Everyone was asking if sixth-seeded Latrobe could capitalize on the most significant rebound in PIHL history after its first-round loss turned into a win when Bishop McCourt was forced to forfeit a 2-1 overtime victory.
Early shots and hits belonged to Latrobe, which looked to make things different for a No. 2 South Fayette team that had beaten them twice in one-goal games in the regular season.
“That first period was exactly what we wanted,” said Latrobe coach Josh Werner.
Behind 23 saves from Allen Schraeder, the Lions slammed the door shut.
After surrendering the first goal, South Fayette (17-3-2) scored four consecutive times to take a 4-1 victory and advance to the PIHL’s Class 2A Penguins Cup championship game.
“We knew we’re going to play a good, difficult team,” said Lions head coach Matt Schwartz. “Given the circumstances of what happened and how they got a new lease on life.”
South Fayette had three chances on the power play early in the first period and couldn’t capitalize. Peyton Myers for Latrobe got the best opportunity on a breakaway but couldn’t gather the puck for a shot.
“They’ve got a good power play. It was a lot of game planning,” Werner said. “We saw some things on film we could take advantage of, which definitely paid off.”
In the second, Latrobe got its first power play, and it was a good one with multiple deflection tries. South Fayette’s Tyler Brandebura had a big blocked shot.
Latrobe struck first with a wrist shot from Jacob Hannah, assisted by Fletcher Harvey and Nik Manolakos, to open the scoring at 5:32 in the second period.
“Getting that first one was important as well,” Werner said.
South Fayette continued working and managed to strike with two goals in the second period. Wes Schwarzmiller slammed home a rebound off a Brady Fleck shot from the point at 9:19 to tie the score and a Trevor Dalessandro scored, assisted by Robert Chiappetta and Dylan Walsh, with 17 seconds remaining in the period.
“We knew we were coming back no matter what,” said Schwarzmiller, who scored two goals.
In the third period, Latrobe got some chances but could not capitalize as South Fayette continued its dominance in the second half of the game.
After Reid West was called for hooking, South Fayette went on the power play for the fourth time. The Lions finally converted. Dalessandro got his second of the night off a rebound from Brayden Imler’s shot off of J.M Krajc’s chest protector.
“We tried to control (on earlier power plays) and wait for our shot,” said Dalessandro. “We knew we had to get shots on the net and pepper the goalie.”
Latrobe pulled their goaltender Krajc, who made 28 saves, with four minutes left, but Schwarzmiller potted his second into the open net a minute later to seal it.
“We have the opportunity that no team from South Fayette has done before,” said Schwartz. “It’s one step closer and 51 minutes to accomplish our goal.”
Tribune-Review contributing writer Tyler Polk contributed.