North Allegheny inline hockey team coming together after season of ups, downs

By: John Grupp
Saturday, February 15, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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North Allegheny inline hockey coach Dominic Manz figured this season would be a rebuilding year for his perennial power Tigers.

He just had to roll with the changes.

“It was a big challenge,” said Manz, who lost most of his roster from last season’s 17-4 league runner-up. “The kids that graduated, I had them for the last seven years. I knew them. I knew how to coach them. This year was just a bunch of different kids, and figuring out how to get through to each kid is always the hard part.”

The Tigers, who went a combined 54-8 the previous three seasons, finished the regular season with a 9-9 record and were awaiting their matchup in the upcoming Pennsylvania Interscholastic Roller Hockey League playoffs.

“I’d say we are exactly where we should be,” Manz said. “I kind of thought we’d be middle of the pack. Some games we look like we’re a top-three team. Some games we look like we’re a bottom-three team.”

The Tigers were streaky during the regular season, which began in late September. They opened 5-1 and went 4-1 in another stretch, but had a three-game losing streak then a four-game skid to close out the regular season.

“We’ve obviously gone through some ups and downs,” said senior forward Ethan Zadnik, who scored a team-leading 25 regular-season goals. “But I think right now we are coming together as a team again, and I think that’s good to help get our confidence up for the playoffs. That’s when it matters.”

Senior defenseman Steven Cameron, who joined junior defenseman Matthew Noffsinger (16 goals, 9 assists) and junior goalie Claudia Kushon as the only returnees from last season, paced the Tigers with 23 goals and a league-leading 22 assists.

Manz said Cameron, who scored the game-winner in the 7-6 overtime victory against Canon-McMillan, went from being “good” last season to “very, very good” this season because he better understood the sport.

“Inline hockey is different from ice hockey,” Manz said. “Ice hockey is always you go forward, you pressure really hard. Inline hockey is about puck possession. Steven understood that this year. He’s taking control more. He definitely took a big step.”

The Tigers, who won the 2022-23 league championship, compete in the 10-team PIRHL Varsity 1 division. They played games every Sunday at RMU Island Sports Center, where all league games are held.

The season featured many highlights, including a 7-6 overtime victory against Butler in which the Tigers trailed 5-2 in the third period. Noffsinger scored four goals, capped by the game-winner.

“The Butler game was huge,” Zadnik said. “It was crazy.”

Zadnik, who had a hat trick in a 6-4 win over Shaler and six goals in a 10-6 win over Hempfield, is a first-year varsity player. He sat out his sophomore season and then didn’t make the cut for Varsity 1 last year.

“Ethan was a very big surprise,” Manz said. “I didn’t know how he was going to be. He’s been a big goal-scorer this year. He’s really a true goal-scorer. He can score from anywhere.”

Joining Zadnik in the senior class are Cameron, Dan O’Malley and Kiplin Seymour.

Returnees will be Noffsinger, Kushon, junior Stefan Craig, sophomores Christian Mark (7g, 13a) and Liam Huey and freshman Adam Cameron, Steven’s younger brother.

“I think as a team we’ve really grown from the beginning of the season to the very end,” Zadnik said. “I’m pretty proud with the way our team has come together.”

Tags: North Allegheny