In the opening round of the PIHL playoffs, Baldwin’s ice hockey team defeated Meadville, 1-0.

The Highlanders outshot Meadville 45 to 16. But junior Dylan Belak scored the game’s lone goal, putting Baldwin in the lead for good in the second period.

Senior Vinny Episcopo knew it was going to be a tough game.

“It was a little frustrating that we couldn’t just put the puck in the net,” Episcopo said. “Meadville had really good goaltending.”   

Sophomore Joey Antonio agreed.

“Their goalie blocked a lot of rebounds and kept them in the game,” Antonio said. 

The team knew coming into this game that the playoffs were going to be different. The high-scoring offense that the team featured in the regular season likely wasn’t going to be able to bully top defenses in the playoffs.

“We knew the games were going to be more low scoring,” Episcopo said. “We knew going into the playoffs that every game was going to be a grind.”

With that being said, the defense was firing on all cylinders. Senior goalie Tanner Cindrich had a shutout, and the defensemen played with a lot of energy.

“The defense played really well and prevented a lot of Meadville’s chances to score,” Antonio said.

The Highlanders face Mars in the semifinals on March 11 at the RMU Ice Arena.