PIHL drops puck on its season Monday

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, September 30, 2018 | 7:12 PM

It’s time to drop the puck on the high school hockey season.

The PIHL’s varsity schedule begins Monday night. Seneca Valley (Class 3A), Armstrong (2A) and Bishop McCort (A) look to defend their Penguins Cup championships in a league with a few tweaks this year.

Class 3A

Plum dropped to Class 2A, which left nine teams. All nine make the Penguins Cup playoffs, but the final two seeds meet in a play-in game for the right to take on the top seed. Also this year, Class 3A teams play in “pods” of three, where they will face those two teams three times and the rest of the squads twice.

The suits Seneca Valley coach Anthony Raco just fine. His Raiders are in a pod with North Allegheny and Erie Cathedral Prep.

“You have three of the top four teams from last year, and it’s nice. We want to play the best,” he said. “Just like last year, you can’t overlook anyone, though.”

Last year, the Raiders finished the regular season tied for second with 24 points but captured the program’s first Penguins Cup. The team lost eight players from last year, but has Aidan Campbell, one of the area’s top amateur players, to fill the empty goaltender slot. Captain Tyler Draper and junior Michael Spokane are back to lead the offense.

“I feel comfortable going into the regular season. The guys that return from last year, they are a good group and we have some good leaders,” Raco said. “The team has far exceeded my expectations of where I thought we’d be at this point.”

Other contenders have top players back. Last year’s top scorer, Wyatt George, returns to lead Mt. Lebanon. Connor Strobel paces Butler, and defenseman Tyler Duderstadt bolsters North Allegheny.

Class 2A

Armstrong finished first in the regular season and rode its offensive firepower to the Penguins Cup championship. The River Hawks nearly won a state title but fell to Downingtown East, 3-2, in a five-overtime marathon.

The team may be in rebuilding mode after graduating 11 players and losing another to junior hockey. Forward Gio Romeo and goaltender Ryan Bowser are two key players back.

“We’re going to count on a lot of these younger players to step up,” Armstrong coach Lee Grafton said. “It’s a learning curve for a lot of these kids. The goal is to make playoffs and be there at the end of the season. It’s going to be a very competitive league again.”

Franklin Regional, which won back-to-back Penguins Cup titles in 2016-17, returns veterans Danny Soltesz and Olda Virag from a 12-8-1 playoff team. Pine-Richland could be the favorite after winning the St. Margaret’s preseason tournament. Moon, last year’s Division 2 champ, returns to Class 2A with almost every player back.

Class A

Bishop McCort won last year’s title and went unbeaten against PIHL opponents. Meadville fell in overtime in the Penguins Cup championship but returns the bulk of its squad, including goaltender Eddie Kaufman and forward Nick Frantz. West Allegheny welcomes back a veteran squad. Indiana was a semifinalist last year and features goaltender Madison Barker.

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.