The Esmark Stars will bring a full contingent of teams into the Mid-Am District Tier I Championship Tournament this weekend, March 9 - 11, in Pittsburgh.

The District Tournament brings the top six teams at the Tier I level (AAA) at the U18, U16, U15 and U14 age levels within the Mid-Am District (which includes Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky), as determined by the rankings from the website www.myhockeyrankings.com, to the tournament.  

The six teams will play a round-robin tournament, with opponents for each team based upon seeding determined by the rankings.  The top two teams after round-robin will advance to the Championship game. The winning team at each age level will automatically advance to the USA Hockey National Championships at their respective age group.

The games will be held at the UPMC Lemieux Complex in Cranberry Township, PA, and at the Baierl Center in Warrendale, PA.

At the U14 Bantam level, the Stars, who are seeded fourth, will open play on Friday, 10:00 a.m., at the Baierl Center, against the Tri-State Spartans (Cincinnati, OH). Their second game in the round-robin schedule will see the Stars square-off with the Pittsburgh Penguin Elite on Saturday, 10:00 a.m., at the Lemieux Center. Their final game in round-robin play will pit the Stars against the Sylvania (OH) North Stars Sunday morning, 8:00 a.m., at the Lemieux Center. The U14 Championship game will be at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Lemieux Center. The other two teams in the bracket are the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Black and the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets (Columbus, OH).

At the U15 Midget level, the Stars, who are seeded fifth, will open play on Friday, 8:00 a.m., at the Baierl Center, against the Pittsburgh Icemen. Their second game in the round-robin schedule will see the Stars square-off with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, Friday evening, 9:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center. Their final game in round-robin play will see the Stars face-off against the Cleveland Barons on Saturday, 12:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center. The U15 Championship game will be at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday at the Lemieux Center. The other two teams in the bracket are the Pittsburgh Vengeance and the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets.

At the U16 Midget level, the Stars, who are seeded second, will open play on Friday, 12:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center, against the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. Their second game in the round-robin schedule will see the Stars square-off with the Tri-State Spartans (OH), Saturday morning, 8:15 a.m., at the Baierl Center. They return to the ice for their final game in round-robin play and face-off against the Cleveland Barons on Saturday, 9:00 p.m., at the Lemieux Center. The U16 Championship game will be at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Lemieux Center. The other two teams in the bracket are the Culver Academy Eagles (IN) and the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.

At the U18 Midget level, the Stars, who are seeded fourth, will open play on Thursday, 6:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center, against the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. Their second game in the round-robin schedule will see the Stars square-off with the number one team in the nation, Culver Academy Eagles (IN), Friday, 4:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center. The Stars conclude round-robin play on Saturday, 2:15 p.m., at the Lemieux Center, against the Gilmour Academy Lancers, (Cleveland, OH). The U18 Championship game will be at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Lemieux Center. The other two teams in the bracket are the Cleveland Barons and the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.

Admission to the event is free.