The race for Penguins Cup and Division-2 playoff positioning is heating up! Here’s what you need to know going into week 17 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
z- clinched best record in regular season
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
Butler @ North Allegheny
Seneca Valley @ Bethel Park
Central Catholic @ Mt. Lebanon
Scenarios:
Peters Township, Bethel Park, North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon clinched the top four seeds.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Canon-McMillan 5, Butler 3 at Frozen Pond Arena
Central Catholic 3, Seneca Valley 2 at Baierl Ice Complex
Peters Township 8, Mt. Lebanon 3 at Mt. Lebanon Ice Center
THURSDAY:
Bethel Park @ Cathedral Prep, 8:30 Mercyhurst Ice Center
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 Upper St. Clair
NW3 Hampton @ SE2 Latrobe
Scenarios:
Pine-Richland, Mars and Upper St. Clair each clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Hempfield, Franklin Regional, Hampton and Moon clinched playoff berths.
Greater Latrobe clinched a playoff berth. The Wildcats clinch a first-round home game with a win OR an overtime loss.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Franklin Regional 5, Plum 2 at Center Ice Arena
Pine-Richland 5, Shaler 2 at Baierl Ice Complex
Hempfield 4, Baldwin 1, at Ice Castle Arena
Quaker Valley 5, Hampton 4 at Frozen Pond Arena
TUESDAY:
Upper St. Clair 8, Penn-Trafford 3 at Center Ice Arena
THURSDAY:
Pine-Richland @ Greater Latrobe, 7:15 Kirk S. Nevin Arena
Plum @ Moon, 9:10 Baierl Ice Complex
A – 22 teams
NORTH
Top eight teams in the North qualify.
Sewickley Academy and Fox Chapel each won one game in regulation in the regular season, and are tied in wins. Third tiebreaker is less penalty minutes, or PIM’s. Currently, Sewickley Academy has 230 PIM’s, Fox Chapel 124. Fox Chapel sits in the No. 5 seed.
EAST
*Bishop McCort is ineligible for the postseason.
SOUTH
**Wheeling Park and Wheeling Catholic are ineligible for the postseason.
Current Matchups:
N1 Montour vs SE8 Greensburg Salem
N2 West Allegheny vs SE7 Chartiers Valley
N3 Meadville vs SE6 Westmont Hilltop
N4 North Hills vs SE5 Norwin
SE1 South Fayette vs N8 Blackhawk
SE2 Thomas-Jefferson vs N7 Freeport
SE3 South Park 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, North Hills, Thomas Jefferson and West Allegheny clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Norwin, Indiana, South Park, Westmont Hilltop, Freeport, Sewickley Academy, Fox Chapel, Greensburg Salem and Chartiers Valley clinched playoff berths..
This Week:
MONDAY:
Westmont Hilltop 8, Kiski Area 4 at Center Ice Arena
Wheeling Catholic 5, Chartiers Valley 4/ OT Wesbanco Arena
South Fayette 4, South Park 1 at Ice Castle Arena
North Hills 5, Deer Lakes 3 at RMU ISC
West Allegheny 6, Meadville 3 at Meadville Area Rec
Thomas Jefferson 5, Wheeling Park 2 at Wesbanco Arena
Sewickley Academy 12, Beaver 3 at RMU ISC
THURSDAY:
Greensburg Salem @ Indiana, 7:30 S&T Bank Arena
Wheeling Park @ Thomas Jefferson, 7:35 Rostraver Ice Garden
Montour @ Blackhawk, 8:05 Brady’s Run Ice Arena
Fox Chapel @ Freeport, 8:20 Belmont Complex
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, a first-round home game and home team privileges throughout the D2 postseason.
Ringgold clinched a playoff berth and a first-round home game.
Connellsville clinched a playoff berth. The Falcons clinch a first-round home game with a win over Carrick in any format.
Carrick, Neshannock and Central Valley clinched playoff berths.
Morgantown clinches a playoff berth with a win.
This Week:
MONDAY:
Neshannock 4, Ringgold 1 at Rostraver Ice Garden
Burrell 11, Knoch 2 at Pittsburgh Ice Arena
TUESDAY:
Central Valley 7, McDowell 5 at Mercyhurst Ice Center
Trinity 6, Morgantown 4 at Printscape Arena at Southpointe
THURSDAY:
McDowell @ Bishop Canevin, 6:40 Ice Castle Arena
Burrell @ Morgantown, 7:30 Morgantown Ice Center
Connellsville @ Carrick, 8:40 Ice Castle Arena
