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North Pittsburgh Headed Back to National Tournament

By Dan Scifo - Special to USAHockey.com, 03/09/15, 3:45PM MDT

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The 16U Wildcats went unbeaten to win the Mid-Am championship

Everything came together at just the right time for the North Pittsburgh Wildcats.

And it resulted in a championship.

North Pittsburgh’s 16U team capped an unbeaten weekend by defeating the Steel City Ice Renegades 8-4 to capture the Mid-American Tier II district championship Sunday at Blade Runners Ice Complex in Harmarville.

“The kids did, really the whole weekend, what we were looking for them to do all season,” North Pittsburgh coach Mark Landman said. “I can’t explain why it all happened, but a lot of things we’ve been preaching to them all year really kind of came into play this weekend.

“They saw an opportunity.”

North Pittsburgh advances to the Toyota-USA Hockey Youth Tier II 16U National Championships, which will take place March 26-30 in Plano, Texas. It’s the second North Pittsburgh youth team in program history to advance to the national championships. Landman also coached the first, the North Pittsburgh bantam team from 2011.

“Certainly, it’s quite an honor to represent Western Pennsylvania in the national tournament,” Landman said. “We’re real happy to get to go.”

North Pittsburgh went undefeated during the three-day tournament, edging powerhouse Mid-State by a goal followed by wins against Arctic Foxes and the Pittsburgh Vipers, setting up a showdown against fellow unbeaten Steel City.

The Mid-State win was key for Landman and his Wildcats.

“[Mid-State] was probably considered the favorites,” Landman said. “They were ranked higher than us. I was actually glad we were playing [Mid-State] first because I really wanted to take, what we felt was the toughest team, head on.”

“It gave us a lot of confidence. We had the wind at our backs at that point.”

Along the way, North Pittsburgh extracted revenge against the Pittsburgh Vipers, who defeated the Wildcats a week earlier for the league championship.

“We knew we had to step up again,” Landman said.

And step up they did, setting up Sunday’s game against Steel City for the right to represent the area in the national tournament. North Pittsburgh came out on top, remaining unbeaten in seven games played this season against Steel City with five wins and two ties.

“We had a lot of competitive games with them during the season,” Landman said. “To be honest, up until last week, the most goals we beat them by was three. They were more than competitive.”

Anthony Sanchilli, Matt Berner and Joey DiTullio led a balanced North Pittsburgh attack against Steel City with two goals apiece. Chris Lipnicky and Spencer Price contributed tallies as North Pittsburgh scored three of its eight goals on the power play.

Lipnicky added two assists for a three-point game, while Jacob Kuzma and Nick Hawkins also contributed two helpers apiece. Berner, Vinnie Lavorgna, Luke James, Nate Carnovale, Spencer Price and Ben Meyer also had assists.

Hunter Lanetz’s goal at 11:40 of the second period cut the North Pittsburgh lead to one. But North Pittsburgh responded with a three-goal binge in 1:34, punctuated by goals from Sanchilli to take a 5-1 lead.

Spencer Smith and Danny White scored goals for Steel City, trimming the gap to 5-3, but a poor line change led to a three-on-one and North Pittsburgh goal in the final minute. Lipnicky made it 6-3 heading into the third with a wrist shot off the rush.

Chase Villani scored the final Steel City goal at 11:01 of the third, pulling his team within two, but the rally was thwarted by a pair of power play goals from Berner and DiTullio, capping the North Pittsburgh trip to the national tournament.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Landman said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs the entire season, but I had a lot of confidence in the kids. We’re happy to represent North Pittsburgh and the area.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.


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