The race for Penguins Cup and Division-2 playoff positioning is heating up! Here’s what you need to know going into week 16 of the PIHL season.
NOTES: All first-round home games are subject to ice availability, and in the event of a neutral-site game the team that is the ‘higher seed’ is considered the home team. In AA, if two teams are tied for fifth in either division, they will play a tiebreaker game at a neutral site and the ‘home team’ will be decided by coin flip prior to the game.
x- earned playoff berth
y- clinched home ice in first round
AAA – 9 teams
All teams qualify.
No. 8 & 9 play a play-in game at a neutral site.
Current Matchups:
(Cathedral Prep vs. Canon-McMillan) @ Peters Township
Central Catholic @ North Allegheny
Butler @ Bethel Park
Seneca Valley @ Mt. Lebanon
Scenarios:
Peters Township, Bethel Park and North Allegheny each clinched a first-round home playoff game.
Mt. Lebanon clinches the final first-round home playoff game with a Butler loss.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Mt. Lebanon 6, Butler 0 at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
TUESDAY:
Cathedral Prep 5, Peters Township 3 at Printscape Arena at Southpointe
North Allegheny 3, Central Catholic 0 at Alpha Ice Complex
Seneca Valley 8, Canon-McMillan 3 at Printscape Arena at Southpointe
THURSDAY:
Butler @ Bethel Park, 9:00 Spencer Family Y.M.C.A.
AA – 14 teams
Northwest
Southeast
4/5 seeds play opposite conference play-in games in to the quarter-final at a neutral site. A tie for 5th requires a play-in game between the tied schools.
Current Matchups
(NW5 Quaker Valley @ SE4 Franklin Regional) @ NW 1 Pine Richland
SE3 Hempfield @ NW2 Mars
(SE5 Baldwin @ NW4 Moon) @ SE 1 Greater Latrobe
NW3 Hampton @ SE2 Upper St. Clair
Scenarios:
Pine-Richland and Mars each clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Greater Latrobe, Upper St. Clair, Hempfield, Hampton and Moon clinched playoff berths.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Franklin Regional 6, Penn-Trafford 4 at Center Ice Arena
Moon 4, Baldwin 1 at Ice Castle Arena
Mars 5, Quaker Valley 4 at Baierl Ice Complex
Hampton 4, Pine-Richland 3 at Baierl Ice Complex
Upper St. Clair 9, Hempfield 5 at Ice Castle
THURSDAY:
Upper St. Clair @ Armstrong, 8:20 Belmont Complex
Plum @ Greater Latrobe, 8:35 Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Shaler @ Moon, 9:10 Baierl Ice Complex
A – 22 teams
NORTH
Top eight teams in the North qualify.
EAST
Top two teams qualify automatically.
*Bishop McCort is ineligible for the postseason.
SOUTH
Top two teams qualify automatically.
**Wheeling Park and Wheeling Catholic are ineligible for the postseason.
Current Matchups:
N1 Montour vs SE8 Greensburg Salem
N2 Meadville vs SE7 Chartiers Valley
N3 West Allegheny vs SE6 Westmont Hilltop
N4 North Hills vs SE5 Norwin
SE1 South Fayette vs N8 Blackhawk
SE2 South Park vs N7 Freeport
SE3 Thomas-Jefferson vs N6 Sewickley Academy
SE4 Indiana vs N5 Fox Chapel
The single-A postseason is a bit complex. The North will remain its own division and be ranked 1-8 as per the points standings. The South and East will be combined, with the top two teams in each of the divisions guaranteed a spot in the postseason. The final four teams will be the teams with the highest point totals in the South and East regardless of division. Those eight teams will then be ranked 1-8 based off of the point totals. All tiebreakers will be consistent with the PIHL rules.
The first round will see the two ‘divisions’ play each other. The top four teams will face the bottom four teams of the opposite division in the format of 1v8, 2v7, 3v7 and 4v5. There will be no re-seeding.
Scenarios:
Montour, South Fayette, Meadville and West Allegheny clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Thomas Jefferson, Indiana, North Hills, Norwin, Westmont Hilltop, Sewickley Academy, Fox Chapel, Greensburg Salem and Chartiers Valley clinched playoff berths.
South Park clinched a playoff berth. The Eagles clinch a first-round home game with a win.
Freeport clinches a playoff berth with a win or a loss by Beaver.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Blackhawk 8, Deer Lakes 7 at Frozen Pond
Chartiers Valley 3, Wheeling Park at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
South Fayette 4, Wheeling Catholic 2 at Wesbanco Arena
Indiana 6, Kiski Area 4 at Center Ice Arena
West Allegheny 12, Freeport 3 at Baierl Ice Complex
Meadville 9, Montour 6 at RMU Island Sports Center
TUESDAY:
Norwin 11, Greensburg Salem 3 at Center Ice Arena
Bishop McCort 7, Westmont Hilltop 3 at 1st Summit Arena at CC War Memorial
Fox Chapel 6, Sewickley Academy 4 at Alpha Ice Complex
THURSDAY:
North Hills @ Beaver, 6:45 Brady’s Run
South Park @ Thomas Jefferson, 7:35 Rostraver Ice Garden
Division-2 – 11 teams
Top eight teams qualify.
Current Matchups:
Trinity @ Burrell
Morgantown @ Ringgold
Central Valley @ Connellsville
Carrick @ Neshannock
Scenarios:
Burrell clinched a playoff berth. The Bucs clinch a first-round home game with a win.
Ringgold clinched a playoff berth. The Rams clinch a first-round home game with a regulation loss by Carrick.
Central Valley clinches a playoff berth with a win.
Connellsville, Carrick and Neshannock clinched playoff berths.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Burrell 8, McDowell 1, at Pittsburgh Ice Arena
Knoch 8, Bishop Canevin 4 at Frozen Pond Arena
TUESDAY:
Connellsville 10, Trinity 3 at The Ice Mine
THURSDAY:
Burrell @ Carrick, 8:00 Ice Castle Arena
Neshannock @ McDowell, CANCELLED
Bishop Canevin @ Central Valley, 8:45 Brady’s Run
