Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors return to WPIAL field hockey final

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, October 30, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford’s field hockey team reached the WPIAL Class 2A finals again by defeating Latrobe, 1-0, in the semifinals Oct. 26.

The Warriors were to face Fox Chapel on Oct. 30 at Washington & Jefferson College for the title.

Delaney Shusko scored in the first quarter on an assist by Delaney Lentz for the game’s only goal.

Latrobe threatened Penn-Trafford often in the first half, testing the Warrior defense, but goalkeeper Gwen Hershberger denied their shots.

Penn-Trafford has won five consecutive WPIAL titles and six overall, including five in Class 2A (2016-20) and the Class 3A title in 2011.

Penn-Trafford entered the championship game 15-0 overall and finished 10-0 in the Class 2A regular season.

The Warriors wrapped up the regular season with a 4-0 nonsection win over Aquinas Academy.

Penn-Trafford scored its first goal after time had expired on an end-of-quarter earned corner.

Ava Hershberger found the back of the cage on a pass from Ella Morocco.

Emily Bloom fired a shot past the Aquinas goalie to open the second quarter.

Ava Hershberger and Bloom each scored unassisted goals in the third quarter to end the scoring.

Ava Hershberger now has 37 goals and 10 assists, breaking the goal mark of Amanda Steffey (34) in 2012.

P-T skates past Latrobe

Four different players scored goals and goaltender Jackson Kerrigan recorded his second shutout of the season in Penn-Trafford’s 4-0 victory over Latrobe in an ice hockey game Nov. 19.

Nate Loughner, Nate Pechulis, Bennett Dupilka and Alex Sciullo scored goals for the Warriors.

Colin Paterson had two assists while Ryan Crombie, Jack Blank and Josh Goldberg had helpers.

Kerrigan stopped 22 shots. Latrobe goalie Vinny Amatucci stopped 32 of 36 shots.

Warriors volleyball advances

The Penn-Trafford girls volleyball team opened the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs with a 3-0 victory against Peters Township with game scores of 25-16, 25-16 and 25-16.

The Warriors were scheduled to face section rival Oakland Catholic in the quarterfinals Oct. 28.

Penn-Trafford is 18-2 overall and 10-2 in the section.

Penn-Trafford girls fall in 1st round

Zoe Simpson scored the first two goals of the game to lead No. 4 Seneca Valley (14-3-2) to a 6-0 victory over Penn-Trafford in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs on Oct. 25.

Liv Senff, Julia Lozowski, Chloe Leonard and Bayden Valentovish also scored.

Penn-Trafford, the No. 13 seed, finished the season 6-11.

P-T boys bounced in opening round

Sean Ahia, Quentin Cook, Carson Krushansky and George Tabor scored first-half goals as No. 5 Fox Chapel (14-3-1) shut out No. 12 Penn-Trafford, 7-0, in a Class 4A first-round boys soccer match Oct. 26.

The Warriors, who earned the No. 12 seed, finished the season 9-8.

Warriors top Franklin Regional

The No. 2-ranked Warriors (7-2, 4-0) won their fifth consecutive game, scored on their first six possessions and blew out neighboring rival Franklin Regional, 49-7, in the WPIAL Class 5A Big East Conference football game Oct. 22.

The win secured at least a tie for the conference title for the Warriors.

It didn’t take Penn-Trafford long to take control. Cade Yacamelli ripped off a 52-yard run on the second play, which set up his 8-yard touchdown catch from Carter Green.

“It was a great start,” coach John Ruane said. “It kind of set the tone. I thought we did a nice job up front because they gave us a little different look defensively than we expected, but the linemen made a quick adjustment.”

Green threw touchdown passes to Yacamelli, Tommy Kalkstein (18 yards) and Seth Dunlap (42 yards), and ran for two more. He rushed for 95 yards and completed 9 of 13 passes for 139 yards, all in the first half.

Before the first quarter ended, Yacamelli darted 44 yards for a score. He finished with 107 yards on nine carries.

“I thought we did a good job mixing the run and the pass, especially when we had to on third downs,” Ruane said. “Our defense was tremendous from start to finish as they been over the stretch.”

Penn-Trafford sophomore tackle Zach Tomosovich had a linemen’s dream come true when he intercepted a pass and rumbled 49 yards for a score.

Penn-Trafford outgained Franklin Regional, 363-133. The Panthers turned the ball over four times.

The Warriors were scheduled to play at Latrobe on Friday and learn their playoff opponent on Saturday. Visit tribhssn.triblive.com for details.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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