Peters Township and North Allegheny Rise to Top in PIHL AAA

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 13, 2013 | 11:48 PM

Half of the finalists from the 2012 PIHL Class AAA title game are returning for the 2013 Penguins Cup championship contest. Peters Township is back in after blanking State College, however defending champion Bethel Park fell just short after losing the rubber game of their three games this season to North Allegheny. Here are recaps from both Penguins Cup Semifinals games on Wednesday night.

Peters Township Indians 3 – State College Little Lions 0

Peters Township is headed back to the PIHL Class AAA Championship Game for the second year in a row. The top-seeded Indians (19-4-0) used a smothering forecheck, tremendous goaltending and blinding speed to oust No. 5 State College 3-0 on Wednesday night at RMU's Island Sports Complex. The Little Lions (16-8-0) were outmatched for the majority of the first period, struggling to get the puck out of their own end and being outshot 11-4. However, they would weather the storm, taking a scoreless tie into the first intermission. But at 2:35 of the 2nd, Peters Township's Keenan Whitmer would finally cash. Whitmer stole a puck after an aggressive forecheck and rifled a shot towards the net from the right circle. The puck appeared to hit off of the stick of State College defenseman Robert Waite, redirecting past Little Lions goalie Zach Wytowich for the game's first goal. The Little Lions would keep things close, generating several opportunities and outshooting the Indians 24-22 in the final two periods, but could never get the equalizing goal. Alex DeBolt would provide the insurance that Peters Township was looking for. Adam Alavi, from behind the net, would feed an open DeBolt, who knocked the puck into a wide open cage, extending the Indians' lead to 2-0 at 13:45 of the 3rd period. Trevor Recktenwald would add an empty net goal, giving Peters Township the 3-0 win. Recktenwald finished with a goal and assist, while Alavi added a pair of assists for the Indians. Wytowich stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced for State College, which was 0-for-3 on the power play. The Indians move into the PIHL Class AAA Championship, where they will meet No. 3 North Allegheny on Wednesday, March 20 at 9pm at CONSOL Energy Center. A year ago, Peters Township fell to Bethel Park in the Class AAA Championship game, 2-1. 

Bladerunners Scoring Summary:

PT: 0 – 1 – 2 = 3

SC: 0 – 0 – 0 = 0

1st Period:

NO SCORING

2nd Period:

PT: Keenan Whitmer (Unassisted) 2:35

3rd Period:

PT: Alex DeBolt (Adam Alavi, Trevor Recktenwald) 13:54

PT: Trevor Recktenwald (Adam Alavi) 16:14

Shots:

PT: 33

SC:28

North Allegheny Tigers 4 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 3

The North Allegheny Indians shook off a sluggish start and avenged their playoff loss to Bethel Park last year, defeating the defending AAA Penguin Cup Champions and sending the Tigers to a finals showdown against top-seeded Peters Township.  The Tigers were outshot 12-7 in a first period that saw Bethel Park convert once on several good scoring opportunities.  Ryan Kusmira scored the first of two Bethel Park power play goals with 2:11 to go in the opening period to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at the first intermission.  But, an unexpected break in the action gave the Tigers an opportunity to regroup.  Normally, after the first period, the teams simply switch sides without the ice being cleaned, however, due to bad ice conditions at the RMU Island Sports Complex, the teams went to their respective locker rooms while the Zamboni cleaned the ice.  After that, the Tigers came out a different team, outscoring Bethel Park 4-2 the rest of the way.  North Allegheny got second period goals from Charlie Johnson and Joe Griffin sandwiched around Bethel Park’s Chris Siak’s power play goal which allowed the Tigers to even the game up at 2-2 by the second intermission.  Griffin scored shorthanded just :39 after Siak scored on a Bethel Park 5-3 man advantage and gave back the momentum to North Allegheny, which they took with spirited play early in the 2^nd period.  Griffin would tally his second goal of the game early in the 3^rd period and the Tiger’s Cody Black would eventually net the game winner on a beautiful goal at the 9:23 mark of the third period.  Black took a terrific pass from Connor Cash from behind the net and, after initially fanning on the one-time shot which got Blackhawk goaltender Austin McGinty out of position, moved the puck to his forehand and scored into the empty cage before flying through the air ala Bobby Orr.  The goal gave the Tigers a two-goal bulge at the time in a game that was nip-and-tuck the entire way.  Bethel Park was able to cut the deficit to 4-3 with McGinty pulled from the net.  Siak buried his second goal of the game through a multitude of traffic in front of North Allegheny’s net with :56.4 seconds remaining.  The Blackhawks were able to register a couple of more scoring chances with their goalie pulled in the final minute but weren’t able to get the game-tying goal as their hopes of winning back-to-back Penguin Cup championships were dashed.

BOX SCORE:
North Allegheny  0 – 2 – 2 = 4
Bethel Park        1 – 1 – 1 = 3

1^ST PERIOD:

14:49  BP  Ryan Kusmira (Chris Siak)  PPG

2^nd PERIOD:

4:56  NA  Charlie Johnson (Connor Cash)

10:12  BP  Chris Siak (Derek Lesnak, Austin Jameyson)  PPG

10:51  NA  Joe Griffin (Charlie Johnson)  SH

3^RD PERIOD:

5:41  NA  Joe Griffin 2 (Matt Fantaski, Donomicc Zangaro)

9:23  NA  Cody Black (Connor Cash)

16:00  BP  Chris Siak (unassisted)

SHOTS ON GOAL:

North Allegheny:  7 – 11 – 14 = 32

Bethel Park:           12 – 7 – 15 = 34

GOALTENDERS:

Bradford Thornburg (North Allegheny):  34 shots, 31 saves

Austin McGinty (Bethel Park):  32 shots, 28 saves

POWER PLAY:

North Allegheny:  0-3

Bethel Park:  2-6