Penn-Trafford boys lacrosse team gets off to strong start, eyes playoff success

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, April 17, 2022 | 10:01 AM

What a difference a year makes for the Penn-Trafford boys’ lacrosse program.

The team is off to one of its best starts in years, winning six of its first eight games. The Warriors only produced four wins all last season.

But with a veteran group returning, which includes members of the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championship football team and players for the successful hockey team, the Warriors have become a serious threat for opponents with an eye on the playoffs.

“We’d actually like to play host to a playoff game,” Penn-Trafford coach Charlie Hach said. “Our goals are to qualify for the playoffs and win a game.”

Hach is in his third season as coach.

He said the difference is that his team is a year older, they’re playing with confidence and the veterans are providing leadership.

Leading the way are senior captains Carter Green, Bennett Dupilka, Declan Ochendowski and Patrick Macey.

Green was the quarterback and Ochendowski a starting offensive lineman on the football team, and Dupilka was a standout on the P-T hockey team.

Green is headed to Seton Hill to play lacrosse, while Ochendowski will be playing football at Cornell.

“Lacrosse is a good crossover sport,” Hach said. “I have football players, hockey players, basketball players, wrestlers and golfers on the team. It’s a diverse group. We’re very excited for Carter and Declan.

“Last year we had 16 freshmen on the roster and we were able to retain 14. We have a lot players stepping up. We’re excited about the future.”

Green, Dupilka and sophomore Braedan Mastine are some of the top scorers on the squad.

Other key contributors include junior midfielder Sam Didio, senior attacker Patrick Macey, senior goalkeeper Connor Adomaitis, senior attacker Dylan Militzer and sophomore defender Mark Jollie.

The Warriors have beaten Plum (16-3), Canon-McMillan (13-5), Indiana (16-6), Norwin (14-4), Knoch (15-4) and Baldwin (9-4).

The losses were to Pine-Richland (13-11) and Bethel Park (14-8).

“We’re in pretty good shape,” Hach said. “We still have a lot of work to do, and we have numerous big games coming.”

The Warriors are 6-2 overall and 2-1 in Section 1-3A. They will play at Peters Township on April 22 and have key matches with rivals Hempfield (May 4) and Latrobe (May 10).

“I hope this is the start of something special,” Hach said. “We have a great feeder system in place and we get 99% of our players from there.”

Hach credited Dan Hagerty and Rob Martin for the success of the youth program.

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.

Tags: Penn-Trafford