Ice Hockey Game Summaries

By: Bob Orkwis

Fourth-seeded Pine-Richland used some timely goals and a pair of special teams tallies to defeat fifth-seeded North Allegheny 6-3 in the PIHL Quarterfinals at the Baierl Ice Complex in
Warrendale.

Things got off to a good start for the Tigers, as Liam Dimond netted his second goal of the season less than four minutes into the game. Joey Mitchell and Nicholas Pasquale assisted for
a 1-0 North Allegheny lead.

Pine-Richland would score the next five unanswered goals.

Carson Verszyla scored a power play goal on a rebound, and when Doug Van Meter snuck a shot home at 10:21, the Rams had two goals in 53 seconds and a 2-1 lead. Pine-Richland scored a big goal late in the first period, when Noah Taggart found the net with six seconds remaining and a 3-1 lead.

Verszyla and Van Meter teamed up to set up Cullen Campbell for the only goal of the second period, a shorthanded tally, to give Pine-Richland a 4-1 lead after two periods.

Campbell struck again, getting his second goal of the game early in the third period for a 5-1 Rams lead. But the Tigers showed heart in scoring the next two goals to make it 5-3. Kyle Imm punched home a rebound for his 12 th goal of the year, assisted by Mitchell and Pasquale at 8:26. Just over two minutes later, Mitchell scored his team-leading 14th goal off a Cian Gallagher assist to get North Allegheny within a pair of goals with just under seven minutes to play.

Campbell completed his hat trick with an empty net goal in the last minute of play to make the final score 6-3. Campbell now leads 3A with 23 goals this season.

William Hanner made 40 saves in net to pick up the win for the Rams. Chris Costa stopped 22 shots in goal for the Tigers.

The seven North Allegheny seniors were celebrated after their final game, as they were chosen as the Wright Automotive Players of the Game. Congratulations to birthday boy Eddie Scherer, Mitchell, Adam Bradley, Dimond, Alex Costa, Kyle Imm and Drew Pompa as they completed their careers for the North Allegheny icers.

The loss ends North Allegheny’s season at (9-7-1-2-2) and marks the first time outside of the COVID year since 2014 that the Tigers did not make it to the semifinals.

Pine-Richland (9-5-2-3-2) has now won four of its last five games, and the Rams will battle top-seeded Seneca Valley on Monday, March 9 th, in the 3A semifinals at the RMU Island Sports Center.

ICE HOCKEY SUMMARY VS. PINE-RICHLAND, 3-3-26

By: Jared Barton

North Allegheny ice hockey hosted Thomas Jefferson for Senior Night at the Baierl Ice Complex on Monday night in the final game of the regular season. The Jaguars jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, taking down the Tigers 4-1.

Thomas Jefferson opened the scoring in the first five minutes of the contest off a goal from Owen Michael, assisted by Carter Merrell and Emery Molnar. The Tigers outshot the Jaguars in the first two periods, but could not find many quality scoring chances.

TJ added the second goal of the game just 16 seconds into the second stanza. Carter Artman found the back of the net on a wrist shot in the middle slot, assisted by Merrll and Jacob Simon. The Jaguars took a 3-0 lead on a Jake Pritchard goal just about three minutes later, assisted by Delko Joyce and Garrett Fetzko.

Thomas Jefferson extended the lead to 4-0 in the middle stages of the final period on a goal that was touched by Molnar before hitting an NA player and sneaking behind sophomore Chris Costa, who came in relief of senior Drew Pompa. The Tigers cracked the code on the power play with a goal from senior Joey Mitchell, assisted by fellow seniors Adam Bradley and Alex Costa. Mitchell took home Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.

Chris Costa made 12 saves in net after Pompa initially stopped five shots. Ben Balducci was credited with the win and made 21 saves.

North Allegheny stays put with 34 points and falls out of third place in the AAA Standings. The Tigers await the completion of the rest of the regular season games around the league before they determine who and where they will play in the opening round of the Penguins Cup Playoffs.

ICE HOCKEY SUMMARY VS. THOMAS JEFFERSON, 2-23-25

North Allegheny traveled to Palmer Imaging Arena to take on the Franklin Regional Panthers in their penultimate contest. The Tigers finished off the season sweep of the Panthers winning by a score of 4-1.

Joey Mitchell got NA going 3:48 into the first period when he scored off a feed from Liam Dimond to make the score 1-0. Mitchell found the back of the net again, 11 minutes later, assisted by Anthony Lucas and the Tigers led 2-0 at the end of the first period.

Franklin Regional’s Ryan Crouse scored three minutes into the second period to cut the North Allegheny lead to 2-1. The remainder of the period was penalty riddled as the Tigers had five power play opportunities in the second period. They would take advantage of two of them as Alex Costa scored nine minutes into the period with the man advantage and Kyle Imm scored off a Brady Hornyak assist on the power play to give NA a 4-1 lead after two.

With a three goal lead, the Tigers defense took over with no one scoring in the third period, and North Allegheny came away with the 4-1 victory.

Chris Costa made 22 saves in net.

North Allegheny improves to 11-8 on the season with 34 points. They are currently tied for third place with Central Catholic. The Tigers wrap up the regular season on Monday when they host the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars at the Baierl Ice Complex at 7 p.m. Thomas Jefferson currently sits a point behind NA.

Ice Hockey Summary at Franklin Regional, 2-19-26

By: Jared Barton

North Allegheny ice hockey hosted South Fayette at the Baierl Ice Complex on Thursday night. The Tigers found scoring late, but it wasn’t enough, as the Lions prevailed 2-1 in regulation.

After a scoreless first period, South Fayette cracked the code in the second frame on a goal from senior Mikhail Lobanov about three minutes in. Junior Jackson Stilley earned the lone assist on the shot.

The Lions expanded the lead to 2-0 on another marker from Lobanov, who was on a breakaway courtesy of a pass from junior Nathaniel Keller about two minutes into the final period. The Tigers found life in the late stages of the contest. With just about six minutes left, senior Joey Mitchell found the back of the net on a feed from freshman Brady Dixon and senior Kyle Imm. NA had two power play opportunities at the end of the contest and even worked those attempts with an empty net at times, but the South Fayette defense held on for the win.

Sophomore Chris Costa made 18 saves in net for NA, while Jackson Ankrum stopped 38 shots for the Lions.

North Allegheny falls to 10-8 overall with just two games remaining in the regular season. NA travels to Palmer Imaging Arena next Thursday for a matchup with Franklin Regional. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m.

ICE HOCKEY SUMMARY VS. SOUTH FAYETTE, 2-5-26

By: Jared Barton 

The North Allegheny ice hockey team played top-ranked Seneca Valley at the Baierl Ice Complex Thursday night. The Tigers took care of business in the shootout, handing the Raiders a 3-2 loss. NA has now won four games in a row. This was Seneca Valley’s first loss of the season

Seneca took the lead in the late stages of the first period off a goal from Leyton Moreau. North Allegheny struck back in the first minute of the second period on a marker from senior Joey Mitchell, assisted by fellow senior Kyle Imm and junior Anthony Lucas. Just about two minutes later, senior Eddie Scherer gave the Tigers the lead on a goal assisted by junior Cedric Otey and freshman Cole Maier.

The Raiders tied the game in the middle stages of the third period on a goal from John Sroka. The two teams failed to find the back of the net in the overtime period, and the game went to a shootout.

NA had bookend goals from Lucas and senior Alex Costa in the shootout to take the win. Sophomore Chris Costa had another strong night in net, making 29 saves.

North Allegheny improves to 10-7 overall and is back in action from the Baierl Ice Complex next Thursday against South Fayette. Puck drop is slated for 9:10 p.m. and live audio coverage will be provided on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

ICE HOCKEY SUMMARY VS. SENECA VALLEY, 1-29-26