ERIC SLOAN

SCHOOL: Mt. Lebanon.

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-11, 170-pound center on the hockey team.

THE PAST WEEK: Sloan scored three goals Monday, his third hat trick in a row, as the Blue Devils closed the regular season with an 8-2 victory against Upper St. Clair. Mt. Lebanon (22-1-1) is the No. 1 seed heading into the PIHL Class AAA playoffs, which will begin March 8.

SEASON: A senior, Sloan has 34 goals and 39 assists for a school-record 73 points. He broke the old mark of 72 established by Pat McDermott in 1973.

GOOD SKATE: A starter since the middle of his sophomore season, Sloan "is a very good skater," according to his coach, Paul Taibi. "But the most impressive thing about Eric is his work ethic."

GOAL-ORIENTED: Team goals mean more to Sloan than the ones he puts in the net. "Last year, we lost in the western quarterfinals to Franklin Regional," he said. "Our main goal this year is to win states. We'll settle for nothing less."

JUST FOR KICKS: Protecting the net instead of rushing it was Sloan's objective in his other varsity sport. He was on the Mt. Lebanon boys' soccer team the past three seasons, playing mostly on defense.

FUTURE: Sloan, who has a 4.2 grade point average, is leaning toward soccer in college. But he'd like to find a school where he can play hockey, too. Allegheny College, which has a club hockey team, is at the top of list.

-- By Rick Shrum

APRIL AUSTIN

SCHOOL: North Catholic.

WHO IS SHE: A 5-foot-6 freshman and starting point guard on the North Catholic girls' basketball team.

THE PAST WEEK: Austin scored 12 points, including the final four of the game, in a 38-34 victory against Moon in a WPIAL Class AAA semifinal Tuesday. She had 10 points in a quarterfinal game last week.

SCORING PUNCH: Austin averages 9.5 points a game but has averaged 14.3 points the past four games. "She's looking to score more and we started pushing her to look to score more," said North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann. "But a good pass to somebody makes her just as happy as scoring."

Austin averages four assists a game.

GOING NORTH: Austin lives in Penn Hills and attended St. Bartholomew Grade School. Her sister, Monica Williams, attended Oakland Catholic but did not play basketball. Her brother, Damian McCoy, attends Central Catholic.

"Coach [Rottmann] came to a couple of my games at St. Bart's," Austin said. "She talked to me afterward and I just kind of liked the whole deal. I just thought North would be better for me even though my sister graduated from Oakland Catholic."

WATCH OUT: Rottmann said Austin is unusual in that she watches a lot of basketball on television. "A lot of girls miss the boat on that. They don't watch games on TV," Rottmann said. "I know she watches a lot and picks up a lot of things. I think she's learned a lot from watching on TV."

LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL: Austin has a set of drums and used to take lessons. "But I never have time to play them any more," she said.

FUTURE: Rottmann believes Austin could be a Division I college prospect in the future. "One of my goals is to go to a top college and maybe become a pro someday," Austin said.

-- By Mike White