, Clayton Foster also scored and Tyler Zeigler made 27 saves for Moon, which will face No. 3B Avonworth in the semifinals at 8:45 p.m. March 12 at RMU Island Sports Center. Christopher Muschar and Cole Hunt scored third-period goals and Parker Talerico made 52 saves for No. 5A North Hills.

Avonworth 6, Quaker Valley 5 – Cooper Powell scored twice, Linus Jesinowski added a goal and two assists and Austin Dzadovsky had a goal and an assist as No. 3B Avonworth held off No. 2A Quaker Valley in the Class A quarterfinals. Ben McHenry had a hat trick and added an assist for Quaker Valley. Avonworth will meet No. 1B Moon in the semifinals at 8:45 p.m. March 12 at RMU Island Sports Center.

Burrell 7, Elizabeth Forward 3 – Landon Johnson had two goals and an assist and Brayden Snyder, Luke Mink and Ryan Burkett added a goal and an assist apiece to power No. 2 Burrell to a Division 2 quarterfinal win. Burrell will meet No. 3 Deer Lakes in the semifinals at 6:45 p.m. March 13 at RMU Island Sports Center. Bobby Boord Jr. had two goals and an assist for No. 7 Elizabeth Forward.

Cathedral Prep 4, Armstrong 0 – Garrett Schwartz recorded a goal and two assists and Ian Brown made 20 saves to lead No. 2 Cathedral Prep in the Class 2A quarterfinals. Ashton Ducini, Vinny Scalise and Chris Bruschi also score for Cathedral Prep, which will meet No. 3 Latrobe in the semifinals at 9 p.m. March 11 at RMU Island Sports Center. Rexton Hough made 30 saves for No. 7 Armstrong.

Chartiers Valley 5, North Catholic 0 – Ryan Kumpf had two goals and an assist and Matt Colberg made 22 saves to lead No. 1A Chartiers Valley to a Class A quarterfinal win over No. 4B North Catholic. Noah Callender had a goal and two assists for CV, which will meet No. 2B Mars in the semifinals at 6:45 p.m. March 12 at RMU Island Sports Center.

Deer Lakes 7, Carrick 2 – RJ Norkus had four goals and an assist and Ryan Grunden handed out five assists as No. 3 Deer Lakes broke open a Division 2 quarterfinal late. Mason Cervone added two goals and an assist for Deer Lakes, which will meet Burrell in the semifinals at 8:45 p.m. March 13 at RMU Island. Drew Bord and Chris Tomassi scored for No. 6 Carrick.

Fox Chapel 6, Canon-McMillan 3 – Hayden Ferra collected two goals and two assists to lead No. 1 Fox Chapel in the PIHL Class 2A quarterfinals. Dominic Casile had two goals and an assist and Tucker Cullen and Crosby Wukotich each added a goal and an assist for Fox Chapel, which will meet No. 4 Penn-Trafford in the semifinals at 7 p.m. March 11 at RMU Island Sports Center. Tristan Bobbs, Luka Grkman and Elliot Moser scored for No. 8 Canon-McMillan.

Neshannock 4, Connellsville 3 – Sam Mezzanotte’s second goal of the game was the go-ahead score in the second period for No. 4 Neshannock in the Division 2 quarterfinals. Brady Liguore had a goal and an assist, Z Telesz also scored and Tripp Johns made 28 saves for Neshannock, which will face the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between No. 1 Morgantown and No. 8 Gateway in the semifinals at 6:45 p.m. March 13 at RMU Island Sports Center. Tony Fleck had a goal and an assist and MAson Mazak and Sam Denny also scored for No. 5 Connellsville.

Penn-Trafford 8, Bishop McCort 4 – Aidan Drotos had two goals and two assists and Ben Zierski also scored twice to lead No. 4 Penn-Trafford to a Class 2A quarterfinal win. Brock Bienemann added a goal and two assists for Penn-Trafford, which will meet No. 1 Fox Chapel in the semifinals at 7 p.m. March 11 at RMU Island Sports Center. Sammy Treager scored twice and Kenny Billings had a goal and an assist for No. 5 Bishop McCort.

Seneca Valley 3, Pine-Richland 1 – Jimmy Murtha, Cooper Hoehn and Owen Martin scored and Christopher Nicholas made 24 saves to lead No. 1 Seneca Valley to a Class 3A quarterfinal win. Seneca Valley will face No. 5 Upper St. Clair in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. March 10 at RMU Island Sports Center. Josh Lanyard scored and Brett Sudac made 27 saves for No. 8 Pine-Richland.

South Fayette 6, Mt. Lebanon 1 – Nathaniel Keller scored twice, Robert Chiappetta dished out three assists and Jackson Ankrum made 29 saves to lead No. 7 South Fayette to a Class 3A quarterfinal win. Mason Imler, Jackson Stilley, Braydon Reoghard and Eli Petter also scored for South Fayette, which will take on the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between North Allegheny and Central Catholic in the semifinals at 9:15 p.m. March 10 at RUM Island Sports Center. Alex Maxim scored for No. 2 Mt. Lebanon.

Upper St. Clair 5, Thomas Jefferson 4 – Ryan Buonomo’s second goal of the game broke a 3-3 tie in the second period and gave No. 5 Upper St. Clair the lead for good in the Class 3A quarterfinals. Eli Rankin also scored twice and Dylan Yealy added a goal and two assists for USC, which will meet No. 1 Seneca Valley in the semifinals at 7:15 p.m. March 10 at RMU Island Sports Center. Brian Spencer had a goal and three assists and Derek Schliebner added a goal and an assist for No. 4 Thomas Jefferson.