USC Hockey Skates To Playoff Win Over North Allegheny

After the first 15 minutes of Wednesday night's PIHL AAA quarterfinal game, Upper St. Clair experienced something they weren't quite used to: their high-powered, league-leading offense was not only being shut out, they were being out-shot by North Allegheny.

But true to form, the Panthers got goals when they needed them, and Stephen Gielarowski's short-handed goal at 9:17 of the third period was the game-winner in a 4-2 win on their home ice at the Ice Castle in Castle Shannon.

Upper St. Clair will move on to the semifinal round, where they will face Fox Chapel Monday night at 9 p.m. in the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Consol Energy Center.

"They're a great defensive team," head coach Larry Marks said of North Allegheny. "They're one of the best defensive teams you'll see. They shut you down, they jam you in front of their net and they've been doing that all year to teams."

"We knew they would be a tough game because it's the playoffs and anything can happen," said senior forward Justin Selep, who scored two goals. "They actually out-worked us for most of the game except for that stretch in the third period, but we came together as a team and pulled out the victory."

Selep's first goal came on the power play at 1:03 of the second when he buried a rebound off a C.J. Murray shot past North Allegheny goaltender Matthew Goda for a 1-0 lead.

"That was a huge weight off our chests," Selep said. "It was frustrating at first, but once we got one we didn't look back."

Three minutes later sophomore forward Luke Stork scored, assisted by Gielarowski and senior defenseman Parker Phillips, to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

Sophomore goaltender Michael Ambrose kept North Allegheny at bay, stopping 30 of 32 shots, including what he called "the best glove save of my life" in the third period.

"He made three huge saves near the end of the game," Selep said. "We're building confidence in him and he's playing very well."

"He was phenomenal," Marks said. "The competition between [Ambrose and junior Michael Stein] has been good for them and he's stepped up. I'm very proud of him."

North Allegheny junior defenseman Dalton Landman scored the first of his two power play goals with 30 seconds left in the second to take a 2-1 score into the locker rooms for the second intermission.

Stork was hauled off for cross-checking at 8:02 of the third, but Gielarowski streaked down the left side and beat Goda in front of the net to put Upper St. Clair ahead by two.

"I was pretty pumped," Ambrose said. "I even did a little celebration at the other end of the ice."

"Storky had a great shot, and then Steve put one in and we were all pumped up after that," Murray said. "It was a huge, huge goal."

Landman scored his second goal with the man advantage at 11:38 to cut the Tigers' deficit to one, and when Gielarowski was sent to the penalty box for elbowing at 12:24, North Allegheny seemed to gain momentum.

But the Panthers killed off the penalty after Marks called timeout with less than a minute remaining with specific instructions for his team since North Allegheny pulled Goda for an extra attacker.

"I told them, 'When you get to even strength, take the extra step, take the hit and get to the red line before you dump it,'" Marks said. "You don't have to score."

Meanwhile, assistant coach Greg Klapowski pulled Ambrose aside and pointed out something both coach and player noticed during the game: North Allegheny's power play strategy involved moving the puck from one defenseman to the other for a shot from the point immediately after.

"He told me to just make sure I square up to that shooter and, sure enough, they did exactly that," Ambrose said. "I was right there and put the rebound in the corner."

Six seconds after the penalty ended, Selep got the puck near the Panthers' blue line and fired it toward an empty North Allegheny net for the goal that sealed it.

"I'm on the bench yelling, 'NO! NO!'" Marks said with a laugh. "But then it went in the net, so I guess it's better to be lucky than good sometimes."

"If it didn't go in I was probably going to get killed," Selep said, "But the hockey gods were looking down on me."

"If it didn't go in I was probably going to kill him," Murray said, laughing, "But it went in and that's all that matters."

The Panthers aren't strangers to this level of the postseason, having been eliminated in the semifinal round in each of the last two years at Mellon Arena. And this time around, they're confident they will complete their mission of a Penguins Cup title.

"We have great experience," Murray said. "Our forwards have been there, our defense has been there and it should help us a lot."

"I watched that team lose there twice and I don't think it's gonna happen this year," Ambrose said.  "I think we realize that when we play the way we're capable of playing there's not a team that can come close to beating us."