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NORTH ALLEGHENY VARSITY/JV
ICE HOCKEY

**SECTION CHAMPIONS**

Photo courtesy of Carol Barger

UPPER ST. CLAIR EDGES PAST TIGERS
IN QUARTERFINALS

With a trip to the Consol Energy Center and the semifinals on the line, the Upper St. Clair Panthers outlasted the North Allegheny Tigers, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the PIHL playoffs on Wednesday night.  In an extremely exciting game at the Ice Castle in Castle Shannon, the fourth-seeded Panthers outscored the fifth-seeded Tigers, 3-1, in the final period to eek out a close contest.  Upper St. Clair’s Justin Selep netted two goals in the game, the first and last of the night.

After a scoreless first period, the Panthers were granted a power play on a high sticking call on North Allegheny.  With the man advantage, C.J. Murray set up Selep on a perfect pass to give Upper St. Clair a 1-0 lead just 1:23 into the second period.  While Murray, one of the top scorers in the PIHL, earned the assist on the opening goal, he was otherwise kept silent by a swarming North Allegheny defense.  With the Tigers on a two-man advantage minutes later, NA tied the game on a Dalton Landman goal to knot things up at 1-1. 

The game remained tied until the third period, when Luke Stork put a shot in the back of the Tigers net to put Upper St. Clair back ahead, 2-1, with 10:32 on the clock.  A cross checking penalty on Stork with 6:58 to go in the game appeared to give the Tigers a big opportunity to find the equalizer.  However, a turnover forced by USC’s Tim Shoup led to a Stephen Gielarowski short-handed goal and the Panthers held a 3-1 lead with 5:43 to play.  Despite being two goals down, North Allegheny returned fire with another goal by Landman to narrow the gap to 3-2, Panthers.  For Landman’s two goal effort, the junior defenseman was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. 

An interference penalty on Gielarowski with 2:36 remaining in regulation set the stage for another Tigers power play and an exciting finish at the Ice Castle.  Behind outstanding play by net minder Michael Ambrose, Upper St. Clair killed the penalty and shortly after locked up the game on an empty netter by Selep to bring the final score to 4-2.  Upper St. Clair improves to 14-6-1 and advances to the PIHL semifinals next week.  North Allegheny’s season ends with a record of 13-7-2.

Looking ahead to 2012, the NA hockey team should again be challenging for a PIHL title.  The Tigers will bring back goaltenders Matt Goda and Collin Smeresky, as well as Dalton Landman, Matt Neurohr, Cody Black, Josh King and Joe Griffin to name a few.  With a huge slate of playoff experienced players, the Tigers will be a forced to be reckoned with next season.     

SCORING SUMMARY
UPPER ST. CLAIR - 4  NORTH ALLEGHENY - 2 

INDIVIDUAL SCORING

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2010-11 PIHL ALIGNMENT - 17 TEAMS

The Tigers will compete again in the PIHL in Class AAA along with 16 other teams.  NA has been placed in Section 2-AAA for the 2010-11 season.

Any questions or comments should be directed to Athletic Director
Bob Bozzuto at:  bbozzuto@northallegheny.org