The Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 19U Tier I team went into its final game of the Mid-American District Tournament knowing it needed to win. It didn’t just need a victory, though, it had to put up at least five goals to win a tiebreaker.

However, the Penguins players overheard a conversation during periods between an assistant coach and a USA Hockey representative. The girls found out they would win the tiebreaker and advance to nationals with just a win. There was no need to run up the score.

“I think once they heard that the pressure to score a lot of goals was off, they just kind of worried about winning,” Penguins coach Jeff Tindall said. “We got the defense going again. They were selling out pretty good early on.”

The Penguins were up 1-0 after the first period, but now relaxed, they scored a pair of early third-period goals and added an empty netter for good measure in a 4-1 over the Ohio Blue Jackets on Sunday, March 13 in Columbus, Ohio.

Pittsburgh (23-21-2) had a rough start to the district tournament and fell in the opener 3-0 to Culver Academy.

“Probably played one of our best games of the weekend, just ran into a hot goalie,” Tindall said.

The next game the following day, the Penguins downed Gilmour Academy 2-1 in a shootout. That set up the aforementioned victory in the de facto championship game.

Tindall and his team have been playing with 11 skaters all season, which has been physically tough on the girls.

“Over the course of the last month we’ve had a lot of games, so I’ve been watching,” Tindall said. “We’ve been rolling two centers on occasion and sometimes we’ll do two full lines and piece together the third line. They’ve adapted to it the last month, but it’s definitely been difficult.”

The Penguins have a pair of solid goalies in Sam Smith and Alyssa Peterson. It also has some strong offensive players with top winger Anjelica Diffendal, who is committed to play collegiately at Robert Morris University.

Now it’s on to the Toyota-USA Hockey National Championships, which is a big deal for Tindall and his girls.

“At the beginning of the year we didn’t know what we had because the roster was small and we were trying to add some players and we were unsuccessful,” Tindall said. “It’s pretty big for the organization and for the girls just to get the opportunity and get through.”

Steel City Selects 16U Heads Back to Nationals

Bob Sabilla has been coaching a lot of his girls since they were playing 10U. Now at 16U, the Steel City Selects team members will be making a fifth trip to nationals at the Tier II level.

Steel City wasn’t challenged in the district tournament, downing the Gilmour Gladiators in the first game 4-1 and then pounding the host Columbus Blue Jackets 8-1. The two wins guaranteed Steel City the best record in the three-team field and an automatic bid to the national tournament.

“That’s our goal at the beginning of every year,” Sabilla said. “Our goal is to improve and win some tournaments. Our main goal is nationals because that’s the biggest tournament around.”

When Sabilla was coaching his girls at 14U two years ago, they were playing for the Warwick Wildcats and placed third at nationals. Last year as the Steel City Selects, the girls finished seventh.

“Our plan is to go to the championship,” Sabilla said. “That’s our goal. Two years ago, we were one game away.”

Steel City (37-10-2) relies on its defense, which is the strength of its team, to win games. The girls have outscored their opponents 187-91 this season.

“Our defense and goaltending is really good,” Sabilla said. “We’ll sit back sometimes and just capitalize on other teams’ mistakes. My D is really good, they make good decisions. They usually get the puck out of our end.”

Forwards Sara Gargasz and Kate Sramac have had good seasons for Steel City.

“My top six players are pretty decent,” Sabilla said. “We don’t just have one person that carries the whole team. It’s pretty much a team effort. It wasn’t like that years ago, but now everybody’s pitching in and contributing, which is good to see.”

Steel City Selects 19U Avenges Losses, Advances

The Steel City Selects 19U Tier II team lost to the Armstrong Arrows four times during the regular season. Steel City knew if it was going to advance to nationals, it would most likely have to defeat Armstrong at the district tournament.

The two teams squared off in the opening game of the tourney on Saturday, March 12, and Steel City came to play. Morgan Gloeckl scored halfway through the game and Steel City hung on for the 1-0 victory.

“We went into the weekend saying they had to pick up their game and just battle it out,” Steel City coach Jim Hill said. “The girls pulled through, they did it.”

What did the Steel City girls do differently in this game as opposed to the four losses?

“Just the attitude they came into the rink with, knowing that weekend was a do-or-die weekend,” Hill said. “They all stepped their game up and gave 110, 120 percent every shift. It was a good game, a battle. It was fun to watch.”

In what turned into the championship game, Steel City beat the Mid-State Mustangs 2-0. Sara Lozito scored on the power play in the first period and then late in the game Ingrida Ivaska tallied an insurance goal on a breakaway.

“A lot of smiles on the faces leaving the rink,” Hill said. “A lot of happy girls.”

Katie Hill registered a pair of shutouts in net for Steel City. She had 51 saves in the two games and has a goals-against average of under 1.00 this season.

Steel City, which has a record of just 13-27-2, doesn’t have too high of expectations at nationals.

“More or less they are happy just to get there and experience it,” Hill said. “But that’s why you play the games, you go and try to make the best of it.”

Erie Rides a Hot Goalie

If it wasn’t for Kayleigh Geary, the Erie (Pennsylvania) Lady Lions 14U Tier II team wouldn’t have been playing for a shot at nationals.

Geary, a 2001 birth year, saved 67 of 71 shots in three games and kept her team in the hunt at districts.

“She has a habit of that,” said her dad, Patrick Geary, who is also the Lady Lions manager. “It’s a team sport, everyone plays, but I think she’s one of the top goalies in the area for sure.”

Geary had 44 saves in the first two games, but came up huge in the title game against Steel City Select. She allowed just an early goal as the Lady Lions couldn’t produce any offense and fell 1-0.

Her dad could tell Geary was on her game early in the tournament.

“She’s pretty good all the time,” Patrick Geary said. “But it’s tough to tell until the puck drops and she’s five or six shots in. Really, the only way you know is if she gives up a soft one in the first four or five attempts then she’s off. Other than that, she’s always on.”

Geary, who has attended some camps where coaches say she’s a legitimate NCAA Division I talent, finished with 12 shutouts this season and a record of 21-13-3 in net. She had a goals-against average of 1.47.

“She had a very solid year all the way around,” Patrick Geary said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.