One game away from another trip to the WPIAL championship match, Bethel Park huddled up on the sideline after the first overtime, tied, 1-1, with Pine-Richland.

The Black Hawks had the pressure of being defending Class AAA champions and having high expectations resting on their shoulders. They were facing adversity with injuries to starters yet senior defender Colin Deep started to laugh.

"Before I can say anything, I see Colin shaking his head and laughing," Bethel coach Mike Galietta recounted. "He was saying 'Guys, this is so much fun, look around, this place is packed, this is just fun'.

"That kind of composure and the ability to breathe in and live in the moment and appreciate it for what it is, the team in general has been exuding that."

The team responded and Ben Vietmeier put in the game-winner in the second overtime leading Bethel Park (23-1) back to the championship game where they once again defeated Peters Township to claim the WPIAL Class AAA championship.

Bethel defeated Allderdice, 2-0, Tuesday night in the first round of the PIAA playoffs and will meet the winner of last night's Erie Cathedral Prep vs. Pine-Richland game Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

In the championship game, Bethel had two old sports axioms working against it.

One, the third time is a charm, as it was Peters Township's third consecutive trip to the finals with no championship to show for it.

Two, it's tough to beat a good team twice in the same season, as Bethel handed Peters its first and only loss of the season, a decisive 5-0 win in mid-September.

"If anything, [the rematch] may have motivated Peters more," Galietta said. "It was the third time they were there and they came to play. I knew that [5-0 win] was a distant memory, it was so long ago in terms of the [whole] season."

Making WPIAL championships seem routine is an accomplishment for a team that was making 1-0 first-round playoff losses a habit. Between 2003 and 2005, Bethel was ousted in the first round, losing, 1-0, in all those playoff matches.

"You begin to wonder," Galietta said. "I knew at some point we would finally get past the first round.

"Especially with this group, we just have so much talent. Maybe we needed to lose those three years. That may have helped this bunch."

Anthony Caruso led the team in goals in the regular season and Kyle Young had 24 goals and 9 assists including the first goal against Pine-Richland and the game-winner against Peters. The game-winner in the championship match was set up by Jordan Walsh, who was making a run from defense.

"Our outside backs get involved in the offense," Galietta said. "Walsh coming out of the back creates big problems for other teams, he makes runs all night long.

"Colin [Deep] can hit a great diagonal ball. They do their job defensively and they are a very big part of our offense."

The defense in front of first-year goaltender Marc Foster has shut out eight of its last 10 opponents, including the championship game.

Steel Valley is 'AA' champ

Offense has never been a problem for Steel Valley coach John Strom, and this season was no different.

The second leading career goal-scorer in WPIAL history with 151, Strom watched his team reach 20 goals after just two games and then 40 goals after just six games this season.

The offense was going to be there, but for Steel Valley (21-0-2) to bring home the school's first WPIAL championship since the 1995 team on which Strom was a star player, the inexperienced defense had to come together.

"It was kind of a concern of ours going into the season because of the inexperience," Strom said. "I told one of my assistants before the season, we'll go as far as the defense takes us."

Based on that, the defense did pretty well, as the Ironmen won the school's third WPIAL Class AA championship with a 4-1 win over Center on Saturday at Elizabeth Forward's Warrior Stadium.

The defense also held on for a 4-3 win in the quarterfinals at Knoch then shut out South Park in the semifinals.

They were led by juniors Dan Laird, a converted midfielder now playing sweeper, and Brian Hreha and sophomore Tom Edelman, all first-year starters. They played in front of second year goalkeeper Josh Joll.

Senior forward Kyle Thomas leads the team in scoring with 33 goals. Other scoring threats include his running mate, Mike Carr, and center midfielder Zak Campbell. Christian Maola and Dan Rojtas contributed in the midfield along with seniors Jared Grace and Drew Hruska.

The Ironmen rallied to defeat Mercyhurst Prep, 3-2, Tuesday night in the first round of the PIAA tournament.