HARMAR Twp., Pa — The Pitt Panthers trimmed their magic number for a playoff berth to one over the weekend by defeating the John Carroll Blue Streaks 4-3 on Friday night and dominating the Mercyhurst Lakers on Saturday, 6-1. Meanwhile, the Duquesne Dukes clinched a conference playoff berth with their own win over John Carroll Saturday, defeating them 6-3, with all six goals coming in the third period. The Dukes completed their weekend with a non-conference matchup against the Delaware Blue Hens, falling 5-2.
Panthers outlast the Blue Streaks:
The Panthers got on the board just over the midway point of the first period Friday night against John Carroll on a goal by Alec Bosnic his second of the season. John Carroll defenseman Anthony Pontello tied the game 1:41 into the second period. The Panthers began taking momentum away after that goal, as Jacob Tepe scored two of his own at the 10:44 and 17:18 marks of the period to give his team the 3-1 lead.
In the third, it was the Blue Streaks’ turn to notch two goals, as defenseman Max Zweirlien and forward Chris Laliberte scored at 4:28 and 7:27 of the period, respectively. Midway through the period, Bernardo Vieira broke the tie for the Panthers with his second goal of the season and Pitt held on to earn the 4-3 victory.
MAJOR FOCUS: Pitt outduels John Carroll to sweep the season series (FULL GALLERY)
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Weekend scores from around the CHMA:
Friday:
PITT 4, John Carroll 3
Delaware 8, ROBERT MORRIS 1
WEST VIRGINIA 4, Mercyhurst 0
Kent State 4, IUP 2
Saturday:
DUQUESNE 6, John Carroll 3
PITT 6, Mercyhurst 1
Slippery Rock 5, WEST VIRGINIA 3
Delaware 4, ROBERT MORRIS 3
KENT STATE 4, IUP 3
Sunday:
Delaware 5, DUQUESNE 2
CHMA STANDINGS
The top six teams qualify for the CHMA Tournament (March 1-3 @ Alpha Ice Complex). The top two seeds based on points will receive a first-round bye. No. 3 will play No. 6 and No. 4 will play No. 5. The playoff winner will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the 2019 ACHA National Tournament in Frisco, Texas at the end of March.
x- earned playoff berth
y- clinched first-round bye
z – clinched No. 1 seed (regular season champion)
CLINCHED:
IUP, Slippery Rock, and Duquesne all clinched playoff spots for the CHMA Tournament (to be held March 1-3 at Alpha Ice Complex) thanks to Pitt and Duquesne each beating John Carroll over the weekend. Slippery Rock clinched with their victory over West Virginia Saturday night.
CLINCHING SCENARIOS:
The Pitt Panthers can clinch a playoff spot by defeating West Virginia in one of their two matchups in the home-and-home weekend series on February 8 – 9.
CURRENT MATCHUPS:
Friday, March 1
7:20 PM: No. 3 Duquesne vs. No. 6 John Carroll
9:20 PM: No. 4 Pitt vs. No. 5 Robert Morris
Saturday, March 2
4:20 PM: No. 1 IUP vs. (LOWEST REMAINING SEED)
7:20 PM: No. 2 Slippery Rock vs.. (HIGHEST REMAINING SEED)
NOTES:
- The West Virginia Mountaineers notched their first conference win Friday night, defeating Mercyhurst 4-0.
- IUP holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Slippery Rock and Duquesne, defeating each once so far this season.
- Slippery Rock holds the tiebreaker over Duquesne by having 8 non-shootout conference wins. The Dukes have only seven, thanks to their shootout victory over Robert Morris on November 16.
- John Carroll holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Mercyhurst and West Virginia with one win over each so far this season.
- Robert Morris needs two wins and a John Carroll loss to clinch a playoff berth.
| Team | W | L | OTL | Points | Games Played (Out of 14) | Max Points Possible |
| x-Indiana (PA) | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 24 |
| x-Slippery Rock | 8 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 24 |
| x-Duquesne | 8 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 11 | 22 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 23 |
| Robert Morris (PA) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 17 |
| John Carroll | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 14 |
| Mercyhurst | 3 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
Check out the ACHA schedule here for upcoming ACHA games.
*NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed West Virginia’s record as 1-5-3, giving them 5 points in conference play. Their loss to John Carroll was incorrectly recorded as a regulation loss instead of a shootout loss. It has been corrected and they currently have 6 points in conference play. We regret this error and apologize.
