Quaker Valley beats Avonworth at own high-scoring game, claims program’s 6th Penguins Cup

By: Ted Sarneso
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 | 12:15 AM

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It had been a tough road for the seniors on the Quaker Valley hockey team.

The last three years saw them lose in the quarterfinal round because of misplays or bad bounces, but in their final run through the PIHL Class A playoffs, they were able to reach the promised land.

“This senior group is resilient, have been through loss and that gives them determination,” said Quakers coach Kevin Quinn. “I really wanted it for this group.”

After being down a goal early, Quaker Valley (22-1-1) strung together five unanswered goals and came away with a 6-2 victory in the Penguins Cup final over defending champion Avonworth (19-4-1).

“It means the world to me,” said Quakers sophomore Matthias Lezama. “It’s the last run for these seniors, and I’ve looked up to them my entire life, and to do it with them means everything.”

Highlights courtesy of Tenband.TV

Lezama led the way for Quaker Valley, collecting two goals and two assists, while linemate Charlie Pyle added a goal and an assist.

For those looking for nonstop up and down the ice action, this was the game to watch.

Both teams waived the right to set up in the offensive zone, instead favoring a transition game that brought about plenty of scoring.

Quaker Valley struck immediately as Pyle scored off assists from Lezama and Max Modrovich 31 seconds into the game.

The lead did not last long as Avonworth scored on two transition goals.

Austin Dzadovsky received a feed from Jimmy Shields and buried the puck past Ian Lorang with 4:11 left in the first period.

With 24.9 seconds left, Owen Stiers was sprung on a breakaway by Ryan Ford, and he wristed one into the equipment of Lorang, who appeared to have stopped the puck, but it trickled through to give the Antelopes a 2-1 advantage at the end of one.

It looked like Lorang had given up on the play and was making his case to the refs that something was amiss.

“I thought I heard the linesman blow the play offsides, but he didn’t, so I sort of relaxed and it got by me,” said Lorang. “It was a sellout crowd, a lot of people. I could have heard anything.”

Lorang rebounded though, keeping the Antelopes at bay, and finished the night stopping 30 of 32 shots.

The way the Antelopes scored in bunches, Quinn knew what his team needed to do to prevent a parade of goals.

“We got to the end of the first period and had a conversation about how we can’t pinch against this team, can’t give them freebies and easy chances because they’re just too good offensively,” he said.

“Every line that comes out can score for them, and I don’t think I’ve ever faced a team with that much offensive talent. I think we had the advantage in goaltending, and Ian (Lorang) played very well for us back there.”

The Quakers answered a minute and a half into the second period when Ben McHenry scored his third goal of the playoffs. He skated down the right wing, fired a shot over the left shoulder of Andrew Hetcko and the puck went crossbar down to tie the game.

With 1:50 left in the second, Quaker Valley took back the lead on a turnover by Avonworth.

Trying to maintain possession in the Quakers zone, the Antelopes coughed the puck up. It ended up on the stick of Luke Koehler, who tapped the puck to Lezama, who quickly fed it to Modrovich streaking down the right side.

Crossing the red line and continuing with a full head of steam into the Avonworth zone, Modrovich sped by the Antelope defenseman who appeared to be standing still and rifled a wrister high on Hetcko, who might never have seen it.

“Quaker Valley maybe saw what our weaknesses were, pressed that advantage a little bit,” said Chiusano. “Some of our guys might have been a little tentative of their offensive talents, and we didn’t play as tight as we should have.”

Quaker Valley added on in the third period, when Lezama scored on the power play at 10:14.

Jack Watson took the puck below the goal line after a feed from Modrovich. Coming form behind the net, Watson found Lezama open at the bottom of the circle, and Lezama snuck one high short side on Hectko, who stopped 20 of 26 shots.

Five minutes later, Watson let a shot go from the blueline and the puck hit the left post and bounced off Hetcko and settled just short of the goal line when Hunter Kronk pushed it across for a 5-2 Quakers lead.

The onslaught wasn’t over as two minutes later, Pyle went up the left side of the ice and put one on net that found its way through the equipment of Hetcko and once again sat along the goal line.

Lezama came on with a full head of steam from behind the net, wrapped his stick around the goal and put in his second of the night and fifth of the playoffs.

“I got into the zone and passed the puck to Charlie, who put together a forehand-backhand, and the puck just sat there, with no one picking it up and I just jumped on it and buried it,” said Lezama.

The win gives Quaker Valley its sixth PIHL title and first since 2014, when it won three in a row.

Avonworth had a chance to go back-to-back but fell just short of the mark.

“It’s disappointing. Don’t want the season to end this way, but very proud of the guys. They worked extremely hard this season to get to this point,” said Avonworth coach Chris Chiusano.

Quaker Valley now gets a chance at a state title. Having been the last team in Class A to win one, it would mean a lot to bring the trophy back to the western side of the state.

“It’s been so long since the title was back in the western part of the state and for it to come back to us, it would be a storybook ending for the seniors and the team,” said Lezama.

Tags: Avonworth, Quaker Valley