A new month gets the ball, err … the puck rolling on the start of another winter sports postseason.
The PIHL Penguins Cup Playoffs take the spotlight with quarterfinal games over the next four days.
The Class 3A title defense for top-seeded Seneca Valley begins Monday when it hosts No. 8 Upper St. Clair at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale at 7 p.m.
The road to two championships in 2025 was a grinding one for Seneca Valley.
The Raiders finished atop the Class 3A standings and began the postseason with a 3-1 quarterfinal win over rival Pine-Richland.
Then the extra work began for the Raiders.
First, they needed overtime to defeat Upper St. Clair in the semifinals, 3-2.
Then in one of the longest title games in league history, the Raiders claimed Penguins Cup gold by outlasting South Fayette, 3-2, in triple overtime.
The easiest postseason victory for Seneca Valley came when it won the Pennsylvania Cup with a 7-2 victory over Holy Ghost Prep.
Seneca Valley has been near perfect this season, once again finishing in first place in Class 3A with a record of 18 wins, one overtime victory and one overtime loss.
Upper St. Clair enters the postseason with a record of 5-9-3-3.
The Panthers finished seven points ahead of ninth-place Franklin Regional.
On the heels of a five-game losing streak from December to January, USC finished strong with four consecutive wins.
The Raiders and Panthers faced each other twice this season.
Seneca Valley won the first game on the road in October, 4-2, then took the rematch on home ice right before the holidays, 3-0.
One other Class 3A quarterfinal scheduled for Monday has No. 6 Central Catholic (10-7-1-2) taking on No. 3 Thomas Jefferson (11-7-1-1) at the Ice Castle in Castle Shannon at 7 p.m.
Champ vs. top seed
One of the quarterfinals in the PIHL Penguins Cup Class 2A playoffs has last year’s champion colliding with this season’s top seed.
No. 8 Cathedral Prep battles No. 1 Hempfield at the Kirk Nevin Arena in Greensburg at 7:15 p.m.
The reigning champions struggled this season, winning only four games against 13 losses with one overtime win and two losses in OT.
The Ramblers barely got back to the playoffs, shutting out Penn-Trafford in their final game of the regular season to finish one point ahead of Baldwin for the final postseason berth.
Hempfield won the tiebreaker with Armstrong to get the top seed after both teams finished with 16 wins, three losses and one overtime victory.
The Spartans won 11 of their final 12 games.
Hempfield defeated Cathedral prep twice in the regular season by scores of 10-2 and 6-0.
The other Class 2A quarterfinal Monday is No. 6 Shaler (8-9-2-1) against No. 3 Penn-Trafford (15-5-0-0) at the Palmer Ice Complex in Delmont at 7 p.m.
Playoff rematch
Last year in the PIHL Class A semifinals, Avonworth eliminated Moon on its way to a Penguins Cup crown.
The two meet again Monday, this time a round earlier as the Antelopes take on the Tigers at the Robert Morris Island Sports Complex on Neville Island at 7:15 p.m.
Defending champion Avonworth finished the regular season 15-3-1-1.
Moon was 14-3-1-2.
The playoffs began last week as the Antelopes and Tigers both won first round contests.
Avonworth rolled past Beaver, 9-3, and Moon knocked out North Hills, 5-1
In the other Class A playoff game Monday, No. 7 Plum (12-6-3) faces off with No. 2 Mars (15-1-2-2) at the Baierl Ice Complex in Warrendale at 9 p.m.
The Mustangs shut out Blackhawk in the first round, 3-0, while the Fightin’ Planets has an opening round bye.
D-2 opener
There is one game Monday in the PIHL Division 2 hockey playoffs.
No. 7 Trinity (11-7-1-1) heads north to battle No. 2 Neshannock (13-4-2-1) at the Hess Arena in New Castle at 7:15 p.m.
Monday on Trib HSSN
There are two broadcasts and one podcast you can listen to at TribHSSN.TribLive.com on the second day of March.
Video Stream: Rebel Yell Podcast with a recap of the 2026 WPIAL boys and girls basketball championship games on the TribLive High School Sports Network at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
PIHL Hockey Penguins Cup Playoffs Video Stream – Class 3A Quarterfinals: Central Catholic vs. Thomas Jefferson at 7 p.m. on MVI Lyons Heart Media at TribHSSN.TribLive.com
PIHL Hockey Playoffs Video Stream – Division 2 Quarterfinals: Trinity vs. Neshannock at 7:15 p.m. on Lawrence County Sports Net at TribHSSN.TribLive.com