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Here's where, when McDowell, Cathedral Prep hockey teams will play as PIHL playoffs begin

erie times-news
·3 min read

The McDowell and Cathedral Prep hockey teams open the PIHL Penguin Cup playoffs with quarterfinal games to start the week.

McDowell is scheduled to host Norwin in a Class A quarterfinal at ErieBank Sports Park on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The game is a rematch of last season's Penguins Cup Class A championship game, where Norwin snuffed the Trojans' state title dreams 5-0 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Last year: McDowell hockey season ends with loss to Norwin in Penguins Cup final

The Ramblers will face North Allegheny on Monday at 8:30 p.m. in a Class AAA quarterfinal at Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale. The Ramblers and Tigers split the season series, with Prep winning 4-3 at ErieBank Sports Park in January and losing 6-4 at the Baierl facility in October.

Plenty of offense for Trojans this season

The high-scoring Trojans (16-7-1 overall) finished second in the Class A gold division, going 16-3-0-1 with 33 points. North Hills topped the division with an 18-1-0-1 mark and 37 points. McDowell paced the division with 103 goals while yielding just 46.

Norwin went 15-4-0-1 and finished third with 31 points in the Class A blue division. The Knights potted 127 goals during the regular season and gave up 77.

McDowell senior Nico Catalde, center, controls the puck against West Allegheny during a PIHL Class A boys hockey game at ErieBank Sports Park in Summit Township on Feb. 21. Catalde led the Trojans with 33 goals this season in PIHL games.
McDowell senior Nico Catalde, center, controls the puck against West Allegheny during a PIHL Class A boys hockey game at ErieBank Sports Park in Summit Township on Feb. 21. Catalde led the Trojans with 33 goals this season in PIHL games.

Senior forward Nico Catalde leads the Trojans and the gold division with 33 goals. He also has 28 assists and paces the team and division with 61 points. Senior Braeden Martin topped the Trojans and the division with 33 assists. His 22 goals and 55 points are second in the division. Senior goalie Ryan Elkin posted a 10-2-0 division record with a 2.26 goals-against average and two shutouts.

For Norwin, junior Alex Thomas led all Class A scorers with 38 goals and 70 points. Thomas scored twice against McDowell in last year's Penguins Cup final. Mario Cavallaro (26 goals, 15 assists) and Dom Cerilli (19 goals, 21 assists) also returned this season. Goalie Owen Burmeister, who posted the shutout against McDowell last year, has a 12-5-0 record, 3.47 GAA and one shutout.

The McDowell-Norwin winner will play the winner between Fox Chapel and Quaker Valley in the semifinals on March 15.

Ramblers rebound, return to playoffs

The Ramblers (24-13-0 overall, 12-8-0-0 in PIHL AAA) bounced back to post a winning season after struggling with a 3-15-0-2 mark last season. Prep finished fifth in the 11-team 3A division with 24 points, collecting 75 goals and giving up 71.

North Allegheny (12-5-0-3) finished fourth in 3A with 27 points and were second in the division with 94 goals. The Tigers, who reached the Class 3A semifinals last season and won PIHL titles in 2019 and 2021, gave up 69 goals this year.

In this Oct. 19, 2021 file photo, a McDowell player, left, is checked by Cathedral Prep's Ethan Cunningham at Erie Insurance Arena. Cunningham was second on the Ramblers this season with 13 assists and 16 points in PIHL Class AAA games.
In this Oct. 19, 2021 file photo, a McDowell player, left, is checked by Cathedral Prep's Ethan Cunningham at Erie Insurance Arena. Cunningham was second on the Ramblers this season with 13 assists and 16 points in PIHL Class AAA games.

Senior defenseman Brayden Sprickman led the Ramblers with a Class 3A-best 28 goals to go with 16 assists and 44 points. Sophomore forward Ethan Cunningham was second for Prep with 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists), while Alex Brown had 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists). Junior goaltender Tanner Ball (11-8-0) enters the matchup with a 3.48 goals-against average.

The Tigers' balanced attack is paced by seniors Trey Gallo (13 goals, 18 assists) and Matt Irvin (10 goals, 21 assists). Tigers senior goalie Rylan Murphy (9-5-1) brings a 2.78 goals-against average into the game.

The Prep-NA winner will face the winner between Peters Township and Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals March 13.

Searching for its first Cup

The only current PIHL program from northwestern Pennsylvania that hasn't won a state championship is McDowell.

Cathedral Prep and Fairview have won three state titles each, with Prep's most recent coming in 2015. The Ramblers' last PIHL Penguins Cup crown was in 2016. Meadville has won eight Pennsylvania Cups.

The first sanctioned state championship game took place in 1975, while the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League was created 24 years later in 1999.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: McDowell, Cathedral Prep hockey teams to play in 2023 PIHL playoffs