Latrobe makes early offensive outburst stand up in PIHL quarterfinal win over Hempfield
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Monday, March 3, 2025 | 10:17 PM
Latrobe’s Bryant Dumnich celebrates his first-period goal with the student section during Monday’s PIHL quarterfinal game against Hempfield at Kirk S. Nevin Arena.
Latrobe’s Colton Goodlin lines up his shot before scoring against Hempfield in the second period during Monday’s PIHL quarterfinal game at Kirk S. Nevin Arena.
Latrobe’s Eli Meeder clears the puck from Hempfield’s Nick Crupie during Monday’s PIHL quarterfinal game at Kirk S. Nevin Arena.
Latrobe celebrates Jackson Hayburn’s first-period goal against Hempfield during Monday’s PIHL quarterfinal game at Kirk S. Nevin Arena.
The objective was clear for the Latrobe IceCats heading into their PIHL Class 2A quarterfinal matchup with Hempfield.
“We wanted to come out and beat them to every loose puck, smother them on the boards, win the battles in the corners and be physical,” Latrobe sophomore Joey Crimboli said.
“Very happy with the way we started off real hot and how our guys played tonight,” Latrobe coach Adam Ferguson said.
The No. 3 seed IceCats (16-5-0-0) came out flying all over the ice, scoring the first five goals of the game and making sure they were in complete control in a 7-3 victory over the No. 6 Spartans (8-11-1-1) on Monday night at Kirk S. Nevin Arena in Greensburg.
“I think we played all right,” Hempfield coach Cory Myers said. “We’re so young, and playing in front of this crowd, the nerves got to us early.”
Crimboli scored the first goal for Latrobe and iced the game with an empty-netter with just over two minutes left in the game.
His first goal came on a power play when Hempfield’s Austin Herron went to the box for a trip on Latrobe’s Bryant Dumnich.
Crimboli rifled a wrister from the top of the left circle to give the IceCats a 1-0 lead.
“That was pure emotion,” Crimboli said. “Scoring against a rival team is always nice, especially in the playoffs.”
Five minutes later, Dumnich added an even-strength goal for Latrobe after it killed off a penalty.
Then the IceCats started pouring in the goals.
At the 10-minute mark of the first, Jackson Hayburn streaked down the ice, arrived at the right circle and floated a wrister over the blocker side of goaltender Ben Francese.
Hayburn would score again 12 seconds into the second period and with 10 seconds left on a carry-over power play after a kneeing by Jonny Holtzman.
Hayburn smoked one from the top of the point a minute later to give Latrobe a 4-0 lead and finished the night with two goals and two assists. Adam Pellis also had two assists for Latrobe.
Latrobe was stellar in their special teams play, converting two of three power plays and killing off all three of Hempfield’s power plays.
“I think our special teams is what had been lacking for us the last couple of games,” Ferguson said. “We got beat in that part of the game. Special teams is going to win you games, and overall Brock was phenomenal, made some incredible saves and I just can’t speak enough to how he played tonight.”
Brock Pflugh finished the night stopping 33 of 36 shots.
One minute after Hayburn’s second goal, Preston Miller fired one in from the middle of the right circle to put Latrobe up 5-0.
The goal would chase Francese, and Katelyn Porter came in. Francese gave up five goals on seven shots. Porter saved 22 of 24 IceCat shots.
The Spartans started to pick up the physical play in the second period, finishing their checks and trying to get Latrobe off their game.
“We’re a pretty physical team, and grit is a part of our game,” Ferguson said. “We knew what we were going to get with Hempfield. It was going to be a bloodbath, but we took care of it.”
Although it didn’t get Latrobe off their game, it did spur the Spartans to mount a comeback.
Three minutes into the second frame, Nino DiPietro got the Spartans on the board as he cut through the slot, fired a shot on Pflugh that bounced right back to DiPietro, who slid it past Pflugh’s left pad.
“Honestly, we gave it our all, and we had a lot of heart and it showed coming back from 6-1 to get a little closer,” Myers said. “We just never quit, and I’m proud of our guys.”
Colton Goodlin pushed Latrobe’s lead back up to five as he pinched down and buried a goal from a tough angle that found its way past Porter.
Hempfield scored again with a minute left in the second period as Mats Martz put a shot up high near the mask of Pflugh, who looked like he didn’t see the puck very well as it floated over his right shoulder into the net.
“I think we got a little lackadaisical, starting taking penalties, which has been an issue for us all year, but we bounced back,” Ferguson said.
The Spartans scored another with 8 seconds left in the second as Nick Crupie carried the puck into Latrobe’s end and had a two-on-one with JJ Williams. Crupie waited for the IceCat defender to make his move, and he floated a pass to Williams, who buried it to the left of Pflugh.
Crupie finished the night with two assists.
Latrobe did their job in the third, holding possession of the puck and bleeding the clock. Whenever Hempfield tried to develop anything in the offensive zone, the IceCats did a good job clearing the front of the net for Pflugh.
“It was all our goaltending there,” Crimboli said. “We blocked as many shots as we could. Everyone wanted to be out there on the penalty kill, wanted to make a play for the team. At the end of the day, it came down to our heart and really wanting it more.”
Latrobe advances to the semifinals at RMU on March 11 at 9 p.m. against the winner of No. 2 Cathedral Prep and No.7 Armstrong.
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