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HARMARVILLE - Deer Lakes entered their game with Westmont Hilltop needing to sweep its remaining three games to remain in playoff contention. The Hilltoppers on the other hand are still hoping to face Mars for an opportunity for the PIHL A North Division. Brian Willet put Westy on top at 12:45 of the first period. The Lancers countered with goals by Matt DiSanti and Matt Jones to take a 2-1 lead at 8:27. Westmont's Sean Dorian tied the game with just 41 seconds remaining, but DiSanti took the faceoff and scored eleven seconds later as Deer Lakes regained the lead 3-2. Sean McIntyre gave the Lancers a two-goal cushion at 11:43 of the second period. It only took Westmont less than a minute to tie it as Brian Willet and Justin McClosky scored 6 seconds apart. Then penalties took over in the middle of the period as Sean McIntyre got a breakaway on the power play and shoved a backhander past Steve Costic to give Deer Lakes the lead at 7:44. Back came Westy as McClosky stole the puck from Deer Lakes and raced end to end and beat Richard Andemark on the backhand to tie the game again at 2:34. Then Sean Dorian gave Westmont the lead as he found a loose puck and scored on the back hand to give Westy the lead 6-5. In the third period, Westmont received a huge break when McIntyre's shot from the point glanced of a Hilltopper defenseman and deflected off the post early in the period. Then Westy killed a 6 on 3 in the games final two minutes to preserve a victory over Deer Lakes, who outshot the Hilloppers 23-22.

VALENCIA - A week ago Mars was ranked number one and headed for the North Division title of Class A, then upstart Freeport derailed the Planets path to a division title. Cliff Zeigler's Somerset squad, is a young talented group, which has overacheived and should capture a playoff berth for a second straight year. Steve Meyers opened the scoring for Mars with a goal at 6:41 of the first. Jim Roach extended the Planets lead at 4:37 of the second period. Somerset went on a 5 on 3 power play with three minutes left and although they had several good chances could not capitalize. Mars fed off their penalty kill and swarmed the Eagles and Bobby Beckert snapped a shot past Matts Jennsen on the short side to make it 3-0. In the third, Somerset tallied as Chad Pritts scored on the slapshot from the point at 13:17 to cut the Mars lead to 3-1. The Planets responded just 29 seconds later as Brian Matthews scored from the point thorugh a screen to make the final score 4-1. The Planets outshot Somerset 35-19.

VALENCIA - Indiana coach Ron Hellen is worried about keeping his team focused as it approaches the playoffs. The Indians have clinched the Northeast Division and have only a few tough tests remaining on the schedule. The Hampton game figured to be a good test for Indiana. The Indians struck first as Zach Diamond chipped a puck past Troiano at 7:39 of the first. Then Casey Haines scored 41 seconds later with a wrist shot on the stick side to make it 2-0. Hampton got on the board as Chris Fatith scored at 4:03, but the goal was waived off for a delayed penalty. On to the second and the Indians took charge as Clint Pizarchik was th recipient of a great cross crease feed from Haines to make it 3-0 at 5:20. Mike Lady robbed Hampton's Dave DiSanti at 4:16. Then Haines picked up his second as he walked down the slot and beat Troiano to make it 4-0. Joe Lenz and Mike Nesper added goals in the third period to make the final 6-0. Mike Lady picked up the shutout as Indiana outshot Hapton 47-39.

DELMONT - Stu Relnick has been looking forward to a matchup with Franklin Regional to maintain the Mustangs division lead over the Panthers and Gateway, who are breathing down Plums back as the teams enter the final few weeks of the regular season. Franklin, on the other hand, has surged back near the top of the division with a modest three game winning streak. Plum struck first at 7:14 of the first period as Travis Senchur found a loose puck on the doorstep and beat Brandon Stallard for a 1-0 lead. B.J. Schreib stopped Michael Roth on two consecutive golden scoring opportunities towards the end of the period. The second period saw the pace pick up a little with good action at both ends of the ice. The Mustangs John Kalichuk caught Stallard leaning the wrong way and spotted Robbie Tunon with a backhand pass, who buried the puck into the open net at 6:54 to give Plum a 2-0 lead. Thirty seconds later, Tunon took a Senchur feed and scored again to open up the game and a 3-0 Plum advantage. Then at 2:41, Tom Beitler scored on the backhand and the Mustangs opened up a commanding 4-0 lead at the end of two. In the third period, Plum played methodical smart hockey which frustrated the Panthers. Chris White broke Schreib's shutout bid at 6:19 to make it 4-1. Rob Tunon completed the hat trick with Plum on a 5 on 3 to seal the victory for the Mustangs, who outshot Franklin 29-28. The win by Plum sets up a big showdown for the PIHL Eastern Division title with two games against Gateway at the end of February.

CASTLE SHANNON (Special Report to Pa Hockey) The Foxes extended their unbeaten streak to 5 games on Thursday against the Allderdice Dragons. The Dragons picked the Foxes as their senior night because they thought it would be an easy win, the Foxes proved otherwise. FC started the scoring with Jason Kreps cashing in on a powerplay early in the first period. Then, another Fox Chapel goal frustrated the Dragons, who then answered back with 2 goals to tie it up, and the teams went in the locker room with a 2-2 score. Then, the Foxes came out flying, scoring 5 goals in the third period, including 2 goals from Kreps to complete his hat trick. Jason Lorenz and Jake Werner had 2 goals and Brad Killian made 21 saves. The Foxes' next matchup is the 8th seeded Plum Mustangs on Monday at 9:10PM at Harmarville