Ice Hockey Game Summaries

The North Allegheny ice hockey team nearly pulled out another playoff thriller but playing in their third consecutive overtime game the Tigers fell in the PIHL championship to the Erie Cathedral Prep Ramblers, 4-3. Pat Kelly netted the game-winning goal to give the Ramblers their second straight PIHL title and first in Class AAA.

The ice was tilted heavily in Cathedral Prep’s favor in the early going as the Ramblers outshot the Tigers, 18-5, in the first period. Despite the one-sided nature of the period, Tigers goalie Joe Hubert stopped everything that came his way and the game remained scoreless going into the second period.  Hubert made 32 saves in the game while Jacob Kusharski of Prep stopped 24 pucks.

The Ramblers finally solved Hubert in the second period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Doran Okan and Dillon Elliot. Undaunted, North Allegheny answered back with goals by William Carr and Joe Zappia to even the score at 2-2.

In the third period, Nick Trageser put Erie Cathedral Prep back on top, 3-2, with a goal with just 4:41 remaining. Still trailing by a goal with a little over a minute left, the Tigers pulled the goalie and found the equalizer on a Zappia marker with 1:20 left in regulation to send the game to overtime.

North Allegheny has made a living on overtime wins in the playoffs this season but this time it was Cathedral Prep that pulled out the victory as Kelly scored a power play goal with 1:08 to play in overtime to give the Ramblers a 4-3 win. Prep advances to the Pennsylvania Cup Championship game on Saturday.

Ice Hockey Summary vs. Cathedral Prep, 3-15-16

Ice Hockey Individual Scoring vs. Cathedral Prep

The top-seeded North Allegheny Tigers won their second straight overtime thriller in the postseason and beat the Peters Township Indians, 4-3, in the PIHL semifinals on Wednesday night at the RMU Sports Center. Junior defenseman Cameron Zahn scored the game winner at the 5:03 mark of overtime to send the Tigers to the PIHL championship game for the second time in the last four years. (Click here to watch Zahn’s game-winning goal in overtime)

While the Tigers won the game, it was Peters Township who dominated the action in the first period. The Indians netted the first goal of the game on a two-on-none breakaway as Matt Amelio beat NA goalie Joe Hubert for a 1-0 lead with 8:36 remaining in the period. Even though the Indians controlled the pace in the opening stanza, the Tigers stole away any momentum gained by PT with a late goal and tied the game at 1-1 on a marker by Joe Zappia with just one second left in the period.

North Allegheny cashed in on a power play in the second period and grabbed a 2-1 lead when John Parks squeezed a shot past Peters Township goalie Caden Shell with 11:07 on the clock. The seesaw nature of the game continued in the third period as Peters Township tied the game on a Will Barnes goal, and the Indians took a 3-2 lead on a Ross Opeka marker with 8:42 remaining in regulation.

Trailing by a goal with 6:31 to play, NA’s Matthew Heil was called for a roughing penalty and Peters Township was on the power play with a chance to put the game away. The Tigers killed that penalty and scored the equalizer shortly after. NA junior Erik Chidester dug the puck out of the left corner and passed to an open Dawson Richard in front who tied the game at 3-3 with 4:11 remaining.

The game stayed deadlocked until Zahn’s slap shot won it for the Tigers in overtime, 4-3. For scoring the game winner, Zahn was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

The Zahn slapper trickled through goalie Caden Shell and teetered on the goal line. Sprawling in an attempt to make the save, Shell incidentally pushed the puck into the net and North Allegheny claimed the OT win. Both goalies played well and faced a bevy of shots. Shell stopped 32 shots and NA’s Joe Hubert made 42 saves in a tremendous effort.

North Allegheny advances to the PIHL championship game to face Erie Cathedral Prep on Tuesday night at the Mario Lemieux Sports Complex at 8:30 pm.

Ice Hockey Summary vs. Peters Township, 3-9-16

Ice Hockey Individual Scoring vs. Peters Township

Senior Dawson Richard’s goal 4:12 into overtime lifted top-seeded North Allegheny to an exciting 3-2 win over the eighth-seeded Bethel Park Black Hawks in the PIHL quarterfinals. The last two playoff meetings between these two schools had been decided by just one goal, including a triple overtime win by Bethel Park over NA in the 2012 quarterfinals, and Tuesday night’s contest at the Baierl Ice Complex fit the mold. (Click here to watch a highlight of the game-winning goal by Dawson Richard.)

The upstart Black Hawks scored the game’s first goal when Jason Bauer got free for a breakaway and beat NA goalie Joe Hubert at the 3:18 mark of the first period. Bethel Park maintained its one-goal lead throughout the period despite a barrage of shots on net by the Tigers forwards. Black Hawks goalie Tre Lowe stopped 39 pucks in a terrific performance.  Hubert made 21 saves for North Allegheny, including a key stop in the early stages of overtime.

North Allegheny finally got to Lowe in the second period when Richard caromed a shot off of the BP net minder from a tough angle along the near boards and across the goal line to tie the game at 1-1 at the 4:08 mark of the period. Richard had another opportunity to score two minutes later when the Tigers were awarded a penalty shot because BP’s Jack Wagner was called for an equipment violation. Lowe denied Richard, however, and the game remained tied 1-1.

Bethel Park seemed to pick up the intensity following the penalty shot save by Lowe, but North Allegheny still managed to take a 2-1 lead on a goal by Nathan Taylor with 7:20 to play in the second. The Tigers’ lead was short-lived as Bethel Park’s Logan Chorney blistered a slap shot from inside the blue line to knot the score at 2-2 with 5:29 to go in the second period.

The game remained deadlocked until overtime when Richard’s heroics vaulted North Allegheny to the PIHL semifinals for the second straight season. Freshman Tyler Duderstadt played the puck from the left-wing circle and sent it in front of the net where Richard fought through traffic to deflect the game winning shot past Lowe for a 3-2 triumph. With two goals and one assist, Richard was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

North Allegheny advances to play the Peters Township Indians in the PIHL semifinals on Wednesday, March 9 at the RMU Island Sports Center at 6:45 pm. The game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Ice Hockey Summary vs. Bethel Park, 3-1-16

Ice Hockey Individual Scoring vs. Bethel Park

With top seed in the upcoming PIHL playoffs already sewn up, the North Allegheny ice hockey team dropped a 6-1 decision to Erie Cathedral Prep on Thursday night. The loss snaps a nine-game unbeaten streak for the Tigers.

Cathedral Prep took a 4-0 lead into the third period before NA scored its only goal of the night on a marker by Nathan Taylor one minute into the period. Prep’s Joe Kelly scored the final two goals of the game to bring the score to its eventual final of 6-1.

North Allegheny ends the regular season with an 13-3-2 record and will face Bethel Park in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA playoffs next week. The game will be broadcast live via the internet on the North Allegheny Sports Network. Cathedral Prep finished the regular season in a two for second place with Central Catholic with a 12-5-3 record.

The North Allegheny ice hockey team locked up the top-seed in the upcoming PIHL Class AAA playoffs with a 3-3 tie against the Central Catholic Vikings on Thursday night. The Tigers trailed 3-0 in the first period before staging a second-period rally to even the score.

Matthew Heil struck first for the Tigers with a goal eight minutes into the second period to cut the score to 3-1, Vikings. Nathan Taylor followed with a power play goal less than two minutes later and Dawson Richard tied the game at 3-3 with just 27 seconds remaining in the period.

The game stayed deadlocked throughout the third period and overtime thanks to the play of NA goalie Doug Wild and Central Catholic net minder Nathanial Cava. Joe Hubert started the game for the Tigers but made way for Wild who stopped all 16 shots he faced. Cava was peppered by the NA attack with 42 shots but was up to the challenge by making 39 saves.

North Allegheny sits at atop the Class AAA standings with a 13-4-2 record and remain unbeaten in its last nine games. Central Catholic is in a three-way tie for second place with an 11-5-3 mark. The Tigers will wrap up the regular season on Thursday night with a visit to Erie Cathedral Prep. Start time is set for 8:30 pm.

Ice Hockey Summary vs. Central Catholic, 2-18-16

Ice Hockey Individual Scoring vs. Central Catholic