Pittsburgh Hockey Digest

PIHL

In the Rink: PIHL Week 8

Posted on

Here is our continuing coverage of Week 8 of the 2018-19 PIHL season, brought to you by Brian Mitchell, Ed Major II, Jared Todhunter, and the rest of the Pittsburgh Hockey Digest Staff.

TUESDAY, NOV. 20 

HARMAR TWP., Pa. — Ed Major, taking a vacation from his usual Ice Castle adventures, had a double-header at Alpha Ice Complex on Tuesday.

MT. LEBANON 1, PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC 3 (FULL GALLERY)

The Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings hosted the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils on Tuesday at Alpha Ice Complex. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead two minutes in on a goal by Jack Garlick, but 21 seconds later, Vikings forward Christian Caparelli tied the game. From then onward, it was all Central Catholic, as John Null and Claudio Simione added the game-winner and insurance goals, respectively, in the second period.

If there was one aspect of Central Catholic’s game that was less than stellar, it was the nine penalties taken by the Vikings, three of which were coincidental minors with the Blue Devils and one a 10-minute misconduct late in the third period. Of the five power play opportunities for Mt. Lebanon, the Blue Devils scored on zero of them.

Bradley Weaver made 24 saves on 27 shots for the Blue Devils while Norbert McDermott made 28 saves on 29 shots for the Vikings.

PLUM 6,  SHALER 2 (FULL GALLERY)

The Shaler Titans hosted the Plum Mustangs on Tuesday at Alpha Ice Complex. The Titans and Mustangs had everyone in the arena thinking the matchup would be a close game. After one period, that appeared to be true, as Shaler outshot Plum 10-0 but were locked in a scoreless draw. Unfortunately for the Titans, Plum forward Daniel Baranowski got tired of seeing goose eggs on the scoreboard and promptly put up three goals in the second period. At the end of the second period, Shaler goaltender Darren Rasimczyk received three 10-minute misconduct penalties for verbal altercations and physical gestures directed at Plum fans and officials. Rasimczyk saved 15 of 18 shots through the first two periods of the game.

Titans backup goaltender Ryan Bragg fared no better between the pipes in the third period, allowing 3 goals on 12 shots, as Shaler’s own two goals were not enough for the comeback as they fell, 6-2.

MONDAY, NOV. 19 

ROSTRAVER TWP., Pa. — Jared Todhunter traveled to Rostraver Ice Garden on Monday for a Class-A matchup between the Wheeling Central Catholic Knights and the Thomas Jefferson Jaguars. 

THOMAS JEFFERSON 5, WHEELING CENTRAL CATHOLIC 4  

The Wheeling Central Catholic Knights (1-5), dressing only 12 skaters and one goaltender, came into the game looking for redemption from last week’s loss to Thomas Jefferson. The Thomas Jefferson Jaguars (4-1) currently sit in third  place in the Class-A Southwest division with 8 points.  Knights goalie, Jacob Laurine, got the start and Luciano Ripepi was in net for the Jaguars. Despite being outshot 17 to 6 in the first period, Wheeling Catholic got on the board first when Caleb Karnell netted the puck at 9:14 in the period. Thomas Jefferson finally found a way past the Knights goaltender during a power play that same period as Edward Pazo tied the game for the Jaguars with 1:30 left in the first period.

The second period saw Wheeling Catholic take control of the game by outshooting Thomas Jefferson 9 to 8. While it was a tightly played period with no penalties, the Knights regained the lead when Kyle Newmeyer scored twice at 6:43 and 11:37 of the period.  The Knights continued their scoring when Chase Edgerton increased the lead to three with under a minute remaining in the period. Thomas Jefferson’s special teams started the comeback for the Jaguars when Hayden Hintemeyer scored on two power plays just 38 seconds apart, while holding the Knights to only two shots in the final period of regulation. Joseph Oliver tied the game, 4-4, for the Jaguars with 3:50 remaining.

In overtime, Thomas Jefferson only managed two shots on goal, while Wheeling Catholic had trouble getting pucks to the net, going without a shot on goal. The shootout hero for the Jaguars was the same who tied it in the third, Joseph Oliver, being the loan goal scorer. Knights goaltender Jacob Laurine did everything in his power to help his team, ending the night stopping 35 of 39 SOG for a SV% of .897 and saving 2 of 3 in the shootout. Jaguars goaltender Luciano Ripepi ended the game with a .765 SV% by stopping 13 of 17 shots on goal. Thomas Jefferson will stay at home next week as they host Indiana at Rostraver Ice Garden. According to the PIHL website, Wheeling Central Catholic’s game against Kiski Area has been cancelled next week. The Knights will travel to S&T Bank Arena in Indiana, PA, to play Indiana on Dec. 6th.

Full Album: Todhunter Productions

CASTLE SHANNON, Pa. — Mitch decided that taking the whole week off wasn’t for him, so he headed to Ice Castle for a Double-A & Division-2 doubleheader.

UPPER ST. CLAIR 7, MARS 4

The matchup of the two teams sitting second in their respective divisions on Monday night more closely resembled a pair of first-place teams, as they spent the first period feeling each other out, ending the stanza at one goal apiece.

Then things got real – each team went on to register three goals in a hectic second frame, increasing the intensity and hitting with every passing minute.

The Panthers came out flying in the third, scoring three times en-route to a 7-4 victory.

Quinn Giacobbe lead all skaters in scoring with two goals and two assists, Devin Rohrich had two goals and Anthony Carone a goal and two assists. Kyle Rohrich started for the Panthers but left shortly after the half-way point. Jake Fisher stepped in and stopped 14-of-15 to earn the victory.

Mars received goals from Colin Boyle, Zach Koerbel, Nathan Issac and Jackson Krock. Daniel Mitchell stopped 39-of-46 in the loss.

MITCH’S PICS (FULL GALLERY)

BISHOP CANEVIN 6, CENTRAL VALLEY 5

The second game of the double-header didn’t have the same headlines as its predecessor, but it packed just as big of a punch- if not bigger.

Bishop Canevin came out flying in the first, pressing the Warriors in their own zone for the majority of the period while registering three goals in the stanza.

Central Valley struck back in a big way in the second frame, lighting the lamp three times en route to tying things up.

The third lined up nicely for each team, as the two teams exchanged leads three times, each team registering two goals. Overtime went the same way, and then there was the shootout….

ATTEMPT #1: Garrett Patton: GOAL (CV 1-0)

ATTEMPT #2: Jason Malesky: GOAL (T 1-1)

ATTEMPT #3: Dante Guido: NO GOAL (T 1-1)

ATTEMPT #4: Cameron Ropchock: GOAL (BC 2-1)

ATTEMPT #5: Matthew Vrankovich: NO GOAL (BC wins 2-1)

Cameron Ropchock scored twice and added three assists for the Crusaders, who also received two goals from Turner Anslem. Evan Victor had a goal and an assist. Henry Polley stopped 36-of-41 in the win.

Christian Bohan, Benjamin Krummert, Matthew Vrankovich, Dante Guido and Mitchel Gagne scored for the Warriors. Roberto Wilhelm stopped 28-0f-33 shots for Central Valley.

MITCH’S PICS (FULL GALLERY)

Related Items:, , , , , , , , , , ,

Recommended for you

To Top