PIHL Notebook: 2013-2014 Class AAA Preview

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 7, 2013 | 1:09 PM

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Welcome to “PIHL Notebook” and our annual season preview. Over the next four Monday’s, we will provide thumbnail sketches of all 60 PIHL teams to make sure local high school hockey fans are ready when the puck drops on October 28.

Class AAA has the potential to feature four well-rounded sections, the gold standard for which will undoubtedly remain Section 1 featuring the South Hills powers, paced last season by Peters Township, but all four made the playoffs. Defending state champion North Allegheny and Seneca Valley should have another heated race for the Section 2 title, and if Mount Lebanon can start swinging the pendulum back in the right direction, this one could get very interesting. Section 3 could be wide open with State College and Norwin both taking some big graduation hits in terms of offense while Butler is a program on the rise. Section 4 is the real wildcard, though, with Pine-Richland moving up in a return to Class AAA, joined by Fox Chapel in a return to varsity completion in general, not to mention stalwarts Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Shaler.

(Teams listed in order of 2012-13 winning percentage)

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE:

SECTION 1:

Peters Township Indians

2012-13 Record: 17-4-0, 34 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 123 GF, 50 GA, 178 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Final

2012-13 Three Stars: Trevor Recktenwald (28 G, 39 A); Adam Alavi (23 G, 28 A); Brian Baker (14-3-0, 2.23 GAA, 0.917 SV%, 1 SO)

Bethel Park Black Hawks

2012-13 Record: 16-5-0, 32 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 107 GF, 47 GA, 132 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Semifinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Chris Siak (36 G, 12 A); Ryan Kusmira (8 G, 23 A); Austin McGinty (14-5-0, 2.26 GAA, 0.893 SV%, 4 SO)

Upper St. Clair Panthers

2012-13 Record: 12-7-2, 26 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 92 GF, 60 GA, 284 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Quarterfinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Austin Cassidy (30 G, 19 A); Matt Boyd (11 G, 19 A); Michael Ambrose (11-6-2, 2.70 GAA, 0.903 SV%, 3 SO)

Canon-McMillan Big Macs

2012-13 Record: 11-6-4, 26 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 111 GF, 55 GA, 200 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Quarterfinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Anthony Tonkovich (15 G, 27 A); Carmen Dalesandro (18 G, 17 A); Ryan Christian (9-6-4, 2.63 GAA, 0.893 SV%, 2 SO)

SECTION 2:

North Allegheny Tigers

2012-13 Record: 15-4-2, 32 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 102 GF, 37 GA, 208 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Won Penguins Cup & Pennsylvania Cup

2012-13 Three Stars: Cody Black (10 G, 20 A); Charles Johnson (15 G, 14 A); Bradford Thornburgh (11-4-1, 1.98 GAA, 0.909 SV%, 3 SO)

Seneca Valley Raiders

2012-13 Record: 14-6-1, 29 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 82 GF, 59 GA, 232 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Quarterfinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Luke Reed (15 G, 14 A); Peter Kippin (10 G, 18 A); Tanner Pfeffer (8-6-1, 3.12 GAA, 0.909 SV%, 1 SO)

Mount Lebanon Blue Devils

2012-13 Record: 5-16-0, 10 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 58 GF, 101 GA, 203 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in First Round

2012-13 Three Stars: Stephen Sramac (12 G, 18 A); Ronald Litman (12 G, 10 A); Thomas Kang (8 G, 8 A)
 

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE:

SECTION 3:

State College Little Lions

2012-13 Record: 14-7-0, 28 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 119 GF, 67 GA, 260 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Semifinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Stefan Horgas (52 G, 25 A); Dalton Brown (15 G, 39 A); Zach Woytowich (8-3-0, 2.80 GAA, 0.892 SV%, 1 SO)

Norwin Knights

2012-13 Record: 11-10-0, 22 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 105 GF, 111 GA, 326 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in First Round

2012-13 Three Stars: Daniel Merz (40 G, 26 A); Timothy Palmer (17 G, 23 A); Dante Youhon (15 G, 22 A)

Butler Golden Tornado

2012-13 Record: 10-11-0, 20 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 85 GF, 82 GA, 313 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in First Round

2012-13 Three Stars: Tanner Gilliland (21 G, 23 A); Troy Double (18 G, 9 A); Nicholas Whann (9 G, 14 A)

Penn-Trafford Warriors

2012-13 Record: 3-17-1, 7 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 62 GF, 133 GA, 250 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Did not qualify

2012-13 Three Stars: Jacob Miller (14 G, 12 A); Jonah Graffius (13 G, 13 A); Jordan Eisenstat (13 G, 11 A)

SECTION 4:

Pine-Richland Rams

2012-13 Record: 14-4-1, 29 PTS (Class AA)

2012-13 Team Stats: 123 GF, 37 GA, 209 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Final

2012-13 Three Stars: Dillon Kessy (29 G, 28 A); Zach Richey (30 G, 22 A); Brendan Bagnato (13-3-1, 1.89 GAA, 0.889 SV%, 3 SO)

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings

2012-13 Record: 10-9-2, 22 PTS

2012-13 Team Stats: 95 GF, 63 GA, 222 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in Quarterfinals

2012-13 Three Stars: Anthony Parrucci (21 G, 11 A); Jesse Yeckel (11 G, 15 A); Kevin Dziubek (7-4-1, 2.81 GAA, 0.874 SV%)

Fox Chapel Foxes

2012-13 Record: 2-14-0 (Freshmen)

2012-13 Team stats: 46 GF, 154 GA, 153 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: N/A

2012-13 Three Stars: Brendan Gaffney (17 G, 4 A); Shane Krhovsky (8 G, 3 A); Sam Stites (4 G, 7 A)

Shaler Titans

2012-13 Record: 9-10-2, 20 PTS

2012-13 Team stats: 75 GF, 80 GA, 380 PIM

2012-13 Playoffs: Lost in First Round

2012-13 Three Stars: Michael Klena (18 G, 5 A); Austin Martz (15 G, 7 A); Ryan Fischerkeller (8 G, 14 A)

That wraps up our Class AAA preview, but we still have three more to go, so check back next Monday as we delve into Class AA. Your home for the 2014 Penguins Cup Playoffs is the MSA Sports Network!

Tags: Bethel Park, Butler, Canon-McMillan, Fox Chapel, Upper St. Clair