North Allegheny looking to again contend for PIHL Penguins Cup title

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, December 5, 2020 | 11:18 AM

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The PIHL shut down its playoffs before reaching the finals last season, so North Allegheny coach Mike Bagnato told his players to consider themselves the reigning champions.

Why not? They were the most recent team to win the Class AAA title.

“I started off the season saying, ‘Hey, look, we’re still defending champs,’” Bagnato said. “That’s the way I’m looking at it. We’re still defending champs, so we need to make the most of that.”

Following the coronavirus shutdown, the PIHL returned to the ice in early November, leaving behind last season’s troubled ending and embarking on a new campaign.

It’s been a challenging experience, Bagnato said, but he’s fairly confident there will be champions crowned this time.

“I think the PIHL will get to the end,” he said. “I feel strongly that we will get the season in this year.”

If need be, he’s willing to wait until June.

North Allegheny, the Class AAA champion in 2018-19, remained alive in the semifinals when last year’s tournament was interrupted in March and eventually canceled in May. The Tigers return enough contributors from last year’s lineup to likely contend again.

They lost four of their top five scorers to graduation but bring back Connor Chi, a junior with 10 goals and 20 assists. He ranked second on the team last season behind Tyler Lamark (42 points), who graduated.

North Allegheny’s strength in recent years was its forwards, but this season the Tigers are more experienced in the defensive end. The team returned six top defensemen, along with two talented goalies.

Manning the blue line are senior Matt Gentile and Karl Fuchs, sophomore Trey Gallo and juniors Kyle Holmes, Will Mensch and Hayden Watson. Senior Josh Bailey and sophomore Rylan Murphy work in net.

Bagnato said the team won’t change its on-ice style, but will seek opportunities for the defensemen to join the offense.

Gallo had 18 points a year ago, ranking him seventh-best on the team.

“I want us to move the puck and play together as a team,” Bagnato said. “Maybe we concentrate on involving our defensemen a little bit more.”

Among last year’s forwards, the Tigers return senior Aaron Mark and juniors Luke Washabaugh and Kevin Hart. Another forward, sophomore Austin Peterson, started this season hot with four goals in three games.

“I do like our group of kids,” Bagnato said. “I think they’re a really good group. Obviously, we lost a lot of people but we have some good, young players and they show a lot of potential. Whether we’ll achieve that potential, I don’t know. That’s up to all of us to figure out.”

This year’s season is off to a slower start for everybody. A year ago, the teams were playing in September. This year’s schedule didn’t start until November.

North Allegheny (3-1 in Class AAA) avoided preseason scrimmages as a means to limit coronavirus exposure. Another change is the elimination of some out-of-town tournaments. Many of those events, including one in Jamestown, N.Y., were canceled.

“We’re muddling our way through is probably the best way to describe it,” said Bagnato, but added that the slow start doesn’t concern him.

“We don’t need to be ready to really be performing well for a couple of months,” he said.

What Bagnato does miss is the team camaraderie that’s built early in seasons. The covid-19 restrictions prevented many of those bonding moments.

“It’s a weird feeling for us because we do a lot of team building stuff,” he said. “There’s a lot involved with what we do that makes us special, and we haven’t been able to do a lot of that this year.

“I feel bad for the kids in that effort. I’m hoping in the second half of the season things will get better and that will enable us to do some things.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny